I have never tried it myself. I have been brewing for about 2 years now. From what I hear, the fermenter that comes with the kit can be especially useful when preparing smaller batches if/when you move on to extract with hop additions and all-grain brewing. Give it a try though. Mr. Beer has turned a lot of people on to homebrewing. If you aren't satisfied with your final product... find a local homebrew shop and go talk to the owner/workers. They're almost always willing to help.