diff --git a/beef b/beef
index 4616f6d18..978308f2e 100755
--- a/beef
+++ b/beef
@@ -49,7 +49,17 @@ case config.get("beef.database.default")
   when "sqlite"
     DataMapper.setup(:default, "sqlite3://#{$root_dir}/#{config.get("beef.database.sqlite.db_name")}")
   when "mysql"
-    DataMapper.setup(:default, "mysql://#{config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_user")}:#{config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_passwd")}@#{config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_host")}/#{config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_name")}")
+    # === Remove comment of next line for logging queries (very verbose) ===
+    # DataMapper::Logger.new($stdout, :debug)
+    #
+    DataMapper.setup(:default,
+      :adapter => 'mysql',
+      :host => config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_host"),
+      :username => config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_user"),
+      :password => config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_passwd"),
+      :database => config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_name"),
+      :encoding => config.get("beef.database.mysql.db_encoding")
+    )
   else
     print_error 'No default database selected. Please add one in config.yaml'
 end
diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
index a63e73786..eacdd650c 100644
--- a/config.yaml
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -40,20 +40,34 @@ beef:
     database:
         #supported DBs: sqlite, mysql
         
-        default: "sqlite"
+        default: "mysql"
         # MySQL Notes:
+        # It's recommended to install MySQL >= 5.5.x
         #   Your system will require MySQL, MySQL-Server, MySQL-Devel and Ruby's MySQL libraries installed
         #   You will also need to "sudo gem install dm-mysql-adapter"
         #
-        #   please note that the db should exists. Schema will be created automatically.
-        #   mysql> create database beef;
+        # UTF8 notes. Update/Add in my.cnf (or my.ini on Win) the following. Then save and reboot MySQL.
+        # Read more here: http://cameronyule.com/2008/07/configuring-mysql-to-use-utf-8
+        #        [mysql]
+        #          default-character-set=utf8
+        #        [mysqld]
+        #          character-set-server=utf8
+        #          collation-server=utf8_general_ci
+        #          init-connect='SET NAMES utf8'
+        #        [client]
+        #          default-character-set=utf8
+        #
+        #   Please note that the db must exists. Schema will be created automatically.
+        #   mysql> CREATE DATABASE beef CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
         #   mysql> grant all privileges on beef.* to 'beef'@'localhost' identified by 'beef123';
+        #
         
         mysql:
           db_host: "localhost"
           db_name: "beef"
           db_user: "beef"
           db_passwd: "beef123"
+          db_encoding: "UTF-8"
 
         sqlite:
           db_name: "beef.db"