Can I Still Use These Old Ingredients?

Today A Coworker of mine approached me and asked if i would like his old beer kit he never used, so naturally i said sure!So i went to pick it up and it is a " Brewers Best :Beer ingredient Kit", im sure you have seen these little rectangular beer kits at your LHBS. Anyways this kit was for a "German Oktoberfest" beer and included allot of ingredients id like to use if they are still viable. The kicker here is that he has had the kit for two years just sitting so im wondering whats still good and what i should toss? ingredients are :
1. 6.6lb Munich Liquid malt extract
2. 1lb Amber Dry malt extract
3. straight off the package " Crushed Caramel 60 L 8oz. and 20 L 4oz Malt" (looks to be crushed grains. little confused with that labeling whats does the 4oz malt mean? As in it is mixed in with the crushed caramel?)
4. 2oz Willamette hops ( im assuming these are trash after being at room temp for 2 years)
5.packet of Brewferm Lager yeast ( which it says "it will also preform well if fermented at ale temperatures." im not sure if im buying into that? thoughts? possible liquid replacement suggestion?
6. 5oz priming sugar.

SOOOOOO... wondering whats good and whats turned to trash , everything is still in its original packaging unopened , thanks!

Kemp

I would give it a try. I would get new grain, 8 oz C-60L and I would assume the 4 oz. 20L to be Caramel also. C-20L. I would use the hops if they are in an original hop manufacturer's sealed pack. If they look repackaged by Brewer's Best I would replace them. I might add a little more just to be sure since they will have lost some of their punch.

Definitely replace the yeast. Most of those kits are really light ales or hybrids. I guess, fermented at ale temperatures this would qualify as a hybrid. I have brewed a couple that used lager yeast at ale temperatures. One was a version of Northern Brewer's John Q. Adams Marblehead Lager. It used Wyeast 2112 California Lager yeast, Saflager S-23 or WLP810 San Francisco Lager yeast. I used the Wyeast.

Invest as little as possible and aim for a drinkable beer but not a really good one.

Opps, I guess i wasn't really clear on my intentions. i do not really plan on making this kit ( i mean i guess i might). I was more interested in the viability of each ingredient because i will be using them "here and there" in the future hopefully . So i do not really wanna use ingredients that are no longer individually viable in my future recipes. i never aim for drinkable ha, always a good one. not worth the time otherwise....id just go buy some cheap beer for drinkable haha . But when i first started brewing i think i heard that LME has a certain shelf life? And i have no idea about the shelf life of grains and DME? thanks!


kemp

bump!

I'm in the same boat. I got a brewers best kit that was sitting in a friends basement for several years. It's an American IPA. The yeast package was the only product with a date on it and it expired two years ago. I plan on making it this weekend and have replaced the yeast. The other ingredients appear tightly sealed so I plan on using them. My question is, can I or should I replace anything else? Also, can I increase the ABV by adding some more LME or sugar? At what point? I'm Just trying to increase the chances of having a decent beer when I'm done. This is my second batch since I started brewing! Thanks.

Even if your kit beer isn't great, you are only out a little time and a pack of yeast.

I would use the malt extracts for yeast starters, the yeast packet as yeast nutrient and maybe the hops for a Belgian and throw the rest away.

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to give it a shot and brew it. Everything looks good so I am hoping it has not gone bad. I will post the results here in a couple of weeks.

I would recommend not brewing these kits when they are years old, you're starting with stale ingredents and it will show in the finished beer, I'm speaking from experience. Cheers.

So I brewed it last week and moved to a secondary today. I used a new yeast and added one additional pound of LME. I also replaced the hops. This is only my second batch but a couple things I noticed was a rather vigorous fermentation with some beer getting into the air lock. Also there was a lot of trub at the bottom and I lost probably just under a gallon of beer. Other than that it looks good. I'll let you know once I bottle it in a few weeks.

Well I'm drinking my first beer from the batch made from mostly old ingredients and I have to say not bad but I've had better. It is a little dry and with the addition of the extra pound of LME, came out with 6.75 ABV. I still have some left from my first brew which was an IPA that had fresh ingredients and had an ABV of 5.75. I actually like that one better. Hopefully it will improve with age. Time to brew an Irish Stout tomorrow. Looking forward to it. This will be my third brew. What a great hobby!