Old DME, Yeast and Hops.

I had a guy give me all his old home brew equip and supplies last night. Said he had to quit brewing some time ago and it was free so SWEEEET! With what he gave me was 7 lbs. of DME, a packet of Nottingham yeast dated to expire in 2006, and 4 oz. of hops. Im pretty sure the hops are gonna be ok as they are vacuum packed, how about the other stuff? I am assuming 2005-06 is how old this stuff is. There were many other goodies there too, 5gal carboy, books, brushes, sanitizer, bottle caps, bottle capper, floating thermometer.....and other items. All in all in a great score for free. So should I use the old DME and yeast to make a starter and see if its viable then make a batch of beer with this stuff?

were the hops in a freezer? are they from 2006 also? give them a sniff before you use them and definitely count on the effective AA content to be lower than what it's stated to be. the DME should be OK if it was stored decently. i would ditch the yeast, it's cheap enough to get new.

I just brewed a kit from 08 with yeast and all. It brewed and fermented up just fine. It is kind of lacking much flavor other then hops, but its also young. Only been in the bottle for a week today. I will try it at 3 weeks and see how it turns out. So, if it still lacks flavor, I bet your kit would be the same or worse being roughly 2 years older.

Sure its cheap enough but I have to order online or drive 250 miles to the nearest LHBS. That's a bummer and I already ordered this months supplies and would have to make a special order for just yeast and pay shipping. Just my thoughts, but I certainly respect your opinions and want to know what you think. And it was free so if it doesnt work Im out nothing but a couple of hours brewing. IF it does work, totally free beer!!! Hmmmmm!!!

Good score...I recently had the exact same thing happen to me minus the perishables...a friend and co-worker quit brewing years ago and gave me 2 x 5 gal. glass carboys, hydrometer, about 400 bottle caps, floating thermometer, sample cylinder, iodophor and a couple of buckets. Any one know how long iodophor stays stable in concentrate? I haven't used it and doubt that I will. Enjoy the new (old) stuff!

Thanks Rodney, I decided to do like you and just go for it. I spent the afternoon brewing up a batch and used the old ingredients including the yeast. Worst case is I throw out some free stuff but I bet its fine. If the yeast is an issue I have this months supplies that should be arriving Monday and I can just use the yeast that is coming and re order some for that batch even though I hate to. Will it be ok to pitch it then if this stuff is a bust?

yes, it should be fine. You will know by tomorrow morning most likely if the yeast is good or not. But, please do remember, some people dont get action in there air locks until up to 72 hours later. So, I would give it a good few days before forming an opinion if the yeast was good or not. When you pitched it, lets say 30 minutes after, did you have a "bread like" smell? If so, the yeast is active and well. thats how I could tell if my yeast was good. I sprinkled it on top of the wart, and let it set for 10 minutes, when I can back to stir it in, it had a very very bread like aroma. I knew at that moment that the yeast was fine

New info to me. I didnt check and its in the carboy now with the airlock on....I will just wait and see what it looks like in the morning. I will have to remember that next time. I love learning things.:fro:

Bcawf said:

New info to me. I didnt check and its in the carboy now with the airlock on....I will just wait and see what it looks like in the morning. I will have to remember that next time. I love learning things.:fro:

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thats even better!! In a carboy you can see the Krausen form! I use a bucket, so I cant see whats going on inside.

Also, I wonder what kind of beer it will be.....In the book he had with the stuff he gave me there was a plain American Ale recipee that was very similar to his ingredients except he had sparkling amber malt instead of light? malt. Still, I used all 7 pounds of sparkling amber malt 2 oz of some unlabeled hops and 2 oz of cascade hops at the end. Any ideas what I will have when its done? According to the book, looks to be sorta a hybrid of plain American Ale and English Bitter....best I can tell, but im pretty sure it will be beer!!

Good news, this morning there is about 4" of Krausen. This is the first time I have a glass carboy as it was just given to me with the free stuff. Very cool to see, there is a current of swirling goodness going on in there!

awesome!! that means you will be making a decent beer in no time. I had a hard time waiting with my first batch. It went into the bottles after one week. (it had been the same OG for 3 days in a row, so fermentation was complete, but I probably didnt give the yeast time to clean up after then selves very good). I would leave it in there for 2 weeks minimum. But I do know its VERY hard!!