Need recipe for a few ingredients I have

Hi All,

I had an AG kit sit on the shelf for too long (5 months) and the grains don't look so good. I believe the 1oz of Magnum and 2oz of Willamette are OK, and I have some 4 month old Irish Moss in the fridge. I was hoping someone could suggest a extract solution I could put together from my LHBS (e.g. common ingredients) or alternatively add to an online order. I haven't gotten to the point where I can build my own recipes and need to get something fermenting asap.

Thanks,

Jason

Did you store the hops in the freezer? If not, I'd probably pitch those, too. The Irish moss doesn't really need to be refrigerated.

Thanks Baron - Hops were stored in a basement around 50 degrees. I thought they were in the same packaging that the extract kits (that appear to sit on shelves for months at room temperature at LHBS's). The yeast is liquid, doesn't that need to be refridgerated? Eight weeks of home improvements really put me behind the beer curve.

Post the grain bill for the AG kit--it should be pretty easy to convert that to a similar extract recipe.

alfista said:

Thanks Baron - Hops were stored in a basement around 50 degrees. I thought they were in the same packaging that the extract kits (that appear to sit on shelves for months at room temperature at LHBS's). The yeast is liquid, doesn't that need to be refridgerated? Eight weeks of home improvements really put me behind the beer curve.

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I'd pitch the whole lot in the trash and just start over, man.

I'll be honest...if the hops at your LHBS sit for months on a shelf at room temp I wouldn't go back. Any HBS worth their salt will keep their hops refrigerated at least. I wouldn't keep hops at room temp even if they were vacuum packed.

I agree with Dude...write this one off as a loss and get another kit when you know you'll be brewing within a week or two. I'd consider mailordering one from a reputable HBS.

Baron von BeeGee said:

I'll be honest...if the hops at your LHBS sit for months on a shelf at room temp I wouldn't go back. Any HBS worth their salt will keep their hops refrigerated at least. I wouldn't keep hops at room temp even if they were vacuum packed.

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Remember, this is from a Kit. I don't think any shop keep their entire stock of KITS in the fridge, do they? Hops in a kit have probably been sitting at room temp.

Now... if the LHBS sells ala carte hops at room temp, then I agree that the place sucks.

-walker

Dude said:

I'd pitch the whole lot in the trash and just start over, man.

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i agree.
that's like 3 bucks worth of hops...not really worth saving.
storage at temperatures that high lead to degradation of the alpha-acids, making your hops unpredictably weak, even if they're stored under vacuum and not necessarily rotten....
the yeast might be usable if it's been refrigerated the entire time. liquid yeast should have an expiration date on it. make a starter and it should be good to go.

Walker-san said:

Remember, this is from a Kit. I don't think any shop keep their entire stock of KITS in the fridge, do they? Hops in a kit have probably been sitting at room temp.

Now... if the LHBS sells ala carte hops at room temp, then I agree that the place sucks.

-walker

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Don't a lot of LHBSs take the yeast and hops out of the kits and store them in a fridge? That's what the one I go to occaisionally does.

Walker-san said:

Remember, this is from a Kit. I don't think any shop keep their entire stock of KITS in the fridge, do they? Hops in a kit have probably been sitting at room temp.

Now... if the LHBS sells ala carte hops at room temp, then I agree that the place sucks.

-walker

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It's also an AG kit, so I'm assuming they roll their own on an as needed basis, but I could be mistaken.

Why not just brew the thing and see what happens. If it's crap toss it out. If it's good then you've saved buying a new kit.

Grains already trashed, so I guess I'm going to scrap the whole thing.

if I buy three kits from a reputable retailer (say, morebeer.com) and store the grains at 55 degrees in the basement, freeze the hops, and keep the liquid yeast in the fridge, how long do you figure I have to get all three batches brewed?

Thanks for everyone's tips.

Jason

What impressed me about NorthernBrewer is that it looks like they build each kit when it's ordered. I purchased three kits together and could tell that they weren't pre-packed (mainly because they had some of the ingredients in the wrong kit). They even milled the grains together and put them all in one bag to minimize mess and waste.

Speaking of, I really do need to transfer to my secondary tonight. It's been 2 weeks now.

alfista said:

if I buy three kits from a reputable retailer (say, morebeer.com) and store the grains at 55 degrees in the basement, freeze the hops, and keep the liquid yeast in the fridge, how long do you figure I have to get all three batches brewed?

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I don't have any empirical data because I use crushed grains pretty quickly (I buy them uncrushed). However, my best guess is that the crushed grains and yeast are together the limiting factors. Probably more so the grains. I'd guess stored dry and airtight that they'll be fine for 2-3 months (the yeast will easily go that long).

The hops will last around a year if they are airtight and frozen.