2 year old extract kits

Hey homebrewers! Been out of the loop for a few years and decided today that I was brewing again. Got a few kits laying around that IIRC arrived from AHS about 2 years ago. maybe more...

So l'm pretty sure the liquid yeast is shot - White Labs London Ale - but I've got some packets of dry laying around - Nottingham - that I'll prolly just throw in there with it to make sure it gets kicked off fermenting.

What else would you add to freshen it up? Its an AHS Double Chocolate Stout BTW.

Thanks in advance. Going to heat up the pot!!

Do these kits use LME? Austin Homebrew's kits use fresh extract, not canned, so I'd worry about that? Has it been refigerated?

If the malt extract is sealed, try it. But you want fresh hops and yeast. If it ferments, it can't kill ya.
Somebody gave me two Mr. Beer-like kits that they had for over five years! What the heck, I tried them. The DME had turned into a solid lump (like really hard caramel or Toffee). I dissolved it in hot water then brewed with fresh hops and yeast. It was drinkable. It was okay beer. Successful experiment.

or you could just go get some new kits. Either way.... Get brewing!!!!!!!

DME will definitely last longer than LME, and canned LME will outlast what AHS uses.

"it can' tkill ya"... kinda what I'm thinking. better than throwing it in the trash.

yea its got LME thats been in the white plastic sealed container since it arrive. Not fridged....

I'm throwing it together and will see how it goes. Could I dry hop it with add'l hops that I'd order on Monday? I'll prolly do that and toss in the extra hops when they get here.

Back to brewing!

Dry hopping a dark stout sounds like a great idea

should I even use the liquid White labs? or just pitch it with Nottingham?

Dry Hopping: called for Galena hops. anything else that could be better?

Throw the hops away or use them for bittering, and use the LME for starters. Life's too short to drink sub par beer.

Galena hops was on a 60 min boil for bittering. Should I toss them in the beer or the trash??

plan is to order dry hops tomorrow. I'm in east texas so should have them by tuesday/weds. what hops to dry hop with?

If I don't hop it all, how does that affect my boil schedule? still an hour?

Trash the hops. You'll get unpredictable results from the old hops.

denverd1 said:

should I even use the liquid White labs? or just pitch it with Nottingham?

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I wouldn't trust the two-year-old liquid yeast. Even if stored properly in the fridge. If it were me, Notty never let's you down in a pinch.

This is the response I got from Austin Homebrew supplies when I asked about how long a kit would stay good for:

Everything included in a recipe kit can be stored in the refrigerator but since all items are perishable food items and contain no preservatives, it is best to brew as soon as possible to ensure freshness. We recommend that customers only buy enough supplies needed for one month of brewing so that nothing sits around long enough to go bad. Just like with cooking, the fresher the ingredients, the better your final product will be.

Different items in the kit will go bad at different times.

Grain: Milled grain has a shelf life of about two weeks before starting to go stale but you can keep it fresh longer (up to 3-4 weeks) by storing it in the refrigerator. Unmilled grain can keep for a year or two if store properly (not too warm, humid).

Extract: Liquid Extract will last about 1 month before mold will start growing on it. You can scoop the mold off and kill whatever remains during the boil, but you can also add a thin layer of neutral vodka over the top of the extract and it will keep stuff from growing on the surface. Dried malt extracts can be stored for a long time because it has moisture removed from it making it harder for things to grow on it.

Yeast: Liquid yeast has a shelf life of about 6 months but can still be used after that point if a yeast starter is made. If any new yeast grows in the yeast starter, then it's ok to use this yeast to make a batch of beer. Dried Yeast packets normally have a shelf life of a few years. You should store yeast in the refrigerator but avoid lowering or raising the temperature of yeast too fast. Large temperature swings cause damage to yeast cell walls.

Hops: Hops can be saved for up to a year in the freezer, but after 6 months the bitterness will start to break down and will weaken with time.