old, old, old Mr. Beer ingredients

Hey,

a buddy of mine figured out that I brew and said "hey do you want some ingredients?"

So I say sure...

turns out he has some "kits" from some "add water and make beer" thing - I don't think it's Mr. Beer, but I could be wrong.

Anyways, it looks to be pre-hopped DME in ~2.1 lb bags for a 2.6 gallon batch, and the yeast is dated as expired in 9/2001.

What should I do with this stuff? brew it as is (with new yeast obviously)? Mix it with new DME and fresh hops for a 5-gallon batch?

I just hate to dump all of it -- it's enough to make probaly 40-50 gallons of beer

save some for starters.
boil up the rest in a mystery beer....

If it's DME rather than LME(which continues to darken and react over time in the can) you might be all right. You'll want to add some specialty grains at least, I imagine, and use some new hops in there since what's there is just bittering and might have faded flavors by now anyway(I didn't know they made hopped DME, for that matter).

Taste some and compare it with fresh DME. Experiment with a small batch of the stuff and see how it comes out. I have to agree, if the stuff isn't going to make bad beer that's a lot of money's worth of extract, so don't pitch it before you know it's bad.

I think that if the DME is still powder, then it should be ok. Many years ago, (at least 12, I've been brewing for about 3) my mother bought me a cheap brew kit for Christmas. I stuck it in a closet and forgot about it. When I started brewing, I dug it out to see if it was any good. The DME had condensed into a taffy like brick. I tried to use it, but it took forever to dissolve, so I dumped it. My uncle buys bulk DME in 50 lb boxes. He brews only a few batches a year, so his bulk DME will last him for a few years. I had asked him how long the shelf life is, and he told me that as long as it stays dry, it shouldn't go bad. He's had some last him for over 10 years. His beer is usually good, so I believe he knows what he's talking about. The only thing I don't agree with him on is the sanitation issue, but that's a topic for another thread.

I would make a small test batch with just the DME. That will give you an idea of the residual bittering. If it is pre-hopped with tetra (a stable bittering compound), it should end up much like a Special Bitter. If they used hop resins, there probably won't be much left and it will be more like a Mild.

You can also save those packets of dead yeast and add them to the boil on big beers...they can be used as yeast food that way.

Yeast hulls can be bought alone and in some "yeast charger" blends...they can also be used to help restart stuck fermentations.

Yeast Hulls (50g) | MoreBeer

I would make a mystery beer with the rest of the ingredients.

thanks for all the suggestions!

I'll probably shoot for the mystery beer experiement first, see how it turns out and then decide what to do with the rest.

It's definitely DME, and it's still powdery -- the bags look like they have been sealed well.