How old is my Brooklyn Brew kit?

Sister-In-law did a nice thing and bought me a Brooklyn brew shop Afternoon Wheat beer kit (just the refill - grains, hops, & yeast.). There's no date code on much of anything that I can see except for the yeast, which has 2016 05 on it.

The box was apparently on sale at bed, bath, and beyond and had been discounted, which makes me a tad nervous about age.

1) is that an expiration date or a lot # on the yeast packet?
2) is the packet of palisades likely ok?
3) I don't have a 1 gal fermenter handy, will a milk jug work (assuming I clean, sanitize, & arrange a blowoff tube?)

Thaaaaaank you!

I grabbed a few of these from Meijer on clearance after Christmas. Brewed up the stout. Fermented really poorly. I was lazy and just used the dry yeast packet that came with it. I have a feeling it would have been fine if I had just run to the lhbs to grab a fresh yeast. My $.02, YMMV.

UncleBeardyBeer said:

I grabbed a few of these from Meijer on clearance after Christmas. Brewed up the stout. Fermented really poorly. I was lazy and just used the dry yeast packet that came with it. I have a feeling it would have been fine if I had just run to the lhbs to grab a fresh yeast. My $.02, YMMV.

Click to expand...

Noted. Actually, that spawns question 4: the dry yeast packet just says "beer making yeast" ... Any ideas what kind of yeast Brooklyn uses typically so I know what to ferment at?

FWIW I brewed a 5 year old Mr. Beer kit once. The hopped extract lost its hop flavor by that point and I used a new pack of yeast but it made beer. I don't know what Brooklyn uses for their yeast but the 05/2016 is the expiration date. As with most beer keep the temperature below 70.

You're going to want a vessel bigger than 1 gallon to ferment in. You'll have no headspace in a 1 gallon milk jug and you'll probably blow off a good chunk of your beer