The mystery brew!

Bout once every two months or so my LHBS empty out there LME containers into bags and set them on there "clearance" shelf I was looking around the other day and noticed all of these bags. I'm for the most part strictly an all grain brewer ,but after further inspection of these bags I noticed the had no labels on them. When I asked what they were (just out of curiosity.) he said "not a clue. There all mixed,just what was left in the barrels. They've been there for a while so if you want them I'll give them to you for 5 bucks all together." . So I walked out of there with 36lbs of mystery extract for 5$.(normally $2.69 per lb.)
Anyway,not knowing exactly what type of beer im gonna be brewing I'm not exactly sure what hops to use. Of corse yeast is not a problem,and Cascade& Hallertau usually work well with almost anything. I was just mostly curious if anyone else ever mystery brews?

I imagine it will taste not so fresh

put in the fridge for a lifetime supply of starter extract...

If the LHBS does this "bagging" thing every couple of months (fwiw, a bit hard to believe, but...) I'd think freshness of the LME isn't a major concern. Well processed, unabused LME should have a shelf life of at least a full year...

At the least I'd brew up a batch for science...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

If the LHBS does this "bagging" thing every couple of months (fwiw, a bit hard to believe, but...) I'd think freshness of the LME isn't a major concern. Well processed, unabused LME should have a shelf life of at least a full year...

At the least I'd brew up a batch for science...

Cheers!

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Hard to believe or not it's the way they do things there(I don't pretend to understand my self.). This is the 25# bag here the other 11# I plan to use as starter fluid. But for 5$ it can't hurt to make a 5gal. Batch with a yeast slurry from an APA. Just to see what I end up with,right?

It would be silly not to. What's the worst that can happen? You end up with beer?

i say go for it, i have yet to make a mystery brew, but if i see a bunch of cheap extract, i will buy it up quick, and maybe steep some roasted barley and chocolate with it to make a nice stout, i figure that will cover up and meld with whatever flavor is from the mystery extract.

bkorver said:

It would be silly not to. What's the worst that can happen? You end up with beer?

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My thoughts exactly,at the very worst I'm out 5$ &a few oz. Of hops right?

The worst is that it turns out awesome and you have no idea how to do it again.

Absolutely go for it. I used several cans of out-of-date LME pitched on whatever yeast cake I had in the fermenter. The final "el cheapo" touch was to use magic hop dust from Austin HB Supply for $0.69/oz (added on to a >$100 order so free frt.). I figured, no matter what, I'd never be reproducing these batches. I did stay reasonably "heavy"...OG 1.060-1.070 and sort of hopped "like an IPA" schedule. Both batches were very tasty. I also used it to try out some giant 1.5 liter Grolsch bottles I came upon. I had some fun bringing them to parties and saying "I try to limit myself to 2 beers a day". The big bottles were great. It's pretty cool to fill a big pitcher with one bottle and fill up cups around the room too. What the heck, have some cheap fun!

You need to post your location so we can help your LHBS with their LME clearance problem...

That is a really sweet deal for sure!!!

Shaft333 said:

The worst is that it turns out awesome and you have no idea how to do it again.

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I'm really hoping that doesn't happen.