3+ year old Kit... salvageable?

So I have a beer kit back at least 3 years ago when my brother used to brew. I know the DME is bad as it is as solid as a rock... heh. But I don't know if its worth trying to salvage or if the whole kit is bad. Nothing has been opened; Hops, specialty grains, DME, and LME.

Irish Stout is the style of this one.
2 - packages of DME (both rock solid) BAD
1 - LME Hopped Dark
1 - package of crushed crystal (no qty maybe in instrucxtions which is somewhere)
1 - package of crushed roasted barley (no qty maybe in instrucxtions which is somewhere)
2 - 1oz of cascade.

This has been stored in a dark cool area for the time we've had it.

I am planning on moving into PM shortly as I have a spare pot I can use for mashing but want to finish up all my kits at the current moment.

I would guess that it's all bad. The LME is surely bad. Can't imagine the hops have aged well either. You can try and brew with it but most likely you're going to get a stale beer.

Save the hops for a Lambic, toss everything else.

+1 to oompa loompa's advice

Don't waste your time with oxidized/stale ingredients. We brewed a friend's kit that was 18 months old and it was not good.

bad, bad and more bad.

the only thing that would be possible is the DME and if it's solid...bad.

I say brew it. your only wasting water........

yea when I first started brewing a little over a year and half ago someone gave me an old extract kit they had from when they were brewing over a decade ago. the kit had two cans of hopped LME and a packet of yeast (muntons imperial stout), the kit was dated 1992. well I had an extra packet of yeast so I brewed it and it turned out great. so if all your risking is water and yeast give it a shot.

Yeah, I brewed a 7 year old kit once, added a bit extra fresh DME(1Lb) because I had read somewhere that it would take the edge off the stale ingredients and it turned out OK. Was pretty good after being in the bottle 2 weeks but it didn't age well. The hard DME probably drew a little moisture but probably isn't bad. I'd brew it.

You know, there's a time when I would have said chuck it, but now I would just say buy new yeast and supplement the old hops with at least some new hops and just brew it. And if you're really concerned make it a porter or stout or something by adding some chocolate or black patent or roasted barley.

I would think to go ahead in brew it.

ok sweet... 1 day I will brew it after I get my all my current beer stuff finished. I still have 1 beer in line to brew.

Sadly the yeasts I have sitting around are Belgian ale, Trappist, and sweet mead/cider or whatever (all WL)

I do have amber and golden light DME sitting around which I could add into it maybe pick up some new hops and just hop it and make a RIS or something.

I have a year and a half old kit sitting around and was wondering how this turned out. Any info would be great.

Thanks,

SuDZ

The DME is hard because moisture got to it. A buddy of mine says he used to get kits where the instructions even said that the DME may get solid and hard in storage. The instructions said to just crush it up and go. DME can keep for 2 or so years if kept sealed, cool and dark.

LME should be refrigerated. Six month old LME would be old. Maybe not get you sick spoiled, just not very tasty.

Hops and Irish Moss, kept sealed, cool and dark, I can't see them going bad. The potency and effectiveness could wane, but still be usable. Same with priming sugar.

Old grains dry out and loose their flavor. Wet old grains will spoil and grow mold. How old is old? A few months, maybe. Vacuum sealed bags of grain will out last grains stored otherwise. Again, keep them cool, dry and dark.

The yeast should be made into a starter. If no love after 36 hours, I'd buy fresh.

All in all, if there's no mold and it smells OK, go with it.