5+ year old LME in a can

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rraisedhaze

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I picked up a carboy and some bottles on craigslist last night and the seller threw in a can of Munton's Export Stout for free. After getting it all home, I realized the expiration date was over 5 years past!

Should I bother making this stuff? The can looks perfectly intact without any bulges, it was stored in his cool Minnesota basement, and it is a stout..

If it is ok to make this stuff, I was thinking of adding some DME instead of sugar (per the recipe on the can). Are there any other tips to making this into a good hearty stout? Steeping certain grains, adding oatmeal, specific hops, etc?
 
The fresher the extract the better so if the can expired 5 years ago I think you can figure out what kind of beer it will make. I'd say pitch it and buy some fresh stuff that you know will make great beer!
 
Hey fellow Minnesotan!

If it is a "best by" date you're probably in good shape but being as it is five years past the date the quality may be less than optimal.

If it's a "use by" date (unlikely) then I'd adhere to that.

Stay warm!
 
The only thing you have to lose is time. I made a beer from some 13 year old DME recently and it turned out to be a pretty drinkable beer. It's not amazing or anything, but it doesn't taste stale.

If I were you, I'd use the canned extract, one pound of DME and one pound of dextrose. The dextrose will help dry things out a little, which I would think would be desirable since dark extract is notorious for finishing high. Not to mention the fact that it's old.
 
The only thing you have to lose is time. I made a beer from some 13 year old DME recently and it turned out to be a pretty drinkable beer. It's not amazing or anything, but it doesn't taste stale.

If I were you, I'd use the canned extract, one pound of DME and one pound of dextrose. The dextrose will help dry things out a little, which I would think would be desirable since dark extract is notorious for finishing high. Not to mention the fact that it's old.

When you say "Finishing High" are you referring to the FG?
 
I haven't used 5 year old stuff, I did brew with some moldy LME that was in my closet for 8 months recently (I scraped the mold off!) and it came out delicious.
 
I haven't used 5 year old stuff, I did brew with some moldy LME that was in my closet for 8 months recently (I scraped the mold off!) and it came out delicious.

That's awesome. Should I use a specific kind of yeast? The kit typically calls for a dry yeast sachet that is included.
 
I made the trip up to Midwest Supplies and picked up Nottinghams dry yeast, 1 lb of chocolate malt, and 1 lb of roasted barley to steep with for this stout. I also picked up two pounds of Dark DME and some corn sugar to use instead of the sugar the recipe calls for. I want this to have a nice body to it and my cousin (who works at Caribou) offered to hook me up with 4 ounces of his finest coffee beans.

Any other pointers for making a good Java Stout?

I am excited since I'm also trying the BIAB method to make a pilsner tonight as well. No one warned me that this could be so addicting!
 
Both batches are now fermenting. I'll give an update as soon as I transfer each batch to secondary. The flavor of the stout is a bit much, but I don't know how much of that is the 5 year old LME and how much was caused by the added coffee that was steeping for 45 minutes. Only time will tell...
 
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