does extract go bad ?

[blackbogbrew]

Very late to thread. But do not waste DME. It has more uses than only making up the malt bill. You can also use it for making a yeast starter or for doing gravity adjustments where the relatively small amount won't really impact flavor,while allowing you to focus on the more primo stuff to make up the bulk of your beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

Very late to thread. But do not waste DME.

Welcome to HBT!

This and other threads about using old malt extract, are often about using old LME (Liquid Malt Extract).
LME is far more susceptible to aging than DME is, although moisture, oxidation, and time can change nice light DME into something putrid too.

But your suggestions are spot on, and usually apply to LME as they do to DME. It's just much more difficult to prevent LME from the ravages of time and aging.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

With LME: for best results, don't store it. Buy it fresh, store it cool, use it promptly.

This chart is from a 2004 slide deck (p 26, link to pdf). Reply #11 links to a similar article from 2014.

With un-hopped LME starting at 2L, 6L is "extract darker than expected" and 10L is getting very close to those "classic" extract off flavors.

Hopped LME products may have a slightly different shelf life profile - see the taste results, starting at about reply #210, in no boil prehopped beer kits.