Is my kit still good?

[Gusmedic]

I purchased 2 All Grain kits 16 months ago and never brewed them. They have been stored in the box they were delivered in, in my cool dark basement since that time. Are any of the ingredients still good? The grain was already milled. The hops pellets are still sealed in package. The yeast has been in my beer fridge the entire time.

I want to get brewing again and hate to waste the ingredients, but dont want to brew crap either.

 

[cmac62]

The only issue I see is the grain. Milled grain will likely have bugs. Is the yeast liquid or dry? Dry I say your good and the hops are vacuum sealed?

 

[RM-MN]

There are tests to tell if your kits are still good.

Smell test. Smell the grain. If it smells good, go on to the next test. If it smells stale, discard it. Smell the hops (open the bag first). If they smell good, use them.

Taste test. If your grain smelled good, taste a little of it. If it tastes stale, throw it out.

 

[madscientist451]

Yeah its still good, not as good when it was shipped, but it will still be beer.

 

[dwhite60]

You're probably good. Only one way to tell for sure.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[mongoose33]

You'll produce beer, provided the yeast is dry yeast and it's been stored cool or cold (which you say it has been).

If the hops are sealed and have also been kept cold, they're probably ok.

Your grain is likely oxidized. It'll produce beer, but not great beer. If the grain was not crushed, I'd say it was fine, but if crushed, no. Unlikely.

******

Ask yourself this: do you want to return to brewing, spending the time, employing patience, hoping for a nice brew, all the while assuming the risk that the ingredients are, at best, sketchy? And while @RM-MN is correct that you can taste the crushed grain, there's a difference between the grain having off-flavors, and it being good. It's more likely to have little of the really good flavor you'd expect freshly-crushed grain to show.

Now, maybe you'd like to try one of the kits just to see--and if you do, please report on the results. If you want the best chance of brewing some good beer, then the way to do that is to use the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on. If you think the yeast and hops are acceptable, then perhaps just replacing the crushed grain might be an option.

My 2 cents.

 

[kh54s10]

Forget about what it is going to taste like. You already paid for the kits. I would give it the smell, taste test and if that doesn't make you gag - go for it. It is only time and propane/electricity that you are wasting. It might be ok or it might be swill.

In the mean time get some new kits and brew them in the same time-frame so that you will have some good beer if the old ones turn out bad.