Kit Problem

[AndrewGWU]

I just found out the brew kit I used today was out of date by 10 months. Apparently the bewshop I bought it at is not one of the best around and he sold me a kit that went out of date a while back.
Should everything be ok?
How will I know if it is not and when?

 

[gruntingfrog]

Take this for what it's worth since I am fairly new to brewing and have never brewed an out of date kit...

I think the only thing you really need to worry about is the yeast. If you see no activity in the airlock (burping) withing 36-48 hours, go buy a new batch of yeast (preferably not from the same shop) and pitch it in the fermenter. Don't remove the airlock or disrupt the brew until you are ready to pitch the new batch of yeast. If you do have to pitch again, count your brewing date as the date you pitched the new batch of yeast and move on. It shouldn't be a problem.

 

[AndrewGWU]

thanks.... however, the closest brew shop is over an hour away.. I will have to order more yeast online or pick some up this weekend. should it be alright till then?

 

[Beer Snob]

What was in the kit? Was it a can of extract? A bag of dried malt? Was there grain with it? What did you do when you made it? If the yeast was dry, did you rehydrate it? Give us some more information We're figure it out with you

 

[chillHayze]

thanks.... however, the closest brew shop is over an hour away.. I will have to order more yeast online or pick some up this weekend. should it be alright till then?

If you have a bucket or carboy of unfermented wort it is pretty much guaranteed it will not last a weekend w/o getting fermented/infected by bacteria. But if you must wait, you must wait!! The yeast may just take a while to take off, so I would wait and see.

 

[Mikey]

The only thing that goes wrong with old liquid malt extract is that it darkens with time.

If your yeast does it's thing ( I've used worse than 10 months out of date) you'll be fine.

 

[AndrewGWU]

thanks everyone.... I checked it this morning and it is bubling every 30-45 secs in the airlock... don't know what the normal speed is, but considering the circumstances i think that is good.

The kit I used was all canned extract. The insturctions said to pour it into the fermenter then an amount of boiling water followed with cold water. I did rehydrate the yeast for about 10 min before I pitched it in.

 

[david_42]

Re-hydrating is a good move, even if a yeast says you can just sprinkle it on. I've used six year old extract. it was really dark, so we called it porter. If this happens again, make a starter with the yeast. Dried yeast can last for years, unless it gets cooked.

 

[Walker]

If you have a bucket or carboy of unfermented wort it is pretty much guaranteed it will not last a weekend w/o getting fermented/infected by bacteria.

I diagree with this. If the carboy was properly sanitized and the wort was cooled rapidly and put into the carboy, and the carboy sealed up.... it should last a while. I wouldn't let it sit for a long time, but a couple of days shouldn't be a big deal at all.

Think about LME.... it's clean, concentrated wort, put into a clean container and sealed. It'll last for years.

-walker

 

[AndrewGWU]

How often should my airlock be bubbling during the first few days of fermentation. I am new to this and just wanna make sure everything is ok. It has been 60hrs since I put it in and the bubbles are about 12 sec apart. Is that normal?

 

[Sephro]

yes that is normal. Should come out good!