NB St Paul Porter kit over 1 year old. Brew it?

[hightechlofi]

So I am finally home again after being gone for work for the better part of a year. I have 2 of the porter kits in my fridge and am wondering if they are worth brewing. I am going to replace the specialty grains and hops with fresh stuff from my lhbs. so, is the unopened lme, dme, and yeast still good? It is all unopened and in the fridge.

Thanks.

 

[RM-MN]

I live outside a small town. My lhbs tries to stock common items. Who knows how long some of them might have been on a shelf at room temperature before the right person arrives to purchase that item. Your has been refrigerated. I think your kits are probably just fine with the exceptions of hops that are known to degrade over time and yeast that is a living organism that cannot go forever without food. (dry yeast is something else, it would be fine) I'd replace the hops and yeast and get to brewin.

 

[hightechlofi]

I am gonna pop the pack in the yeast just to see. Ian also going to replace the crushed grains.

 

[Reuben1012]

I asked NB how long there kits last and they said up to a year if there is no crushed grains, I have the NB SP porter in secondary right now and so far it tastes great.

 

[hightechlofi]

I asked NB how long there kits last and they said up to a year if there is no crushed grains, I have the NB SP porter in secondary right now and so far it tastes great.

Awesome. I have really been looking forward to this one (... for over a year)! Hope it turns out, especially considering I have two kits for 10 gals.

 

[hightechlofi]

How are the hops in this beer, pretty hoppy? Any ideas if this would be good dry hopped?

 

[hightechlofi]

Okay, I just brewed this last night! I ended up getting fresh grains, fresh yeast, and fresh hops from my lhbs. However, when I was brewing I opened the old hops and they still seemed good, so I just used them and will keep the new ones for another beer.

Man, this beer smelled amazing while it was brewing. As per almost every post I read about this kit, the sample I tried was very bitter. I cannot wait to see how this turns out after a couple of months of aging.

I brewed a 10gal batch, so I am going to do a little experimenting. I am going to use the NB recommended ringwood yeast for 5 gal, and the london ale yeast on the other half. After a butter cream ale I brewed, I am a little wary of the ringwood as it is known for diacetyl.

After aging I am going to fil several growlers and experiment with adding coffee, vanilla, bourbon, cocoa nibs, and coconut. May even try blending some of the above!

Any tips and suggestions for making the additions to the porter? I am planning on using cold brewed coffee (how much for a growler?), and soaking the vanilla in a little vodka (or maybe the bourbon)

Man I wish I could fast forward to it being ready. I will post back on this thread to let everyone know how it goes.

 

[hightechlofi]

Primary fermentation is just about wound up. Tasted the samples this morning and they were great! Hop still dominate, but the malty toasty goodness is starting to push through, especially with the batch fermented with the ring wood. Also, no hints of diacetyl yet with the ringwood which makes me really happy.

I just rigged up some gear to start pressure fermenting for the rest of the process. Looking forward to seeing how it works. Gonna have to be careful with checking the ringwood for diacetyl though.

Had another idea for an adjunct. Gonna roast some pecans. And try a pecan porter!

Have a great weekend!

 

[Reuben1012]

Mines been in the bottle for 6 weeks now, it is Awesome.... Its chocolaty, coffee and hops all day. One of my buddies comment after drinking was " I would pay $10 for a six pack of that"

It did take about a month of bottle conditioning to really get good.
I am going to do the all grain version next. Curious how your double batch turned out?