kombat
Well-Known Member
I have a Cooper's Mexican Cerveza kit (just a can of pre-hopped LME with a sachet of yeast taped to the top) that expired in 2011. Now, as I understand it, the "expiry dates" on these things primarily refers to the yeast. I also expect that maillard reactions will have significantly darkened the LME, but I just can't bring myself to throw the thing out. I figure I might as well brew it anyway, maybe make it an experiment and see what happens. My plan is to brew it as a lager, using lager yeast, and add some leftover Cascade hops to give it a little character.
I'm going to brew it this weekend. Here's my plan. I'm going to boil 3 quarts of water, then turn off the burner and add half the can of LME. I'm going to add in 1 oz. of Cascade hops in a hop sock and bring it back to a boil, while stirring. Once boiling again, I'll add 1.4 lbs of dextrose and boil for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the rest of the extract. I'll stir it in good, then move the pot to an ice bath in my sink and chill it down.
I'm going to pour the wort into a fermenter, and pitch a couple liters of lager yeast (Wyeast Czech Pilsener, washed from a previous batch) and put the carboy in my fermentation chamber at 40° F for 7-10 days. Once the krausen starts to drop, I'll let it warm to room temperature for 4 days to finish up, then move it into the fridge to lager for a month.
I don't want to waste a keg or CO2 on it, so I'm going to bottle condition (haven't done that in years). I'll bulk prime, then bottle and store it at 70+° F for another month, then put them in the fridge and see what I end up with.
What do you guys think? Am I wasting my time? Is there a chance this might turn out?
I'm going to brew it this weekend. Here's my plan. I'm going to boil 3 quarts of water, then turn off the burner and add half the can of LME. I'm going to add in 1 oz. of Cascade hops in a hop sock and bring it back to a boil, while stirring. Once boiling again, I'll add 1.4 lbs of dextrose and boil for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the rest of the extract. I'll stir it in good, then move the pot to an ice bath in my sink and chill it down.
I'm going to pour the wort into a fermenter, and pitch a couple liters of lager yeast (Wyeast Czech Pilsener, washed from a previous batch) and put the carboy in my fermentation chamber at 40° F for 7-10 days. Once the krausen starts to drop, I'll let it warm to room temperature for 4 days to finish up, then move it into the fridge to lager for a month.
I don't want to waste a keg or CO2 on it, so I'm going to bottle condition (haven't done that in years). I'll bulk prime, then bottle and store it at 70+° F for another month, then put them in the fridge and see what I end up with.
What do you guys think? Am I wasting my time? Is there a chance this might turn out?