How long will Malt Syrup (LME) last after opening?

I am thinking of buying some bulk LME but wanted to know how long its shelf life is after opening. And should/could it be refrigerated or frozen at all?

I've personally saved (and subsequently used) LME up to a month after opening. That's not to say that it won't last longer; if you vacuum seal it and refrigerate, I'm fairly certain it'll be fine for quite a while, but mine was just on the shelf in a ziploc.

I'd suspect for longer term, you would want to refrigerate, but I have little to base that on.

The longest I went was 4 months after opening some LME. I used half the 7lbs and then put the lid back on and sealed the lid to the bottle with the tape that came with it. Stuck in the back of the fridge and used the rest about 4 months later, and the beer turned out great!

Pandaren said:

The longest I went was 4 months after opening some LME. I used half the 7lbs and then put the lid back on and sealed the lid to the bottle with the tape that came with it. Stuck in the back of the fridge and used the rest about 4 months later, and the beer turned out great!

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That's pretty sticky gooey stuff. Must be hard to clean the outside of the can after the first pour.

How do you measure? Guesstamate w/your eyes or w/a scale?

i have no experience with this but i would think you'd want to freeze it. Biggest concern I would have off the top of my head is that I can't think of anything tastier to bacteria than LME... less easy for bacteria to thrive in it if its frozen.

Again, not an authority, but figured I'd throw that out there.

Dougan said:

i have no experience with this but i would think you'd want to freeze it. Biggest concern I would have off the top of my head is that I can't think of anything tastier to bacteria than LME... less easy for bacteria to thrive in it if its frozen.

Again, not an authority, but figured I'd throw that out there.

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Since it gets boiled I don't think this would matter much

earwig said:

Since it gets boiled I don't think this would matter much

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The bacteria would be killed in the boil, sure, but boiling wouldn't make infected LME taste like it hadn't been spoiled.

I stuck an opened jar of LME in a cabinet for about 5 years. It grew a nice head of mold. I ended up scraping the mold off and using the rest of it (in a stout) and it was fine.

That was several years ago. My attention to detail has increased significantly since then, so I probably wouldn't do that again (haven't used extract since then anyway).

I buy the 33lb. growlers from briess and have had lme sitting on the shelf for 4-5 weeks. haven't noticed any off flavors but don't think I'd push it much longer then that

MalFet said:

The bacteria would be killed in the boil, sure, but boiling wouldn't make infected LME taste like it hadn't been spoiled.

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Yeah, that was what I was getting at, the sourness would be there before it was boiled.

I just used some LME for a starter that I bought at the end of December and used for a starter. I kept it in the fridge since I used it in December. Before I used it, I went to the local HB store and asked if it would be ok. They told me to never throw away LME, that it should be fine if kept in the fridge and only the color would be darker. Not sure how true that is, but that is what was told to me. Anyway, I used it and then put what was left back into the fridge. That was just this Saturday, so I will need to wait two months before knowing how it will turn out.

True that. I had a quarter gallon of gold malt (3 lbs) that I accidentally opened thinking it was my 3 lbs of honey. I just recapped it and used it about a month later with no ill effects to taste, though it was darker in color.