BrookdaleBrew
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- Joined
- Nov 28, 2008
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- 834
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Yesterday my boss gave me a bunch of equipment his Dad used to use when he home brewed. Got a few 5 gallon glass carboys, a beer thermometer, a few hydrometers, airlocks, carboy brush, 3 cases of bottles and a few other odds and ends. Among the equipment was a kit for an american pilsner with a receipt attached and dated 1997. It included 6lbs DME, 1lbs dry rice extract, 1/2lbs carapils, 1/2oz hallertauer, 1/2oz saaz, some irish moss, some amalayze enzyme and 5oz dextrose. Everything was vacuum sealed, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Only thing I had to lose was time. I'm an AG brewer so doing a partial boil, stove top extract kit is a walk in the park compared to my normal brew day.
The DME and rice extract were solid as a rock. The hops smelled like tobacco. The crushed grains actually smelled okay, believe it or not, but I didn't go as far as to taste them. I took a hammer to the bag of DME and rice extract and crushed them as well as I could without destroying the bags they were in. I used some fresh hop pellets I had in place of the tobacco hops and pitched some washed US-05. I'm going to add the amalayze enzyme once fermentation gets going. I have no idea if it's still good (what is the shelf life of that stuff?) but I figure if it does work, it definitely won't hurt being that the other ingredients are so old.
I have no delusions of this beer turning out good, but I thought it would be cool to give it to my boss once it's done in appreciation for the equipment. It's the last batch of beer his Dad never got to brew before he passed away. I figure I'll put it in his Dad's bottles and use as much of his equipment as I can. Then maybe him and his brother can drink a few in his Dad's memory.
The DME and rice extract were solid as a rock. The hops smelled like tobacco. The crushed grains actually smelled okay, believe it or not, but I didn't go as far as to taste them. I took a hammer to the bag of DME and rice extract and crushed them as well as I could without destroying the bags they were in. I used some fresh hop pellets I had in place of the tobacco hops and pitched some washed US-05. I'm going to add the amalayze enzyme once fermentation gets going. I have no idea if it's still good (what is the shelf life of that stuff?) but I figure if it does work, it definitely won't hurt being that the other ingredients are so old.
I have no delusions of this beer turning out good, but I thought it would be cool to give it to my boss once it's done in appreciation for the equipment. It's the last batch of beer his Dad never got to brew before he passed away. I figure I'll put it in his Dad's bottles and use as much of his equipment as I can. Then maybe him and his brother can drink a few in his Dad's memory.
