Coopers Bitter - Expired Can

[Ingvaroo]

Hey guys, just picked up a Coopers Bitter, 5oz Citra and 5oz Amarillo today getting ready for the next batch.

Then i noticed that the can says Best Before 29/05/2010

Safe to continue ? All the cans at my LHBS are expired like that and he has no kinds of yeast for sale...

So go or no go ?

 

[shawnbou]

If the can isn't bulging, open it. If it smells OK and not "off", it should be safe to use. It may not be the freshest, but it should be fine.

But if all your LHBS's extract cans are expired and they don't have any yeast for sale, I guess my other advice would be to look for another supplier for the future, online/mail order if necessary. If you can't find anyone else in Iceland (Reykjavik, maybe?) you might want to look into Norway or the UK ... homebrewing seems to be getting pretty big in both of those countries, and maybe one of their online stores would ship your way.

Good luck.

 

[TopherM]

There was a guy here on the board not so long ago that found a can of Coopers from 1998. He brewed it, and it turned out fine.

 

[Ingvaroo]

Yes, im in the northren part of Iceland (Akureyri) and we only have a small store here (smaller then my bedroom, seriously) and the man there isnt ordering this stuff often, mainly to have "any" selection for homebrewers, there is no other.

And the only one in Reykjavik selling the stuff i need takes 7 days to mail them to me, wich is not acceptable. (takes 3-4 hours to drive to Reykjavik)

But i have plans, and if they work out OK then i will be opening up a LHBS sometime next year

About the can, its not bulged, ill open it tonight and see what happens.

Think the yeast will survive this ?

 

[shawnbou]

Are you just using the yeast from the top of the can? If I recall, Coopers dry yeast tends to have a pretty long shelf life, but it's so hard to know what conditions it's been through before it got to your hands.

The yeast may have its own expiration date on the packet, but I can't remember for sure. If it doesn't, you can assume it's past its best by date too, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

If you had access to more extract, I'd suggest making a starter just to be sure. But since you don't, I'd just use it and see what happens. You should still have enough viable yeast cells to get the job done, it just may not ferment out as quickly or as vigorously as you'd like.

 

[Ingvaroo]

Thanks guys

 

[unionrdr]

I made the ale in my avatar with a cooper's OS lager can dated June 2009! But it was still sealed,undented,etc. So I used it with 3lbs of Munton's plain extra light DME,1oz Kent Golding,& 1oz Willamette hops. When carbed & conditioned 4-5 weeks,it was a lot like A Salvator doppel bock.
Got the full 3 thumbs up from Gary at Home Brewer TV,episode # 38.
I also made a small starter out of 1 1/2C of boiling water,& 1/4C of the DME in a .5L (2C) Pyrex measuring cup. Inserted a quick check thermometer,& covered with plastic till I got it down to 70F (21C). Then,poured in the old coopers 7g ale yeast sachet,stirred,& recovered. Then went about my brew day.
Some 3.5 hours later,I was ready to pitch. The starter got going pretty good,so I stired it,& poured it in. That was about 7:30pm. By 7:34am,I awoke & checked it. It was bubbling merrily as if nothing was amiss. So a starter is def good with the small cooper's ale yeast sachet.

 

[ChadC]

I brewed a Coopers Bitter a couple of months ago, it was past the best before date (2009).The extract smelled fine, maybe a bit darker than normal? All I did was proof the yeast to make sure it was viable before pitching.
The beer turned out great, the kits were cheap($12 cdn)due to being expired, and I would have bought more but the last few were dented and that worried me.
this what it looks like after bottle conditioning....

 

[birvine]

Try to use a fresh yeast if you can, and if the LME looks good, give it a shot.

B