First batch

[Criniit]

Woot, brewed my first batch on sunday its in the primary bubbling away. It is a Real Ale from the coopers kit. Added some extra amarillo hops to get more of an American Plae Ale taste (or atleast thats what the guy at the brew store said lol).

Anyways, I have a question, the brew store is about an hour from me, and I was wondering, how long do extract kits last? Like if I went up and bought several kits, say enough for a months worth of brewing, how long would I be able to store them? This would save me a lot of driving time.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

[cubbies]

I have never held on to extracts long enough to find out when they go bad, but I would bet you could go at least a month if not numerous months before extracts went bad.

 

[c.n.budz]

Find out how much business this HBS does. You might be fine keeping an extract kit for a few months, but if they've been sitting on the store shelf for 6-7 months previous to you buying it, you'd be pretty well boned...

What I've done when I had a kit and wasn't going to brew it for a couple weeks is to open the kit and put the hops, specialty grains, and yeast in the fridge

 

[Criniit]

I forgot to check on the extract can, does it have an experation date printed on there?

 

[c.n.budz]

I forgot to check on the extract can, does it have an experation date printed on there?

I've never used a cooper's kit before so I'm not sure if it will have an exp. date, the yeast should have either an manufacture date or an exp. date though.

If you're using DME, keep it dry and out of direct sunlight and it will last for a long time. I'm pretty sure that LME has a shorter shelf life but I've never had any sit around for longer than a couple weeks, so someone else may be able to better answer that.

Liquid yeast if stored properly(in the fridge) should last close to 6 months, but I'd try to use it within 3-4 months. Dry yeast will last quite awhile when stored in the fridge as well.