Back at the end of October I was ordering some recipe kits from Northern Brewer and realized I was close to price limit that made me eligible to get a free refractometer. Since I have been wanting one anyway I added a batch of Dead Ringer IPA and since I don't have a grain mill I ordered it crushed. I got two of the batches done then cider season came so I did two batches of that and never got around to the dead ringer until a few weeks ago. I figured, at least it has been in the fridge, and thought that perhaps the OG might be a little low but what do I have to lose? On brew day, I went to get the bag of grains and was concerned to find that they hadn't been in the fridge after all but on the floor next to it (my beer fridge is a converted chest freezer in a back room). Again, I figured I have nothing to lose and brewed it anyway. I remember reading in John Palmer's book that grains can last a few months before crushing and a few weeks after crushing if they stay cool but these were now over four months old in what can be a quite warm room in the winter.
At this point, I will add that I used a yeast starter with yeast that I harvested from a batch about a year ago. Again, I have read that when you harvest yeast it will last for up to a few months in the fridge (the yeast did stay in the fridge). I was a little worried that I would have a slow or ineffective fermentation and was preparing myself to have to go get some new yeast to add.
Anyway, the brew went perfectly. My OG was exactly according to the recipe and the airlock was bubbling away after only a few hours. When I racked to secondary after a week the gravity had gone from 1066 to 1006 and didn't seem to have any off taste.
This makes me wonder how long these ingredients can actually last and what effects can I expect to see as they get older and older. I still have a lot of yeast strains pushing a year and if I get a grain mill I would expect to start buying in bulk and keeping those around for awhile as well.
Thanks for any thoughts.
At this point, I will add that I used a yeast starter with yeast that I harvested from a batch about a year ago. Again, I have read that when you harvest yeast it will last for up to a few months in the fridge (the yeast did stay in the fridge). I was a little worried that I would have a slow or ineffective fermentation and was preparing myself to have to go get some new yeast to add.
Anyway, the brew went perfectly. My OG was exactly according to the recipe and the airlock was bubbling away after only a few hours. When I racked to secondary after a week the gravity had gone from 1066 to 1006 and didn't seem to have any off taste.
This makes me wonder how long these ingredients can actually last and what effects can I expect to see as they get older and older. I still have a lot of yeast strains pushing a year and if I get a grain mill I would expect to start buying in bulk and keeping those around for awhile as well.
Thanks for any thoughts.
