How Long of a shelf life do extract kits have?

[sportscrazed2]

i just ordered the innkeeper from northern brewer because it sounds delicious. but i have a batch in fermenter that i will probably bottle next saturday or may even leave it in there for another week so i have time to empty some bottles and buy a turkey fryer and build a wort cooler. so how long do these things usually last before they expire?

 

[Revvy]

i just ordered the innkeeper from northern brewer because it sounds delicious. but i have a batch in fermenter that i will probably bottle next saturday or may even leave it in there for another week so i have time to empty some bottles and buy a turkey fryer and build a wort cooler. so how long do these things usually last before they expire?

Most kits are dated iirc a year. If it's dry yeast that too will have an expiriation date as well that's a couple years. So there's really no worries if you don't brew for a week or a month or two.

Of course the other option is to buy another bucket and brew the darn thing..you can never have enough primaries if you ask me. (I think I have 12 of various sizes)

 

[maxamuus]

I have stored kits for a couple weeks without any issues. I put the grains in the freezer and the extract in the fruit cellar.

 

[pericles]

Yeast should go in the fridge. If it's dry yeast, that's not much of an issue, ESPECIALLY not in a one or two week time frame. Grains probably go in the fridge too but, again, not a big deal.

Yeast NEVER goes in the freezer unless it's been preserved with glycol; otherwise the cells will burst when the water inside freezes. I'd avoid putting the grains in the freezer too; obviously burst grain cells aren't going to have the same effect as dead yeast will, but I can't imagine it wouldn't have an effect - even a small one - on the final product. Maybe even just making it a little more hazy.

Fruit you'd treat like normal fruit: freeze if it's frozen, refrigerate if you need to keep it more than a few days, otherwise you can leave it on the table in a bowl. Fruit extract usually doesn't even need to be refrigerated.

Hops, on the other hand, can stale quickly if they aren't properly packaged and stored. Pellet hops last longer than whole hop flowers but, regardless, they both go in the freezer if you plan to wait more than a day or two to brew.

 

[flatbeer]

fairly new so feel free to add pinch of salt to taste. your canned should keep but from what ive read if your buying a complete kit your best off buying your yeast seprately as kit yeast tends to be a bit poor

 

[AugustDerleth]

Hops, on the other hand, can stale quickly if they aren't properly packaged and stored. Pellet hops last longer than whole hop flowers but, regardless, they both go in the freezer if you plan to wait more than a day or two to brew.

Ahhhh craps. Alright so I had some pellets, and I weighed them out for my recipe and placed them in double-lock ziplock bags and then placed them in my fridge. They were there for a week or two, but when I would open my fridge I could smell delicious hoppyness. I brewed yesterday, but am now wondering if they may have staled and what exactly that might mean? Just a bit less flavour and aroma, possibly? I suppose I'll find out the answer in a month or so, but just wondering what your thoughts on this might be! Ohhh and I still l have a couple packages of them because I scaled down the recipe and barely used any of the package, so should this package go into the freezer then? I intend to make a pumpkin ale using the same hops fairly soon. Thanks! :fro:

 

[Indyking]

Most kits are dated iirc a year. If it's dry yeast that too will have an expiriation date as well that's a couple years. So there's really no worries if you don't brew for a week or a month or two.

Of course the other option is to buy another bucket and brew the darn thing..you can never have enough primaries if you ask me. (I think I have 12 of various sizes)

12 primaries simultaneously? Revvy, is this a joke? Hopefully you have lot of friends to help you out with those beer men...

 

[kanderna]

Wanna hijack the thread a bit and ask a follow-up...

Wasn't really thinking and ordered a couple kits right before a new job and move. Well, lost track of them through the whole ordeal *gasp!* So I have crushed grain, LME, and vaccuum-sealed hops that have been sitting around for about 5 months (in a box in the basement). Anything salvageable? I always buy the yeast separately, so no worries there. AHS tells me a month, max, but thought I would check here.

 

[PolishLogic]

So I have crushed grain, LME, and vaccuum-sealed hops that have been sitting around for about 5 months (in a box in the basement). Anything salvageable? I always buy the yeast separately, so no worries there. AHS tells me a month, max, but thought I would check here.

From my experience (the brews two I have fermenting right now), I finally used two kits that I'd bought back in April from NB. Never stored the kits in any special way other than leaving them in the spare bedroom & putting the liquid yeast in the fridge.

Samples of my amber taste great even though I think I have a slightly stuck fermentation issue, as it appears to have finished .004 points (steady over 7 days worth of testing that began on day 13 of fermentation) above my "adjusted" target. However that I attribute to possibly not making a starter for that yeast. Or, maybe just luck of the draw by adding some extra DME to pump the OG up from 1.056 to 1.063.

As for my dubbel, I did make a starter, roughly 6 hours after pitching it required a blow-off tube, and as of my most recent sample it's already got me looking forward to cracking open a finished bottle of it, as well.

So based on my personal experiences, even 6 months later these kits have been just fine.

 

[Indyking]

Coopers kits have an expiration date in the bottom of the can... judging by the time I have left to use after I got them, I think 1 year in the standard!

 

[kanderna]

Kinda what I figured. Going in, I'm pretty OK using the hops and grain... just wasn't sure on the LME.