I was given an unopened but old brewing kit, is it ok to use?

[Muskogeee]

Hello,

My friend gave me a nice brewing kit that he was given but never used and didn't want. I know all of the equipment is fine, however I'm not sure about the ingredients and I wanted your opinions.

This whole kit was kept in a garage, in Florida for about a year, so humidity can get high and heat in the 90s in the summer.

Here's what I'm concerned about:

6 Pounds Amber LME, I opened it and smelled it and it smells ok to me, just like the fresh can I used last time, I put it in the fridge after.

3 Pounds Dark LME

3 vacuum sealed packets of hop pellets

1 ziplock bag of specialty grains, not vacuum sealed but smell ok and seem to have been kept dry.

1 jar of LD Carlson Easy Clean no rinse cleanser, this was all caked up and hard from the humidity but I broke it up back into a powder, do you think it will be ok?

Well I was just wondering if you guys though I should use this stuff or just chuck it and buy fresh ingredients.

Thank You.

 

[kh54s10]

I would say no. The LME is certainly gone. The hops are likely gone. Unless the grains were vacuum packed they are gone too. Any yeast is dead.

The Easy Clean is probably OK. Use it for cleaning only, do not try to sanitize with it. I like Oxyclean for cleaning and Starsan for sanitizing.

 

[cyberbrew]

Ingredient wise, assuming it all looks and smells ok, I'd roll with it. I'm not familiar with Easy Clean, but if it's a powder normally sounds like it's good to go as well.

A year really isn't that long for those ingredients to sit on a shelf...

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Ok to use: sure why not? Will it make a good batch: maybe ?

 

[lazarwolf]

If the lme is canned it's probably fine to use. But it won't taste very good. Flavinoids are molecular chains that your tounge perceives as flavors, sweet salty etc... although the kit may be safe to use, or parts of it may be safe, the flavors are certainly shot.

 

[OleGoatBrewing]

Its just a year old? A kit is designed to sit on a shelf for a while so why not try it. Worst you'll end up with a beer to pour out. Good Luck!

 

[Orthobrewsky]

The canned extract is probably about as good as you'd normally expect canned extract to be, so I think it should be salvaged. The way I see it, if you really don't like drinking it, you could use it for marinades.

There are some little things you could do to make the most of it. Assuming there is a pack of dry yeast, it might do the job, but has probably lost a good bit of it's viability. Be sure to properly rehydrate, since pitching dry can sometimes knock out 50% of your yeast. If you can get a new pack of an inexpensive ale yeast, that would be great.

If you can tell us what it says on the hop packages, when they were meant to be added, and the style of beer, I could make some recommendations. The hops have lost some potency.

Were the grains crushed? If they are still whole, they are probably fine, especially if they are dark.

It sounds like it was probably a darker beer kit. If your grains were crushed, they are probably not so good. In that case, I'd get 12 oz or so of black roasted barley, put enough hops at the start of the boil to bitter it properly and make a dry stout.

 

[Muskogeee]

This is the exact kit:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/superior-strong-ale-kit.html

I'm not that concerned about making a not so good tasting batch, I just didn't want to make something that was gonna kill me when I took a sip to test it

:cross:

If the hops and grains have lost some potency that's not too much of an issue for me cause I actually prefer a less hoppy less bitter beer and the original kit is supposed to be pretty strong flavored. Like I said I just didn't know if using these ingredients might make myself or others sick.

I thought about maybe experimenting a little, cause after all isn't that what home brewing is about.

I have a Mr Beer American Lager kit which makes 2 gallons, so I thought maybe I could try using the same amount of the Amber extract that I have as what came with the Mr Beer kit and bump it up to 4 gallons? I figure most yeast packets say they have an effective range usually more than the batch you're making so maybe the packet of yeast that came with the 2 gallon kit would be enough to ferment 4? If not I can experiment further and try re-using yeast from the batch of Lager I have going right now.

I'm a beginner so if any of this sounds like a horrible horrible idea let me know.

:smack:

 

[JonM]

I'd use the LME exclusively for yeast starters. There are ways to preserve LME once it's been opened or, got a canner/pressure cooker? Make a bunch of starter wort with all of the LME, can it, and have starters taken care of for the next year or so.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Doesn't sound like a horrible idea at all. Do you have a fermenter to do a 4-5 gallon batch? If not you will need one.

As for the yeast, I would spend the $3 and good a new pack of dry english ale yeast.

If you are still a new brewer, this can be an excellent opportunity to practice your process, with minimal financial investment.

As long as you go in to it realizing these ingredients are old, stale, and way past their flavor peak, and as a result may not brew the "best" beer you have ever had, you will be fine.

The old ingredients will not kill you, just so long as the LME was sealed in a can.

If it comes out tasting good, you will be pleasantly surprised. If it is not so good, you will not be disappointed, and will have some "cooking" beer, and will have gained more brewing experience. It's a win win.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

Yes, experimentation is a good thing and you have little to lose other than some time. It won't make anyone sick, it just may not taste so great.

The specialty grains normally provide a little freshness to an extract beer. If the grains are whole, they would be a great deal fresher than if the grains were cracked. They have to be cracked before they are steeped, so some people order them cracked from Midwest and some use a rolling pin or bottle (or mill) to crack them at home.

According to standard hop aging calculators, I'm guessing the hops may have lost about half their bittering abilities. I'd just take all the hops and put them in for the whole boil, since the aroma hopping isn't vital to the style and you probably will get very little aroma out of them anyway. It would still turn out a bit less bitter than intended, though more water in your boil could help with that.

I have a Mr Beer American Lager kit which makes 2 gallons, so I thought maybe I could try using the same amount of the Amber extract that I have as what came with the Mr Beer kit and bump it up to 4 gallons? I figure most yeast packets say they have an effective range usually more than the batch you're making so maybe the packet of yeast that came with the 2 gallon kit would be enough to ferment 4? If not I can experiment further and try re-using yeast from the batch of Lager I have going right now.

I'm not familiar with Mr. Beer and I'm not sure I understand all you said there. Do you have a fermentor to do a 5 gallon batch? If you don't and can't get one, you probably should scale back the ingredients accordingly. The Safale 05 yeast which comes with that kit should be used and might even do the job, but I'd recommend more if you can get it. It's a fairly high gravity ale at 1.065. Dry yeast hangs on pretty well, but you may well have lost quite a few of those guys during the hot summer. I'm not sure how lager yeast would affect it, but it might be an interesting experiment. You can mix different kinds of yeast.

 

[unionrdr]

I've brewed a 2 year old Cooper's kit before & got a god beer out of it. It was the OS lager & came out like a doppelbock. Not what it was intended to be, but good anyway. I say replace the hops & yeast, crush the grains any way you can & brew it. You may well be surprised.

 

[1975brewer]

I have brewed with all of those ingredients at well over a year old. Some times Life throws you a cure ball & you don't get to brew for a while. I always figured I had nothing to lose brewing with them but my time after all I had already paid for them. One time I had an open growler of LME & when I went to pour it in the boil kettle ( i had already seeped the grains so there was no going back) it had mold on it. I scraped it off & brewed. Was it as good as it would have been with fresh stuff? Probably not but it was good.