Old malt

[brockchance]

I bought a lot of brewing stuff off craigslist, mostly bottles, but it came with a pumpkin ale kit from last fall. All the ingredients are sealed up but the malt was in a tub and was kinda iffy on that. Does the stuff ever go bad?

 

[m1k3]

well, it usually does not get better with age.

I read this article in BYO where some guys brewed with extract that was made during prohibition!! I'm sure that will make your malt look fresh.

 

[brockchance]

What would your choice of yeast be and how much for a 5 gallon pumpkin ale. This will be my second brew and that's the only thing the kit doesn't have.

 

[brockchance]

This is the recipe:
6lbs LME
Grains: 1/2 pound caramunich 1/2 pound LB chocolate
Bittering hop pellet pack
20 grams pumpkin pie spice

 

[Chanoc]

I'd buy fresh the steeping grains and hops for good measure...

 

[Barley_Bob]

I saw the thread title, and my first thought was that this was a kind of malt you could buy at the LHBS. Totally legit. Probably something you'd put in an Old Ale. Nope.

I think you're probably fine... On the risk reward scale, I think your risk is pretty low. I definitely think your malt is fine. I have a basement full of the stuff, and it keeps really well. The hops are definitely past their prime, but it's just a bittering addition. It's not like you've inherited a packet of citra someone murdered. Most of the taste from the hops will be boiled away. I would just go for it. And then brew something else.

 

[brockchance]

The kit didn't come with yeast, what kind and how much should I use it doesn't really say and this is only my third brew thanks!

 

[brockchance]

I got the kit roughy 75 bottles and probably 300 plus caps with a 5 pound tub of sanitizer for $30 so really the only cost of me brewing that would be holding up one or my fermentation buckets

 

[Barley_Bob]

I think I would use S-04. US-05 would also be a fine choice, but I think I would lean toward a British strain. Good brewing!

 

[kh54s10]

I used Wy1056 for my pumpkin ale, so US-05 or WLP001 are the same strain. S-04 or something similar would be a good choice also.

How much. Use a yeast pitch calculator. I use this one:http://www.yeastcalculator.com/