Really old (I mean REALLY old) LME question.

[WineIsRed]

I've encountered a highly unusual situation. A brewpub went out of business some time ago, and the owner is getting rid of a bunch of equipment.

There are two barrels of dark LME – I haven't seen them, but I'm told they are ~30-50 gal each, stainless steel, never been opened, and have been stored at room temp for, get this, 15 years... I was told that the original price for each of these barrels was ~ $5k.

I know that old LME gets dark, but I like dark beer – in fact I often brew with molasses... but I am not a fan of “extract twang”.

I've searched around here, and found conflicting information. Some say that if it's > 1 year old to dump it, some say that if it's stored cool and without O2 contact, that it will make tasty, but dark, beer.

So – is this stuff any good? I could probably pick it up for a song... or should I recommend that the guy sell it for pig feed?

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

I brewed with some old LME and it has ruined the batch. I don't think it will ever get better and it tastes terrible. If you are considering buying some, get a test batch and brew it first. You will know soon after that if it is bunk.
My ruined batch has a taste that builds up on your tongue until it can no longer be ignored after drinking the first 1/3 of a glass.

 

[November]

Depends on how much he wants I guess. It could be worth it just for the barrels and if that stuff is usable then that would be a bonus.

If you have access to Zymurgy, i recall there was an article a while back about someone using an old can of LME. The beer he made was called Old Bulger if I remember right.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Depends on Price really if I could get them under 250 for both I take a shot at it. I believe that stored in stainless would be a great improvement over the steel that most people here talk about. Hell if for nothing else two 15 gallon stainless pots/fermenters.......