Wish me luck guys 😜

[Gunshowgreg]

Long time no talk guys. someone gave me this kit. Had it sitting round his garage. Figured WTH.

 

[BrewZer]

Uh... go ahead and stick your finger down your throat now, and save yourself 3 weeks of waiting.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

The optimism is real with this one

 

[V-Fib]

Im sure it will still be beer. It just might taste like an armpit.

 

[BrewZer]

The optimism is real with this one

Well, between the slight bulge in the can and the weird liquifaction of the supposedly dry malt extract, I figure there's a good chance that some critters have already feasted on it. Five years is a long time to sit in a garage, and that's based on the expiration, which is usually two years after production.

 

[camonick]

Maybe you could join these guys over here.

 

[HB2 HughBHomeBrew]

 

[jrgtr42]

I'd say to open the can especially, and possibly the |DME bags, and smell and taste. If it's not right, toss it. Don't brew.
if they taste ||OK, you can go ahead. You won't get full fermentation, and it may not taste great, but you'll have an alcoholic beverage.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

EDIT: the hops do not smell bad either

They smell like molasses. Didn't see any rat chew marks in the bags. Taste sweet and honestly not stale. I'm kind of excited.

 

[Snuffy]

good luck.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

EDIT: the hops do not smell bad either

They smell like molasses. Didn't see any rat chew marks in the bags. Taste sweet and honestly not stale. I'm kind of excited.

Is that peanut brittle in that first picture?

 

[DuncB]

Looks more like a big block of Toffee. If it had peanuts in it the mice would have carried it away a long time ago, which would probably have been a good thing. Good luck getting that into a solution will require more energy cost than a new packet of DME.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

[Edit -mod]

 

[D.B.Moody]

You'll probably be okay as long as you carefully control fermentation temperature and oxygen exposure.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Why does the DME (dry malt extract) appear to have liquid in the bags?

 

[DaWiseBrew]

Hahaha, WTH!! Keep us posted, beer was safer than city water of yore, right? Well, but still, I enjoy modern life with municipal water systems! LOL.. Well, maybe it will even be good, and you will start a trend of using aged ingredients, annnnndd... Maybe not.. may the brewing gods be in your favor!

 

[bracconiere]

i don' think the age is as important as using RO water and getting your water salts right lol

 

[day_trippr]

"Don't do it! It's a trap!"

 

[mashpaddled]

At first I thought the DME was just browned from age, maybe light exposure too. The latter pictures definitely look like moisture. I would be extremely cautious about brewing with this. Who knows what is in that or why.

My first batch was the Belgian Blond in that brand of kit. Turned out better than expected. I put the box into service as homebrewing storage and I still have the box storing odds and ends from ten years of brewing.

 

[NGD]

Personally I’d trash those two bags of DME and replace them.

What the hell though, join the old brewing kit challenge and go for it.

 

[jerrylotto]

But pickup a new packet of dry yeast "just in case"

 

[bwible]

Why does the DME (dry malt extract) appear to have liquid in the bags?

I’m guessing from spending 5 years in the garage, extreme temps and temp changes. It probably got really hot and liquified some then really cold to harden again. That stuff is probably like glass.

I have brewed with old kits and I don’t usually discourage anyone from doing so. But I have limits.

The yeast pack has most likely been dead for a few years. The hops are most likely stale. Hard to believe they would smell good, and they’ve probably lost most of their bittering. The canned extract says hopped extract. I have never used hopped extract, let alone 5 year expired hopped extract.

I would pass on this one. Nut Brown Ale? I wouldn’t even try to cover this one up with dark malts and make a stout.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

Is that peanut brittle in that first picture?

Looks just like it doesn't it? Hardened up DME

 

[Gunshowgreg]

OG: 13.8 brix /1.055 SG.

The DME "bricks " i threw into the pot took a good while to dissolve as expected. Lots of stiring off the burner. Eventually it all melted probably close to an hour. It kinda reminded me of those honey chewy candies with how it looked in the pot.

I rehydrated he yeast and pitched. About 4 hrs later the airlock was popping pretty steady and still is today. I'll bottle and let you guys know how it taste in a few weeks. All in all it smelled pretty good.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

@bwible

I assure to give you an honest review of the experience. The speciality grains smelled a little stale not nearly as fresh of course. (Duh) if it sucks, is great or in-between I'll let yall know

 

[IslandLizard]

This is definitely the grossest looking old kit I've ever seen.

You may want to join as a contender in the "old-kit brew-off:"
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/5-yr-old-brewers-best-kit.690321/post-9068098

 

[Gunshowgreg]

This is definitely the grossest looking old kit I've ever seen.

You may want to join as a contender in the "old-kit brew-off:"
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/5-yr-old-brewers-best-kit.690321/post-9068098

I'll check it out. Thanks man.

 

[JPDosey]

That Dry Malt Extract looks Primo! It looks like this kit is from the 1930's LOL

 

[bwible]

@bwible

I assure to give you an honest review of the experience. The speciality grains smelled a little stale not nearly as fresh of course. (Duh) if it sucks, is great or in-between I'll let yall know

The kit was free so all you have invested is some time. Good learning experience either way.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

Update. I'm giving you all an unbiased review of this experiment. I think the community here deserves that.

The beer came out pretty good. I can honestly say there wasn't much off flavors or anything like that. I only put one bottle in the freezer to see if it carbonated. I think it needs a few more days to get better but it's not flat so that gives me hope. Once I finished the beer I almost went back to the fridge to get another then I realized I only had one that was cold. But my point is a as good enough for me to reach for more.

My over all thought process? The idea that beer is gonna be terrible just cause the dates are expired on some of the ingredients isn't fair. I know I probably pushed it more than most but I didn't pay for it and it was fun to experiment. I would say to others if you got a kit laying around thats old just brew it. Never know what will happen. As long as stuff doesn't smell bad. I'll even use this beer to cook with and make bread with also. Has a nice flavor and a sweet finish. Is it my favorite beer? No but its better than some other beers I made that I forced myself to drink. I made other nut brown ales that i couldn't drink. Tried choking them down but couldn't do it. Had to pour it out and i had fresh ingredients then. I encourage other to give it a try. I'll definitely do this again.

Cheers guys. Thanks for the interaction.