Wish me luck guys šŸ˜œ

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Will it suck?


  • Total voters
    22

Gunshowgreg

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
278
Reaction score
106
Location
Lake Charles
Long time no talk guys. someone gave me this kit. Had it sitting round his garage. Figured WTH.
 

Attachments

  • 20210227_124721.jpg
    20210227_124721.jpg
    2.2 MB · Views: 231
  • 20210227_124725.jpg
    20210227_124725.jpg
    4 MB · Views: 228
  • 20210227_124727.jpg
    20210227_124727.jpg
    4 MB · Views: 216
  • 20210227_124734.jpg
    20210227_124734.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 209
  • 20210227_124742.jpg
    20210227_124742.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 206
  • 20210227_124745.jpg
    20210227_124745.jpg
    4 MB · Views: 191
The optimism is real with this one šŸ¤£
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 

Attachments

  • 20210227_142123.jpg
    20210227_142123.jpg
    1,024 KB · Views: 83
  • 20210227_143656.jpg
    20210227_143656.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 85
  • 20210227_143720.jpg
    20210227_143720.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 79
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!
 
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.
 
Personally Iā€™d trash those two bags of DME and replace them.

What the hell though, join the old brewing kit challenge and go for it.
 
Why does the DME (dry malt extract) appear to have liquid in the bags?
Iā€™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 donā€™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 theyā€™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 wouldnā€™t even try to cover this one up with dark malts and make a stout.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
@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.
 
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.
 

Attachments

  • 20210325_185025.jpg
    20210325_185025.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 39
It's great to see that a few others are willing to actually try things instead of just imagining.

However, do you think you'll be able to repeat that same taste again?
 
Right, but no one should be buying kit beer and letting it sit for 5 years to see how well it's aged before actually making the beer. Recommending that makes absolutely no sense, but it is comical, and I will give you that...but that's all you get ;)
 
I'm currently drinking a beer that is a blend of six beers I brewed annually from 2010-2015. Who says you can't pre-age your beer with aged extract.
 
Right, but no one should be buying kit beer and letting it sit for 5 years to see how well it's aged before actually making the beer. Recommending that makes absolutely no sense, but it is comical, and I will give you that...but that's all you get ;)

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
2 minutes ago
Lol i didn't buy it. It was given to me by a friend that never got into the hobby. It hurt my feelings to throw it out.
 
It's great to see that a few others are willing to actually try things instead of just imagining.

However, do you think you'll be able to repeat that same taste again?


Im not sure boss. I mean it was just a kit. I didn't have to calculate anything really. It's kinda like making boxed brownies if you think about it. I can't take any credit for it other than I tried and didn't just toss it.
 
Back
Top