It's a light lager kit.. Yet the container hasn't gotten bloated or anything.. I wonder if it's worth the trouble to pitch into a fermenter? The alternative would be to throw the whole thing out....
Have a beer kit that's WAAAY past the due date.
- Thread starter mannye
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What's the absolute worst that can happen? It smells like it's gone bad and you have to wash your fermenter out carefully? The container explodes all over the brewing room?
I know... I'm just so used to not boiling anything at this point it seems so PONDEROUS... LOL I'll probably get to it soon. The dog days of summer could use a light session lager. If it doesn't turn into The Blob and eat Miami Beach that is.
Freshness makes a huge difference in yeast and hops. Not so much in grain. If the kit came with yeast you're planning to use I'd definitely make a starter before pitching. If the hops are all for bittering you will probably be able to get away with old hops and make something pleasant, though it won't taste great. I wouldn't use old hops for flavor or aroma, though, if you can avoid it.
So old I don't remember how old it is. At least three to four years since it was delivered.
Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
I've got a riesling wine kit and a zinfandel kit sitting around that are at least that old
Well..looks like I'll be making some "Light American Lager" for the dog days of September... one of the most brutally hot months down here. I think the temps are higher in August, but there's something about September that just makes it seem hotter. A light blonde beer, although I think the age will make it a little darker, is just the ticket for throwing in a keg to ward the heat away.
I know it sounds weird but I have used old malt. as a general rule fish out anything you don't want to consume and go for it.
That thought did cross my mind.... but what if I blow 15 pounds of honey because the kit is screwy? I still might. Just got to get enough nerve.
I know it's been awhile, but I wonder whatever happened to this one?
My rule of thumb is, if it isn't visibly (or smells / tastes too) spoiled, I'd say go for it. After tasting and checking everything out, you would probably know was "wasn't right" and needed throwing in the bin. Excessively bubbly liquid extract or bloated bags? Yeah, toss it out. If it looks and smells and tastes okay, it will be fine. Like others have said about the hops, you might want to freshen those up if they're really old and you're wanting some aroma or finishing pizazz, but if it's for bittering, then you will probably be okay using it as long as they don't smell "funky".
My rule of thumb is, if it isn't visibly (or smells / tastes too) spoiled, I'd say go for it. After tasting and checking everything out, you would probably know was "wasn't right" and needed throwing in the bin. Excessively bubbly liquid extract or bloated bags? Yeah, toss it out. If it looks and smells and tastes okay, it will be fine. Like others have said about the hops, you might want to freshen those up if they're really old and you're wanting some aroma or finishing pizazz, but if it's for bittering, then you will probably be okay using it as long as they don't smell "funky".
I haven't screwed up the courage to bet the honey on it yet, but I was just thinking the same thing... Get a batch of trad ready to go and open it up. Smells ok? Dump it in!
Later this season I will try and update. I'll throw it in a keg and force carb once it's done.
Sent from my TARDIS at the restaurant at the end of the universe while eating Phil.
Later this season I will try and update. I'll throw it in a keg and force carb once it's done.
Sent from my TARDIS at the restaurant at the end of the universe while eating Phil.
Bah! What takes all the mess out of beer brewing is a six pack of quality craft beer. There's too much great beer on shelves these days to justify the insanity that is beer brewing. Frankly if there was as much great mead on shelves the TARDIS would be converted into a cellar.
I liked brewing beer when my beer was better than store bought beer. Just like I like making mead because Chaucer is just not good enough. And the various other commercial meads I have access to aren't as good as a carefully made BOMM and nowhere near as good as some of the aged meads I have sampled from other GOTMEADers.
Cider is a problem as well. Most of it tastes like a Jolly Rancher now that they are all catering to the sweet tooth of kids. What happened to Boones Farm Strawberry Hill being the introductory alcopop? Why did they have to go and ruin cider too?
So now I'm learning cider as well.
Sent from my TARDIS at the restaurant at the end of the universe while eating Phil.
Sadness on the cider. We seem to have a great variety of ciders available, many of which lean towards dry and/or tart.
Reviving a really old thread here (sorry, but I can't justify opening a new thread just for this one topic): I came across a really old kit myself over the weekend. Well, two kits, actually. Both from Mangrove Jack, and I started brewing the first one (Bavarian Wheat). These kits must be around 4 years old, possibly more, and everything in them is "expired". The yeast has no date on it, but the extract tin it was shipped with was already "expired" in February 2016. So it's old. The "beer enhancer", basically the malt extract and dextrose mix expired around end 2017, so that was definitely still good.
Anyway, I mixed everything like the pack said I should and tossed it in the fermenter. Dropped temps down to 22°C (~72°F) by cold crashing the pot I used in freezing water. I also planned ahead by sanitizing the fermenter and going to the local water shop and filled it to 18l with purified water. The whole fermenter went into the chest freezer for a few hours before adding the wort, so the temps were quite low, which is good. I took the hydrometer reading and got it dead at 1.040, with the wort at 22°C. The hydrometer is calibrated at 20°C though, so the correction chart said to add 0.014 to the reading for every 2°C over the 20°C temp, so my original gravity is 1.054. Perfectly in range.
Back to topic though, I just pitched the dry yeast on top, mixed it in (making sure to splash a bit), topped up with purified water to the 23l mark and left it. next morning it was bubbling away, and 24h later I had a nice krauzen on the wort. The bubbling is slowly starting to die down now, around 72h later, which is on par with the ~5 days fermenting time recommended in the kit. Will take hydrometer readings in a few days to ensure it's stable before adding finings.
In this insane heat we're having (hitting 106°F felt temperature, like today), I've had to make a plan, so I tucked the fermenter in the back of a kitchen cabinet and packed the cabinet with ice packs (rotating them constantly). I am managing to keep the wort at a constant 22°C, with the 20°C block on the thermometer slightly lighting up, so I'm guessing my constant temp is sticking to 21°C~22°C, which is perfect for the yeast to not stress at all.
I'll report back on how it's going in a day or two.
Anyway, I mixed everything like the pack said I should and tossed it in the fermenter. Dropped temps down to 22°C (~72°F) by cold crashing the pot I used in freezing water. I also planned ahead by sanitizing the fermenter and going to the local water shop and filled it to 18l with purified water. The whole fermenter went into the chest freezer for a few hours before adding the wort, so the temps were quite low, which is good. I took the hydrometer reading and got it dead at 1.040, with the wort at 22°C. The hydrometer is calibrated at 20°C though, so the correction chart said to add 0.014 to the reading for every 2°C over the 20°C temp, so my original gravity is 1.054. Perfectly in range.
Back to topic though, I just pitched the dry yeast on top, mixed it in (making sure to splash a bit), topped up with purified water to the 23l mark and left it. next morning it was bubbling away, and 24h later I had a nice krauzen on the wort. The bubbling is slowly starting to die down now, around 72h later, which is on par with the ~5 days fermenting time recommended in the kit. Will take hydrometer readings in a few days to ensure it's stable before adding finings.
In this insane heat we're having (hitting 106°F felt temperature, like today), I've had to make a plan, so I tucked the fermenter in the back of a kitchen cabinet and packed the cabinet with ice packs (rotating them constantly). I am managing to keep the wort at a constant 22°C, with the 20°C block on the thermometer slightly lighting up, so I'm guessing my constant temp is sticking to 21°C~22°C, which is perfect for the yeast to not stress at all.
I'll report back on how it's going in a day or two.
Alright, yesterday marked Day 5 since pitching, 120 hours exactly. Perfectly following the instructions on the tins, fermentation has stopped. Air lock is dead quiet as of last night. I'm now going to leave the beer on the yeast for a week to let the secondary fermentation and conditioning to happen like it should, and then I'll get to bottling. The smell in the cabinet is sweet, "clean" and inviting. It smells really good!
Just one Q - how accurate are these stick-on thermometers?
Oh, as a PS: I read the little paper thingy in the hydrometer tube incorrectly. My correct OG is 1.0414. It should end me up with a beer in the 4.5%~5% ABV range, after carbonation with the carbonation drops.
Just one Q - how accurate are these stick-on thermometers?
Oh, as a PS: I read the little paper thingy in the hydrometer tube incorrectly. My correct OG is 1.0414. It should end me up with a beer in the 4.5%~5% ABV range, after carbonation with the carbonation drops.
