First Beer Brew - Out of Date Kit

[NewToTheBrew]

Hi All,

New to brewing and new to the forum so first off, big hello!

As the subject suggest I've acquired a home brewing kit and finally fancy giving it a go now I'm settled in my new house. I've got a lager kit which I'm not into cos I dont drink it much, BUT Ive also got a beer kit that I've had for ages and the kit is out of date. Its old, Tom Caxton 'Best Bitter', includes:

Big can of 100% hopped malt extract 1.4kg - Best Before End 'November 2010'
Yeast - No Best Before
'Hop Enhancement System' (Maltodextrin, Hop Oil) - Best Before End 'August 2012'

So... Should I give it a go and hope for the best or is it only likely to produce beer that tastes like.. well, water the colour of something...? The only bit I'm majorly concerned about is the 'canned goods' as they're 2 years out. I've always decided canned stuff never goes off.. Or rarely. The yeast is replaceable but is probably ok? Otherwise, can I just use the yeast from the lager kit?And apparently the hop extract is still good.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pittsy]

Hi and welcome , yeah prob best to get use new yeast , the lager 1 will do if ferment lager around 18/22c as its most likely an ale yeast (lager yeast mostly around 12c ferment)it should be fine . The kit may be ok but not great cuz its the extract is what you want as fresh as poss ,but give it a go , worth doing

 

[NewToTheBrew]

Thanks for the reply! Ive ordered a fresh kit anyway so Ill try the old one and if its bad Ill just do the new one. Cheers.

Anyone got any further advice for a newbie?

 

[BrewDan]

Hello and welcome,

I'd say you won't have a problem, I have made many wine kits that were out of date, yeast included,and they turned out fine.

I was also given a beer kit that was out of date, the yeast had been replaced, that fermented out fine and has been sitting in a cornie for a couple of months conditioning.

I should think you will not have a problem, others will suggest to replace the yeast though.

Good luck

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome to the forum. Well worth giving it a go. All that could happen is you make a brew that doesn't taste too good which is unlikely. On the other hand it may be will be a decent pint, but I do agree with the suggestion of changing the yeast. It's only a quid so well worth it.

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[charlie_mead_face]

welcome to the forum :

 

[NewToTheBrew]

Woo Ok, thanks for the help, I think Ill just give it a go and see if I get it.. Ive ordered a new one as well so if it buggers up I can always just start from scratch at only the small cost of a KG of sugar! Excellent. Cheers, thanks for the welcome! :

 

[RobWalker]

+1 on a new yeast, it's the only thing you could really consider time sensitive...high sugar concentrate in a can pretty much equals sell by date immunity!

 

[Jaq]

I bought a load of kits and a few were out of date and so far every one has turned out good, a mixture of wine and beers some were years out of date but i did use fresh yeast with most

 

[NewToTheBrew]

Ace - Well, Ive set it going and this is my current set up:

When the element is on it sits nicely at 20C and when its just ambient its around 18C so generally happy about that. Slightly worried it might drop a bit to around 16-18C at night if the element is off, but Im hoping that's not the end of the world as I switch it on in the morning. But everything seems to be going nicely, even the element which was my Dad's from when he used to brew in the 70s.. And the smell, Mmmm, smells beautiful!

Thanks for the help.

EDIT: The Thermometer which is on the fridge measuring the ambient temp in the pic is actually sitting just inside the lid of the barrel now and is saying around 20C reasonably constantly.

 

[pittsy]

hi, at night temp dropping is better than leaving heater on and brew getting too warm so 16c ain't nothing to worry about . You could try wrapping the vessel in a blanket or 2 at night to poss maintain temp , good luck with your brew :