Old Coopers Lager Kit

[MonkeyMick]

Hi

Ive just been 'gifted' by a colleague at work an old Coopers Lager kit. With an expiry date of 2004!

Am I right in thinking it 'should' be OK to use, if I swap out the yeast - given its older than some of my kids?

At the very most if it went wrong I'd only be out a kilo of sugar and a packet of yeast.

What would anyone else do? Brew it and call it a speciale reservo?

 

[marshbrewer]

As long as the can isn't bulging, I'd give it a go. It will have darkened I suspect, and lost some of its hop aroma and bitterness, so perhaps pep it up with a hop tea and dry hop? Saaz would be good. I can also highly recommend Crossmyloof Kolsch yeast for brewing lager like beers.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Replace the yeast and go for it seems to be the forum default answer.

 

[MonkeyMick]

I'll give it a go!

Ordered some californian lager yeast from crossmyloof, and will order some citra hops to use as a tea, and liberty to dry hop with.

How's that sound?

 

[marshbrewer]

Sounds good to me - I've had good experiences with the Cali common yeast from them s well.

 

[MonkeyMick]

Awesome!

Completely new to dressing things up, but I think I've just learned a little research into yeasts and hops may make a huge difference. I was worried I'd completely tank it with a wrong choice..

 

[ExpatBrewer]

I once brewed a Coopers Lager that was 2 years past expiry. The resultant beer was a LOT darker than it should have been but actually tasted OK. It was purchased from an air-conditioned supermarket so storage temperature was acceptable. Your can however is 15 years old! The good news is there's no risk of lost hop aroma because there isn't any in that can to begin with!

All I can say is... Good Luck! If you don't mind the very real possibility that the beer may end up getting tipped down the drain it will still serve as an invaluable educational exercise and of some benefit to the rest of us should we ever get caught with an old expired can of extract on our hands!

 

[MonkeyMick]

I once brewed a Coopers Lager that was 2 years past expiry. The resultant beer was a LOT darker than it should have been but actually tasted OK. It was purchased from an air-conditioned supermarket so storage temperature was acceptable. Your can however is 15 years old! The good news is there's no risk of lost hop aroma because there isn't any in that can to begin with!

All I can say is... Good Luck! If you don't mind the very real possibility that the beer may end up getting tipped down the drain it will still serve as an invaluable educational exercise and of some benefit to the rest of us should we ever get caught with an old expired can of extract on our hands!

The very good news is that it's been stored for 15 years in a cellar, shows no signs of expanding and looks like its just been lifted off a shop shelf!

I'm giving it a go - partly because I'm curious to see how it'll end up and partly because I'm Scottish and don't want it to go to waste!

 

[dwhite60]

So, whatever became of this?

All the Best,
D. White

 

[MonkeyMick]

It's still sitting in the garage (at around 3 degrees) waiting to be primed and kegged/bottled.

It fermented really well, and the citra and liberty hops gave it a nice bitterness. Its quite dark (oxidisation I think), but isn't bad. But I wouldn't call the result a lager by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd planned on bottling or kegging this weekend but other events have taken over instead...