Expired Extract Kit

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HardcoreLegend
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2002 11:49 am
Location: Roscoe, IL, US

Expired Extract Kit

Post by HardcoreLegend »

I have recently come into possession of a can of hopped extract that is well beyond its "best if used by" date. It is a Brewmart Czech Pilsner kit. I have heard others say that canned extract never truly goes bad, it just may darken up a bit. I am curious to try to formulate a half batch of beer, say three gallon size using this extract. I have found out that this kit is supposed to be very hoppy and made with Saaz if prepared according to directions. I don't have the neccessary facilities or equipment to lager anything, and truly prefer brown or darker ales anyways. Do you think I could make a decent beer out of this by adding some specialty grains and fermenting with high quality liquid yeast?
jayhawk
Strong Ale
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Location: Vancouver, BC, CA

Starters?

Post by jayhawk »

Anything is possible in the world of homebrewing. However, maybe the best use for this can of extract is to use it for preparing yeast starters. You could boil it up and store it in seperate jars or in plastic containers in the freezer. If this would yield too many starters, I am sure you could use half the can for starters and freeze the remaining extract for later. As long as the extract is not moldy, there should be no problems with it. Fermentability should not be affected by freezing.
stumpwater
Double IPA
Double IPA
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Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2002 11:04 pm

Brew it man, brew it!

Post by stumpwater »

My first brew experience was with a can of stout extract I bought 3 years prior. The resulting beer was good despite the fact that I should have used more fermentables in the brew (long story).
My friend just started brewing because he found 8 cans of extract on sale for a buck each. (they came from the same store I got the stout extract from so I am guessing 4 years old.) He brewed them up and the beer was fine. Just get yourself some fresh yeast. It may not be the BEST beer you have ever had but lets be serious, it will make beer. We used dry yeast on all the above beers and no extra ingredients were added.
I would try it out and see what happens. This may be a good opportunity to try something new in your brewing process. If the beer doesn't turn out, then you really didn't lose anything. Just my thinking, eh?

Stefan
Team Beer
Light Lager
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Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2001 6:20 pm

Should be fine

Post by Team Beer »

I recently found a box I had lost during a move a couple of years ago. Inside was some 5 year old dark wheat extract, I purchased some liquid yeast without a starter and it brewed up just fine. Unless its crystallized I am sure its fine. I would suggest using more than one can of extract though if its only a 3lb can.
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