What to do......?

[Nath M]

I finally got a hold of my own fermenter so can now get brew #2 down....can't wait!

 

I bought the kit 2nd hand and it came with a beer kit, sugar etc. However the kit (not a Coopers one) expired at end of 2009.

 

If I replace the sugar pack (which is rock hard) and the brewkit yeast, will the brewkit still be okay to use???

 

Or should I throw it out and start from scratch???[pinched]

 

Thinking if it's not worth doing I'll just shoot down to the supermarket and grab a Coopers Mexican Cerveza Kit and a BE2 and throw that together for now, then I'm about to order bits online for a Motueka Slam IPA.

 

Your thoughts about the expired can and a plan of attack appreciated. [biggrin]

[Guest]

The tin should be ok. Rehydrate the yeast to check for some action and if that works then just pitch that. If it doesn't then pitch a fresh one.

 

The can I just put down was given to me and the yeast was 2008. I rehydrated it and only got a slightest action, about the size of less than 1/4 of your palm. So I pitched it in hope that it will grow. 8 hours later and my wort had all the yeast on the bottom with no action at all, so I then repitched.

 

imo, if you are ever in doubt with your yeast then rehydrate it to see if it is dead or not. Then action accordingly.

[PB2]

Using out of date ingredients breaks one side of THE BEER TRIANGLE [whistling

 

Bill, how much sediment? It may have been cold break you were seeing rather than yeast...FAQ

[Guest]

Using out of date ingredients breaks one side of THE BEER TRIANGLE [whistling

 

Bill, how much sediment? It may have been cold break you were seeing rather than yeast...FAQ

 

The wort was exactly the same as what it was prior to pitching the yeast but with sediment on the bottom. There was no condensation (or very little from what I guess was just change of temp), no krausen and no action whatsoever. Everything appeared stagnant with no yeast on top (I don't stir). There appeared to be about an inch of sediment on the bottom which I presume was cold break and dead yeast.

 

Even when I rehydrated the yeast after 3 hours I only had very minimal reaction and the water was at 26C with just under a level tablespoon of dextrose in a big sanitized glass.

 

After pitching another packet I have about less than an inch of krausen covering the top. I figured that if there were "some" live yeast out of the old packet and I include the new packet it wouldn't hurt anyway as it would have been under 14g. I don't think that would be over pitching. However, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Also a lot of people use about 11-14g yeast packs and throw out the kit yeast. personally I think that is a waste of yeast that is in the kits.

I know it breaks one side of the beer triangle [ninja] but I really hate waste and find it so hard to throw out what could potentially be perfectly good beer. If it is no good by the time it is finished then all I have really wasted is time, a little bit of sugar and water but gave it the best shot I could.

[Nath M]

Yeah well, my thoughts are everything cost less than the price of buying just the fermenter by the time I won the online auction...so I bought a new yeast and sugar for about $14 to throw in with the tin.

 

I guess it will be a wee bit of an experiment...and not a huge loss if it tastes average/bad.[lol]

 

Then I'll just move onto the Motueka Slam....

[Trusty1]

Are you sure it expired at the end of 2009? if it is stamped end of 2009 that may have been when it was made. the rock hard sugar should be ok. you can boil it up or just add it to the FV and swish it a lil longer than normal and it SHOULD be ok. if it's not, the [rightful] [rightful] Beer Police[rightful] [rightful] won't come get you, just feed the pumpkin patch! No harm done, call it a brew simulation, dry run (or is that wet run) or a practice match. Could turn out to be a nice beer, though! The yeast needs to be fresh and active though.

 

as Paul says, you are 'bending' one side of the brewing triangle though. remembering freshest is bestest!

[PB2]

Yes Bill, you did the right thing by adding more yeast. [biggrin]

 

Hydrating need only be done over 15 to 30 mins in warm water and no sugars. A 3 hr effort is more like a yeast starter and it would benefit from having dry malt dissolved in the water at the rate of 10g per 100ml.

[JohnS12]

Eazy answer is never use out of date ingredients.Fresh is best, I bought a bargian out of date can of American wheat beer once and got what I paid for crap. Good beer cost money invest in your beer and you will be rewarded.

[Nath M]

Pretty sure I spotted a can of International Lager last time I was at the supermarket...that will bring all the ingredients up to scratch. May even duck into town and grab a pack of Hallertau hops to throw in too [cool]

[Guest]

Eazy answer is never use out of date ingredients.Fresh is best' date=' I bought a bargian out of date can of American wheat beer once and got what I paid for crap. Good beer cost money invest in your beer and you will be rewarded.[/quote']

Of course this is true. However, if someone gives me a kit they had tucked away for a couple of years because they don't brew anymore, I'm not throwing it out. As I said, for the sake of losing a bit of sugar, water and time it is worth the effort imo.

 

Thanks Paul, after 30 minutes when I had no action I was getting a bit nervous but thought I'd give it some more time. lol I finished that brew at 1am.

 

I thought about just using warm water but then remembered I had read something about adding sugar. So I added a little but I must have been muddled up between Hydrating and creating a starter. lol anything can happen at that time in the morning.

Cheers[alien]