I bought a brooklyn brew shop american pale ale kit from a garage sale about a year ago. The yeast in the kit had an expiration date of 2016 (I will not be using that yeast). I called BBS and they sent me a new yeast packet which was dated about 3 years into the future. So makes me think the grain in the kit is 4 to 6 years old. The grain bag is still puffed with air (or whatever they puff it with) and the kit appeared untouched when I first opened it. So I think its safe to say the grain has been out of direct light, in the box, and not exposed to ambient air since bagging. However who knows what temperature extremes its experienced. Around here its easily possible it saw 110F+ for extended periods of time during the summer. Anyways as an experiment I am going to brew a 1 gallon batch with it. I'll use fresh hops and yeast. Any interesting things I can take note of? I would think: -smell and taste of grain after opening bag -inspection for insects or other anomalous objects -mash/boil characteristics (hot break, smell, etc) -diastatic power (OG of wort) -yeast behavior -fermenting smells -resulting beer characteristics
A side by side would be very interesting, unfortunately I don't know whats in their grain bag and its only big enough to make a single gallon batch. But I could at least compare it to my last two batches, both the beers and grains. I'm really curious what this will produce. I suppose the OG will tell if the DP took damage. I wonder if the bag is filled with air or an inert gas. I guess I could put a match in it and see if it goes out. (sound of grain dust explosion)
I would be very surprised if it was intentionally filled with either. I suspect the bag has inflated over time due to something biochemical happening.
Interrrestting..... So I did buy another BBS kit around the same time I bought the ancient one. I remember not being able to tell the grain bags apart. However, I think I did have difficulty fitting the ancient grain bag in the same space as the new grain bag, in the new grain bags box. Its not under pressure, it still has wrinkles. But maybe it is slightly bigger than it should be. Okay so I guess now I have to open the bag and smell it..standby (snipping sound) Hmm Well it smells pretty normal. However I've only smelled 3 other bags of crushed grain ever so I am not sure if its as it should be or not. It does seem to smell somewhat different than the other much fresher bags of grain I've smelled. But its hard to say how. It smells sweet and cereal-y. I suppose now I need to get brewing with it.
I'd chew a few grains before brewing. If they didn't taste stale, I go ahead and make the beer. Cheers!
And it is crushed....Yeah chew on it and see how it taste, but I would probably just trash it. Given the amount of time you are going to put into the beer, a few bucks of grain isn't worth the gamble.
brew day yesterday My assistant and I tasted a sample of the grain...hmm a bit different than the other very few batches of "fresh" milled grain I've tasted..but then again its not the same blend so.. Didnt taste overly stale though. Although If I am comparing to what I'm familiar with..seemed to have a less potent sweetness maybe? Nothing to note during the mashing/sparging/boiling. OG of 1.052 ..thats my lowest OG yet but I suppose normal for a pale ale kit? Now the yeast..(drum roll)..expiration date of 2016! So probably packaged 1-2 years before that? So 5-6 year old dry yeast. Pitched just like always, straight into the glass 1 gal carboy at ~70F wort temp. Shook carboy for a minute or so afterwards. Also, wort was racked into carboy from kettle with siphon and splashed/wall followed as much as possible to aerate. Put into temp controlled fridge at ~72F with tube airlock. Few hours later.... Small bubbles visible..so hey its not dead! This morning (18 hours later..) woke up to this: blew out the airlock..and I used a the hydrometer calibrated cylinder to handle more volume as the airlock but still got to the brim!
Yep yeast is working. I would venture a guess the packet was enough for a 5 gallon batch so that may have helped overcome the age issue. Good luck, let us know how it comes out.
The yeast packet came with the 1 gal kit. However I didnt measure it so I dont know how much they actually put in. Bottled today. OG: 1.052 FG: 1.012 3.25L Added 24g of priming sugar Very intense orange/burnt orange. Hydrometer sample very clear. Smells good and interesting. Fermenter sampler tastes normal. Will give it 5 days then try one!
sounds like you have a successful brew! It may not be exactly what you'd have gotten if you'd brewed it 5 years ago, but sounds like it's drinkable.
Didnt want to leave this a loose end! Already drank all the beer, it was great! Even had a slightly fruity smell, I'd say its a step above a store bought reasonable quality pale ale. Very pale in color. It would appear the 6 year old grain and 6 year old yeast didn't matter. The hops though (year old)...hmm maybe lost a little something. On the other hand, I put less hops in this batch by far than the other ones I made, and did not dry hop at all. So thats probably why.
@acannell thanks for the update. Sounds like it worked out fine in the end. I am jealous, been a while since I brewed. I must live vicariously through others.
