Using Up Some Old Kits....wish Me Luck

[Boondy]

Back to brewing after a looong break.
Found some old kit brews in the cupboard, so am making them up first.

First up was a can of Muntons Nut Brown Ale....about 2 years past it's use by date
Chucked out the yeast....it wasn't even dry any more...yuk!
Don't use kit yeasts anyhow!

Opened the can and had a look. Looked pretty good. Had a taste, and it tasted ok.

Decided to keep things simple and gave this a go (no science involved here folks):

The Muntons kit (Nut Brown Ale)
1 kg brick of amber spray malt (yeah, it was old too, and was a bugger to dissolve)
200g crystal
30g goldings for 60 minutes in about 7L
12g Fuggles for 10 minutes

Very light strain, then all mixed in the fermenter with some cold water.

Pitched Whitelabs WLP004 (Irish Ale) at 25 degrees.
Brewing between 22 and 24 degrees, which is a tad warmer (and fluctuating more) than I'd like, but no choice.
I'll collect and wash the yeast for the next few brews - if it survives the temp fluctuations ok.

Dunno initial gravity because my hygrometer sunk...big crack and piece missing.
Will need to get another one before brew finishes.

Counting on the old cans to have lost some hopiness...but who knows.

Next up, I'll have a crack at butchering a can of Canadian IPA, also well past use by......

 

[rendo]

mate.....WELCOME TO AHB!!!!! Its a great place where you WILL learn a HEAP

sounds like a fantastic beer!!! nice hops and great yeast choice....why are u ruining it with an old kit!!

I have done old kits to death...it just aint worth the saving of $10 or so. With all the old kits I have made, I have always thought (when drinking the resultant beer that wasnt bad, but not that good either) why did I really sink the time and effort into the old kit, when I could have paid an extra $10-$15 and made a killer beer, rather than just a so-so beer.

Old kits...hmm..its okay, wont be blazing...where as fresh kits or fresh extract or fresh work kits....are so much nicer.

Sounds like u have experienced brew shoes...good luck. Make sure u are keeping an eye on sanitation!

You will enjoy this site....soon you might be leaving kits behind and heading towards grains....i am part way down that slippery path....

Rendo

Back to brewing after a looong break.
Found some old kit brews in the cupboard, so am making them up first.

First up was a can of Muntons Nut Brown Ale....about 2 years past it's use by date
Chucked out the yeast....it wasn't even dry any more...yuk!
Don't use kit yeasts anyhow!

Next up, I'll have a crack at butchering a can of Canadian IPA, also well past use by......

 

[milob40]

welcome aboard and good luck with your brewing.
i hope your out of date brews have been stored in a cool place.
i was bought a brewing kit but didn;t use it for 18 months.
had to chuck out 23 litres of beer (coops lager)
came out very dark and smelt like fruity toffee (think the temp in the shed might of got too high

 

[petesbrew]

Welcome to AHB Boondy

I bought a heap of 2yr out of date Brewferm kits this year. Pretty much only a 1/3 have ended up drinkable, so I won't be doing that again. But hey you never know if you don't try it right?
The Muntons recipe sounds pretty nice though.

 

[Pennywise]

1 kg brick of amber spray malt

:lol: This made me laugh. Welcome to AHB Boondy, the Muntons kits are pretty good so I reckon an out of date one would still pull up ok if treated correctly, which you've done. I don't use WL yeast but if their Irish Ale is the same strain as the Wyeast one then I'd be keeping an eye on those temp floctuations, I've found it tends to throw a bit unpleasant esters if not kept in check. Out of interest how much yeast did you pitch? Did you make up a starter?

 

[Boondy]

Thanks for the welcome folks.

I just tasted the fermenting wort and reckon I might be a bit lucky with this kit. We'll see.
Point taken with using old kits, though. Just seems a shame to toss them out....yeah, maybe I'm being a bit too tight.....

In response to Pennywise, I just pitched one tube straight in, no starter.
Normally I'd use a starter. Not sure why I didn't, really.
Seemed to kick off ok though, with strong fermentation overnight.

It's been a while since I've brewed, and I mucked a few things up - didn't have gear ready, had to re-sterilise a couple of times through carelessness, ended up with a sticky stove top not paying attention to the boil.....yes, there's more....I could have sworn the tap was off.....nuff said...

 

[Boondy]

Update....

The brew has finished fermenting, and has been racked into it's final home, a 19L keg.
It's been refrigerated for a couple of weeks now, after burping keg to remove oxygen.

In the end, forgot about cooling wort down quickly after boil, so pretty cloudy. It's been a long break from brewing!
Very hoppy, with nice, strong fuggles aroma, but reckon fresh kit would taste crisper/cleaner.
Still quite drinkable, but not pretty to look at....
Probably should have strained a little better, too, so some fine hops into the fermenter.

We'll see what a month or 2 in the fridge will fix.
Hopefully some of the sediment might settle.
Added some finings into the keg, so who knows....?

Useful experiment. Will keep the old kits and use off for parties etc, as the final product still tastes better than commercial.
Stuff for personal use will be fresh from now on, unless I'm really tight for $$$'s!

Salvaged and washed yeast for next brews. Got a pretty good yield, and looks pretty clean, so here's hoping!

Next brew will be an extract pale ale or amber ale. Looking forwards to trying my new batch of Nelson Sauvin or Simcoe hops.
Wonder whether they would go together?
I think I'd better try them individually first, and see, unless anyone else has had a crack?

 

[rendo]

Thanks for posting your results Boondy, great to hear it wasnt a disaster.

I bet your next brew is going to be about a billion times better....you sound like you have shaken the rust off your brew shoes!

Rendo

Update....

The brew has finished fermenting, and has been racked into it's final home, a 19L keg.
It's been refrigerated for a couple of weeks now, after burping keg to remove oxygen.

Next brew will be an extract pale ale or amber ale. Looking forwards to trying my new batch of Nelson Sauvin or Simcoe hops.
Wonder whether they would go together?
I think I'd better try them individually first, and see, unless anyone else has had a crack?