Haven’t been on the forum in about 2 years because I was moving and haven’t had a place to brew. About 2 and a half years ago my wife bought me two all grain kits with the grain crushed. It’s been double bagged and in a dark cool storage area for that time. I opened it up today and the grain smells great, and was wondering if I should toss it out for the deer and turkeys or attempt to use it? I know the short answer is toss it, however I wanted to hear from anyone who has used old grains to brew.
Comes down to economics for me. If you’re not worried about wasting the hops and yeast you’ll need then go for it! A buddy gave me his old old Caribou Slobber kit to brew. I had yeast and made up my own hops schedule for it. It was drinkable but underwhelming. In hindsight I’d toss it. Grain is cheap.
Does it taste stale? If so I’d feed it to the wildlife.
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It actually tastes good, not stale at all. I’m thinking brew a 4 gallon batch with new yeast. Should be able to use the hops since they are in pellet form and totally sealed up. Since I haven’t brewed in well over two years I need the practice anyway.
I wouldn’t use 2 year old hops even if they’d been stored in a freezer. A year is about the longest I’ll let them sit in the freezer.
Thanks Danny.
Last winter we brewed a Celebration ale for New Years with some really old malt… About the same age is yours… The gravity was considerably lower… So, with that in mind… Why not do both kits at once? I would see if the yeast will come back to life… The hops I’d toss… Sneezles61
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I would toss it and start fresh. If you produce a poor product after your break it will be difficult for you to determine if there was a processing error or ingredient failure. Plus, it may deter you from brewing again.
RDWHAHB. I say brew it and use it as an experiment. No use in letting it go to waste. I wouldn’t spend any more money on the kit. But if it has dry yeast I would go for it
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In 2016 I brewed a beer from the ingredients my Dad had in his deep freezer since 1987. I used everything but the yeast. I definitely got an alcoholic beer and the hop profile was existent but what you hop expect from aged hops.
I was a conversation starter but you couldn’t have more than one at a time because it pushed the boundaries of acceptability.
I guess it depends on if you don’t mind using your time and effort with the chance that the outcome might be not so good beer. There is the chance it will be good beer so it’s a crap shoot. If you need to invest in hops and yeast then I would consider buying new grain.
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I have to agree. The grains can be the least expensive but most important part so it may not be worth it. However the pay off that none of us are discussing is that “my wife bought me two all grain kits.” Pleasing the wife has its own rewards and making something from the gift she gave you would be nice.
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