I ordered 2 beer kits the other day and one of them contains LME. The kits should be arriving on Friday and it is going to be a couple of days before I use the kits. I have never used LME and was wondering if it needs to be refrigerated since I won’t be using it right away.
I would refrigerate it. Definitely don’t leave it in a warm spot. Refrigeration won’t hurt and is just easy insurance. Just put the container in a hot water bath before using. I used to always rinse the container with hot wort to get every last drop.
Cheers,
Ron
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For a couple days, I wouldn’t worry about putting them in the fridge. Weeks, yes. Days, no. Do put your yeast on the fridge though.
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Yeast I definitely put in the fridge, but I will pull the yeast out of the fridge the morning I am going to use it, so it gets to room temperature and then if I have any that is left over, I put it back in to the fridge.
I’m going to disagree a little. Sealed LME from the store/online marketer doesn’t need to be refrigerated. It’ll last months at room temp. After all they aren’t fridgeing it at the store. I’ve even kept opened and resealed LME for a month or so without problem. Of course, my ‘room temp’ is around 60ish, and they are in a sealed tote.
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As your LME ages it will darken which will only be exacerbated by boiling it. Keeping it in the fridge retards this process.
True dat.
I guess the only time I use LME is in darkish recipes where color changes don’t matter.
But, I’m sure that a color change is only an indication of other chemical changes- oxidation maybe?
Still all in all, I’m not fridging LME. Maybe if I invested in a gallon or two I would think about it.
How in the world do those breweries that buy 35 gallon LME do it then? Sealed, yes, room temp for a long time… unsealed, best use it or lose it… Sneezles61
