I went a little crazy ordering kits since I got my equipment last month. I’m sitting on two dry yeast kits, two liquid yeast kits, and one kit with no yeast. I intend to use the liquid kits first, brewing one this weekend and the other one in about three weeks. But my capacity for brewing means that I might not get them all brewed until mid to late summer. Other than the yeast (which I can test using a starter or hydration) what other ingredients do I need to worry about going bad? How long is too long to sit on these kits?
Freeze the hops refrigerate the rest. From now on order kits with no yeast and pick your yeast up locally if possible. If not just order kits with dry yeast which will last a long time in the fridge.
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Good plan and good advice from @brew_cat . What’s the date on your liquid yeast? Wyeast smack pack or White Labs?
Be prepared to make a starter from the yeast you plan on using in 3 weeks, and depending on your OG for the one this weekend, you may want to make one for that as well. The dry yeasts will last refrigerated for months/years.
By the way, making a yeast starter does not have to be intimidating. Boil 2&3/4 cup water, add 1/2 cup DME and a pinch of yeast nutrient(if you have it). Boil for another 10 minutes or so, and let cool naturally. Sanitize a 1 qt. canning jar, either using starsan, or by boiling for 10 minutes, add the contents of the yeast packet plus the cooled starter wort. Use tinfoil to cover the top of the jar, place it someplace warm and give her a shake every time you walk by. It’s ready in anywhere from 1 day (called a vitality starter) to 4 days. Can be used or refrigerated for future use.
I actually haven’t taken the yeast out of the shipping envelopes yet. One is Omega and it came last week, I intend to use that one in 2-3 weeks with a starter.
The other is Wyeast and it arrived Monday. I’m going to get it started tonight for this weekend.
I haven’t done any starters yet but I’m planning on it with these ones. I actually picked up a flask and foam stopper along with some fastpitch. I started hydrating my dry yeast on my last batch and that seemed to speed things up quite a bit.
