5 Out of Date Kits .. ?

[hobbit]

Hi All,

My first post so firstly hello to everyone. I have 5 out of date kits..

[1] Morgans : "Iron Bark Dark Ale" : 1.7 KG : Feb 2007

[2] Black Rock : "Moners Stout" : 1.7 KG : July 2005

[3] Sherwood Ale : Best Traditional Bitter : 3 KG : Sept 2006

[4] Brupaks : Kirkburn Ale : 3 KG : Oct 2006

[5] Muntons : Premium Gold Smugglers Spexial Premium Ale : 3.6 KG : Dec 2006

I have heard it may be ok to use these kits but would be a good idea to use a new yeast packet. My question is what type of yeast for each of these kits. Can I use the same yeast for all of them? Where can I buy? Many thanks in advance.

Hopefully bewing soon.

Hobbit

[crafty john]

Any good quality ale yeast will do, do yo have a local home brew shop If yo do you can buy it for about a quid a packet, they will also advise you of the better quality ones. It might be a good idea to buy some hops also and add a cup of hop tea to the really old kits as over time the etract will have lost some of it hoppieness.

[hobbit]

Thanks for the reply! I have no local shop as I am in St Andrews, Fife, I think the nearest may well be Forfar or Kirkcaldy about 90mins round trip. I see I can order them on the web though. Thanks a bunch for the tip on the hops I never would have thought about that. Has anyone tried these kits?

Hobbit

[garwatts]

Never used those but have used out-of-date kit before. It was fine, but the malt darkens somewhat with age but that shouldn't affect the end result. Paul at Barley Bottom has some good prices on yeast. I think Safale S-04 or Nottingham Yeast should give you a good result. Also the previous suggestion of hop tea is worth doing.


http://www.barleybottom.com/

[BlackBag]

I've made the Black Rock Miners Stout before. My only recommendation is to leave the bottles for about 6 months to mature before drinking. It's one of those brews that really does benefit from being left for a while.

[sparky Paul]

There'll be nothing wrong with those kits.

As above, I would recommend new yeast sachets, Safale S-04 is cheap and works well for most ale types.

[hobbit]

Thanks for the info and help everyone, I got the smugglers ale in the FV yesterday evening and it is happily bubbling away with a muntons premium gold ale yeast I also did a started off Woodfordes Wherry and that is also bubbling like mad. Struggling to keep the temps at 20C though, at 22C during the day.