I've dug out my brewbox (I know, not 'proper' homebrew, but for infrequent brews like I make and with my lack of space it works out ok).
I forgot I had a 'London Bitter' kit sitting in there that I didn't use last Christmas, and fully expected it to be expired, luckily the only date I could see was on the malt - BBE Nov 2009 - sweet, we're at the start of November.
So, it's brewing away now, setup on Thursday night, fermentation should take ten days the guide reckons, so that's next Sunday, then 1 week in bottles indoors then 2 weeks in the shed. So, ready to drink on 6th December... so... what's the deal with the malt date - when the malt's been 'used' to make the beer does that give the beer a date of end of November? - In which case by the time my brew's ready it will be out of date...
LMK what yoy guys reckon - I went ahead and brewed it anyway, thinking the sooner the better if it is gonna be decent, worst case scenario I have to trash it (I'd rather that than gut rot from dodgy beer!)
Malt and expiry date
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Barm
Re: Malt and expiry date
It's got a BBE date for the same reasons most other foodstuffs do: mostly to make you throw away something that's actually perfectly good to use, and part with yet more of your hard-earned cash to replace it!! Also an element of @r$e-lagging for the manufacturer in case some dork tries to sue them after poisoning themself by consuming something that clearly WAS fit for the bin. I say let natural selection take its course....
Especially not a big problem for malt extract - as the manufacturing process used to reduce it down from brewing wort renders it pretty well sterile, and despite not being canned under "sterile" conditions there's very little chance of anything getting in which would cause serious degradation in the can. In any case - you'd know pretty darn quick by sight and smell if the malt had by some freak become contaminated/degraded beyond fitness-for-consumption.
My friend recently brewed an old Tom Caxton kit that had been in his loft for (we reckon) over 10 years!!! A quick look and sniff deemed it fit-for-use; no problems encountered!
The BBE of the extract will not infer any sort of life/BBE on the resulting brew, either. Assuming proper sanitisation etc; the beer's life is determined solely by the drinker's thirstiness.
Gut-rot scenario is very unlikely - usual rule is common sense: if it looks and smells like beer, drink it; if it smells dodgy (eg vinegary), or has floaters or fluffy bits, tip it.
Especially not a big problem for malt extract - as the manufacturing process used to reduce it down from brewing wort renders it pretty well sterile, and despite not being canned under "sterile" conditions there's very little chance of anything getting in which would cause serious degradation in the can. In any case - you'd know pretty darn quick by sight and smell if the malt had by some freak become contaminated/degraded beyond fitness-for-consumption.
My friend recently brewed an old Tom Caxton kit that had been in his loft for (we reckon) over 10 years!!! A quick look and sniff deemed it fit-for-use; no problems encountered!
The BBE of the extract will not infer any sort of life/BBE on the resulting brew, either. Assuming proper sanitisation etc; the beer's life is determined solely by the drinker's thirstiness.
Gut-rot scenario is very unlikely - usual rule is common sense: if it looks and smells like beer, drink it; if it smells dodgy (eg vinegary), or has floaters or fluffy bits, tip it.
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oldskooladdict
Re: Malt and expiry date
It's smelling quite nice as it's brewing. The top of the cube thing has stuff floating on top that looks a bit like branflakes lol - I can't remember what the previous brew looked like, also it was a trappist ale so a bit different. Even with a hangover (several pints of Late Red last night 
) it smells decent
Perhaps I should take some snaps and the experts could give their opinion on the branflake situation haha.
) it smells decent Perhaps I should take some snaps and the experts could give their opinion on the branflake situation haha.