Is old malt extract safe?

Brewing Processes
1

I found a beer making kit which I bought in 2003, but had forgotten about.  It contains the ingredients to make a gallon of beer. The malt extract is a 1.4lb can of Alexander’s Kicker Pale Malt Extract and a 5g packet of Danstar Nottingham Brewing Yeast.

My question is whether it is safe to use these ingredients to make the batch of beer?  It seems like a waste to throw it out. ???

Thanks in advance to anyone who posts an answer.

2

Only if you boil and ferment it first.  :wink: (and if the can isn’t bulging right now)

3

Thanks.  I boiled it, and I am waiting for it to cool before I pitch the yeast.  I don’t have high expectations, but I am curious to see the result.

4

If the can isn’t bulging you may as well give it a try.  The resulting beer may (or may not) have an off taste or odd ‘tang’  due to the age of the product, and the degree of that off taste will depend on how the can was stored.

Give it a try and report back.

5

Here is an update.

Fermentation has subsided.  At its peak, bubbles were rising through the airlock about once every two seconds.  Now, the frequency is one every 30 seconds.  The appearance is dark brown and opaque.  That is surprising because it is supposed to be a pale ale.  Well considering the age of the malt extract, that is not really surprising.  I will wait a few more days and then bottle it as per the instructions.  After bottling, I will wait a week to let it finish fermenting.  I will give an update at that point.

Thanks to each of you have provided insight.  As a new homebrewer, I really appreciate the support.
;D

6

I think it will end up tasting pretty terrible.  Oxidation not only darkens the extract, but gives it a nasty twang.  But who knows – and if you consider that you have the option of adding a ton of hops or spices to it, it could still turn out drinkable regardless.

7

Last time I used a liquid extract, which had aged like yours, the resulting ale was darker than expected and had a “woody” taste to it…kind like chewing on toothpicks.

8

Perfect description of what oxidation tastes like.  Others describe it as “papery” or “cardboardy”.  Personally I detect it as an unusual “sinking feeling” about midway through gulp.  It’s as though when the beer first enters my mouth, it tastes just fine, but then a half-second later, it loses what was delicious about it, and with successive gulps, becomes distracting to the point that you figure out that at one time, this beer might have been pretty good, but has gone stale and just isn’t quite right anymore.

9

I followed the instructions, and bottled them.  Now I will wait two weeks to see the result.

We shall see.

10

You can always use old extract to make a starter. Then who cares if the beer is terrible since you will throw it away anyway.

11

This is a great idea.

12

+1 It works fine for a starter. if you decant, no noticable off flavors. at least thast I can taste.

13

I sampled the final product last night.  It was horrible.  As some of you predicted, it had a woody taste.  It is how I imagine the taste of the hickory blocks we use on the smoker.  On the upside, it did not poison me.  It is not a total loss.  It was good practice making an extract brew.  Today, a group of us are getting together to brew Irish Stout (Brewer’s Best Kit) and Hard Lemonade (a recipe from a homebrewer forum).

Thanks to all of you that offered input.

Slainte