Out of date - worth it?

[oldskooladdict]

So, having harvested a bunch of chillies and made some chutney I suddenly thought, I should get a brew on for Christmas!

I'll be honest, I've not done one for quite a while now, I just grabbed all the gear out of the loft to find the three kits I had all had expiry dates of March and September 2011. The three kits in question - wheat beer from Coopers, wheat bear from Brewferm and Grand Cru from Brewferm.

I popped them all open and (that's the kit not the can!) and sadly the yeast doesn't have a date stamped on it. So, my question is thus:

1. Should I write these off and just buy entirely new kits from scratch
2. Should I try to just buy some more yeast and see if this works out (I'd have to work out the best stuff thou, Brewferm packs just haw 'web' written on both packs)
3. Try brewing with it anyway

Part of me thinks 3 is a total waste of time - it's bound to be dead. What I'm not sure on is what happens to the contents of the tin can when it's past its date, if it matters it's been in the loft since about this time last year -so dark but sometimes v warm but mainly cold.

On a side note - where's a good place to buy these days? I fired up thrifty shopper only to find it's no longer trading :/ - They were decent on postage, I only want to make a small order).

Thanks!

[mickhew]

If that were me I'd buy some yeast and put one of them on, you don't have a lot to use, only the price of the yeast, say, the Coopers one, with all sugar. Leave it fermenting for a week, then taste it. If you throw them away you could be wasting them, as they might turn out o.k.

[oldskooladdict]

Ah okay, is there a reason you suggested the Coopers over the Brewferm ones? I've had better success brewing wise with the Brewferm ones in the past.

I guess yeast wise I's just need to get some wheat bear yeast for those (perhaps Safbrew Yeast WB-06?), not sure for the grand cru? (Safale Yeast S-04? - says it's from a commercial well known English ale though!).

A quick scout around suggets it's nearly impossible to find low or free shipping unless you're buying high volumes, does anyone know if this is the case just for yeast, since it weights practically nothing!)

Thanks!

[jabbathehut]

new yeast and they will ALL be fine..maybe a bit darker than normal.

[oldskooladdict]

Brilliant, I'll get cracking once I have some yeast. Does anyone have any suggestions for yeast for ths Grand Cru?

A gold coloured beer with a subtle “herbal” aroma and a full, malty flavour with a light fruitiness.

Ingredients:

hopped barley and wheat malt extract
oat flakes
herbs
yeast in separate sachet


Taken from Brewferm's website.