So I F***ed Up a Kit...

[bluenose]

The father-in-law wanted me to make a batch of beer for him to take to his cottage and dole out to his cronies. So rather than go to the extra effort of brewing an all-grain batch just to have them given out to the BMC crowd, I decided to brew up a couple of kits.

I decided on Mangrove Jacks Pale Ale and Blonde Ale. Same as canned kits, only in bags.

I read the directions a few times, and somehow managed to forget the part where it told me to remove the yeast satchels from the bottom of the bag before submerging them in hot water to soften the malt extract. I managed to forget this not once, but twice. Luckily I had some US05 in the fridge, so I was able to keep things moving. So now I have two packs of yeast of questionable worth.

I'm wondering if those yeast packs are still good or if all the bugs are dead. jtmwhyte says the yeast that comes with Mangrove Jacks is decent enough, so I thought I might try making a starter with the two packages... Any thoughts?

[Juniper Hill]

If it was me, I'd throw them away. I'd hate to risk a batch of beer on questionable yeast.

[akr71]

How hot was the hot water and long were the packets submerged?

A quick dunk and they're probably ok. A long submerge at >50C and they are probably toast. However yeast nutrient is essentially dead yeast cells according to John Palmer

[voltage]

I bought a few Mangrove Jacks Mild (British Style Amber IPA's) Last week. They were on two for one. I used the yeast that came with it last night in my batch (I also subbed in LME 1.3 KG instead of 1.0 KG of Dextrose). I pitched my yeast first in a small vessel with warm water which I normally do for about 10-15 minutes, despite the fact it says to just throw it in and mix well. I found this yeast to react slower than say the 05 or whatever comes with the Best case kits I've done. At the 12 hour mark I had signs of fermentation but I can tell the yeast (out of the bag) is not as good from my experience. I believe these kits were old stock which could be part of the problem. Still I dont' see the point of buying Mault in a bag with Yeast if I am going to just go spend more money on yeast anyway. I'll let you know how the beer turns out with the stock yeast, pitched in warm water and Light Malt Extract instead of Sugar though

[donking]

I just did a batch of mangrove jack's Pale Ale. The beer tastes very good. I added 500g of corn sugar + 500g of LME + about 1oz of "noble hops"(this was all inside the 1kg tub). Original gravity was 1040, final gravity 1010. I brewed at a constant 23-25 celcius for 8 days and moved to secondary fermentor. Beer has a nice bitterness similar to IPA.

[Keith]

I hope the mangrove yeast is good. I'm ordering a brick of the West Coast and Burton ale yeast. Going to be subbing them in my American and English beers.

[Keith]

as for using the yeast, if it's dry yeast and it was only left in a short period you should be fine. Worst case is you pitch it in, doesn't take off and a day later you pitch another. You could also build a start with them to test their viability.

[donking]

Just noticed one of my mangrove jack's export stout kit I bought best before date is Jan 2014. Has anyone used expired kits before? is it just the yeast that could go bad or the wort? I will probably try it anyway to see if it works out hehe.

[bluenose]

I'd keep the wort and ditch the yeast

[Swine]

I did an expired Mangrove Northern Bitter. It was well out... 5 months or so.
I got a fresh tub of their extract/hop stuff as the original tub was puffing out quite a bit.
Guy at Nobel told me this is what he would do and that he has brewed the expired kits before too.
I didn't change the yeast, just went with it.
Turned out good, I am drinking it now. I had done the Northern Bitter a couple of times, tastes like the rest of them, decent, not great, but decent.

[donking]

Thanks.I'll try it anyways and check on it to make sure it ferments.

[donking]

Update with the 13 months expired Mangrove Jack's kit: I started the batch yesterday and it's fermenting really good right now!