[GlenCoeCoe]

I bought some LME and milled specialty grains from my local
Homebrew store about two weeks ago. Long story short the LME wasn’t 100% sealed in the bag so I called and asked if I could store it for a few days and they said yes just put it in a big ziploc.

Fastforward - it’s now been two weeks since I did that. Life and stuff just got in the way these past two weeks and we are just now able to get to brewing over the holiday weekend. Would my LME and milled grain be ok to use for brewing? The grain bag seems to have been sealed properly and the LME has sat in a sealed ziplock bag in a cool dry place since I put it there two weeks ago.

Jc! Thank you all!

[Tim Cline]

The milled grains should be fine. I would be more concerned about the LME but that should also still be fine. Does it smell and taste good? I would say it is safe to use if it still smells and tastes like good LME. In the future, it would be worth using a vacuum sealer (food saver or something similar) to seal the LME instead of a ziploc bag.

[GlenCoeCoe]

Thanks! The store used a food sealer but there was a small spot on the end where it didn’t 100% seal so I put it in the large bag. I’ll give it a look/smell/taste. Any tastes/smells to look for?

[Tim Cline]

You are basically just looking for any form of contamination. Considering that the LME was originally in a vacuum sealed bag and then placed in a clean ziploc, the chances for a contamination are probably low. LME can also go stale and cause negative changes in the finished beer. A great example of this was demonstrated in a brulosophy experiment (link below). Does the LME smell/taste/look like you would expect LME to? It is understandable if you do not have the experience with LME to make that call yourself. In that case, just do your best to check for contamination. Chances are you should be fine.

Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew.

http://brulosophy.com/2017/11/27/the-impact-of-age-on-liquid-malt-extract-exbeeriment-results/

[letscook]

Solutions with high sugar content like LMEs will make it almost impossible, if not impossible for baterica to survive. This is why you can keep honey or jam out of the fridge.  You'll be fine.  I'd be really surprised if LME could become infected.

[Kevin]

Yes. It will be fine. Brew it don't sweat it.

[santoch]

Yeah, I agree it should be fine.  I would have been more concerned over oxidation, not sanitation (due to the high sugar factor already pointed out), but 2 weeks in a zip lock in the fridge shouldn't matter.

[letscook]

I would have been more concerned over oxidation

Agreed.  You can keep the bacteria and fungi at bay, but oxygen knows no bounds and will eventually spoil your LME. It'll be still usable, but like some studies have proven, it does change the flavor over time. The flavor may change for the better depending on your tastes, who knows?