[chumley]

Well, world's oldest malt extract. Tomorrow I plan to brew Denny's BVIP recipe.....10 gallons of it!  Going to split it betweem WY1450 and US-05.  I have two packets of US-05, but thought I would make a starter for the WY1450 (born on date of September 25).

Turns out I am all out of DME, and no good alternatives since the local hardware store gave up on selling homebrew supplies.  So I turned to the 3.3 lb. pouches of LME that a friend who gave up the hobby gave to me.....A DECADE AGO.

The brand is Northwestern Gold.  I recall they were a Wisconsin LHBS who had a contract with Briess to distribute their malt extract.  The LME looked like molasses, and tasted like caramel.  I made a two liter starter anyway, and pitched the smack pack in.

It is fermenting nicely in a 1 gallon clear glass jug.  No krausen. Today I looked at the box that the Northwestern Gold LME pouch came in and saw a date stamped on it.

December 17, 1992.

As I will have the US-05 as a sort of control, it will be interested to compare the two. Although I don't believe any little amount of 27 year old wort starter will make an impact on the flavor of a big beer such as the BVIP.

[dmtaylor]

Let me know how it turns out.  I too have some LME from the 1990s that I have been too scared to use.

[jeffy]

I once bought a whole bunch of boxes of Homebrew kits from the manager of a liquor store for $1 each.  They had been on their high shelf for many years when I got them.  I sorted them out, threw away the ancient brown hops and the unmarked yeast and saved the dry malt extract.  Some of them were solid rocks of extract, but I occasionally would break of a section and make a starter with it.  It seemed to work fine.

[hopfenundmalz]

A guy in our club got a bunch of expired LME from the LHBS. very out of date, very dark. Some made beer with them, those were oxidized. I made starters and decanted. Those were ok.

[kramerog]

I made an old ale that took third place in the AHA's club only competition with some very oxidized extract, but it took over a year before the extract twang had melded into the pleasant oxidation of an old ale.

I typically only use old extract in starters that I plan to decant.

[chumley]

Today I kegged the BVIP. The 1450 with the stale extract starter finished at 1.018, for an apparent attenuation of 78%.

The 2 packets of US-05 finished the wort at 1.014, for an apparent attenuation of 83%. It also had a massive blowoff despite fermenting around 62. Both hydrometer samples tasted great, no real difference. I'm anxious to compare the two once they are carbonated and ready to serve.

[denny]

Today I kegged the BVIP. The 1450 with the stale extract starter finished at 1.018, for an apparent attenuation of 78%.

The 2 packets of US-05 finished the wort at 1.014, for an apparent attenuation of 83%. It also had a massive blowoff despite fermenting around 62. Both hydrometer samples tasted great, no real difference. I'm anxious to compare the two once they are carbonated and ready to serve.

That's a lot lower than I get for that beer.  Mine is in the 1.026 range