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Well aged beer OK?

I was the fortunate recipient of a bunch of home brewing stuff including a Cornelius kegging system - CO2 tank, hoses, regulator, two 5 gallon soda kegs, along with a refrigerator with two taps built into the door. They were given to my son and he stored them at his machine shop for a couple of years. He gave them to me and they have been in my garage for another couple years. The kegs are both full of brew. There's a date written on the top of the kegs:

9-23-96. If that's the date the kegs were filled, the brew is definitely well aged. I asked at my local homebrew supply about the viability of the beer and the guy there pondered it a bit and then said he'd be tempted to tap 'em and have a taste. I'm a little leery about that. Tap and toss or tap and taste? Any opinions would be appreciated.

Also included in the misc. brewing stuff are two 4 lb. canned beer kits - Edme Wheat and Ironmaster Wheat. I have no idea how old they are and the ends of the cans are slightly bulged. I've seen such bulging cans on the shelves of my local homebrew supply and questioned if they were OK and was assured they were fine. I've always used malt extract from the bulk tanks, never used a canned beer kit. Are the beer kits suspect or might they be OK to use? Again, any opinions would be appreciated.

Rich

Reply to
Rich McCormack
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What a great gift to a homebrewer! Lucky Guy. I am inclined to think like your homebrew guy,, hook them up, chill in the fridge for a week or so, and draw off a pint. I suspect you will tell intantly if you want to try tasting it! I have kept some Trappist style ales for 4 or 5 years and they still were fine, better in fact. Force carbonated beer I suspect will be much less likely to be viable, but what the heck, you are going to have to open them up to clean them, why not give it a shot!

Then again,, if your homebrew guy said a bulging bottom is OK,, perhaps he may not be the most reliable source for advice. Bulging bottoms are one of the classic signs of age,, and deterioration of the liquid. You man be lucky and make a good batch, but you may be wasting your other ingredients in the process. I personally value my brewing time and prefer to use ingredients I know are fresh and are not going to disappoint me in the end. I might give it a try if I was snowed in and had noting else to brew with and the driveway was shoveled. Again,,, when you open the can and get a wiff,, you'll know if you want to use it,, cause if you smell someting,, you beer will smell like that same sonething.

Worst case scenario,, both kegged and malts are crap,, but you wont care,,,,,,,,, you'll just brew a couple of great batches and be ready to pull your own pint!! By the way,, when is the open house?

Best Regards

Reply to
Pyreneesmountain

No doubt that. Sooner or later I'm going to have to do whatever's necessary to empty and clean the kegs so they can be used. I've got some 5 liter "kegs" that use a CO2 cartridge tap I sometimes use, but mostly I bottle my brews. I've never used a full on kegging system, It'll be a new experience for me.

I'm not only a homebrewer but also a home canner...buldging cans give me the willies. Not too sure what I'm going to do with the beer kits. I've never made wheat beer, it would be an interesting new experience.

Rich

Reply to
Rich McCormack

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