Ingredients

Hi folks,

I have a bunch of ingredients bought around the Autumn / Fall of last year (2012) and due to work commitments and the arrival of our second boy, I've just not had a chance to brew anything since, and that's coming up on almost a year. I had just got into AG and my last batch was really good. I will go back to it soon now that things are getting back to normal again, but I wondered about my stock of ingredients and if they're still good to use.

I started off storing all the Wyeast smackpacks in my fridge, then they were moved to the attic, which was fine in the winter, but not so good in the Summer, and it's warm here at the moment (for Scotland anyway).

I have 10Kg of Bohemian Pilsner, 3Kg of Crystal Malt, 4 x 3711 Wyeast French Saison, 2 x 3724 Belgian Saison, too many hops to mention (some open some closed, some in pellet form, some dried leaf).

Given that everything has been subject to pretty wild temperature swings, do you think it's still good to use? I'm going to get a brew day next week I think, but just wanted to know if anyone had experience of using ingredients that are slightly out of date. There are so many threads about using the freshest ingredients you can.

Any thoughts very welcome.

Cheers!

Geoff

I've always thought that the most expensive ingredient was my time, and I can't see spending a day on a brew, weeks in fermenting and handling and kegging, only to be disappointed because I was cheap on some part of $40 worth of ingredients. 

Personally, I would toss the yeast, especially Saison since Saisons are all about the yeast profile.

I would taste the grains, and unless they taste stale, I 'd use them. 

If the hops were not frozen, I'd smell them and look them over closely.  Any doubts, I'd toss them too. 

Thank you for the sage advice. I'll do exactly that. I too don't want to spend all that time to come out with something that I feel could have been better. Time is a premium for me at the moment so it's all got to count.

Cheers

Geoff