2 Questions about the Production date of the Can Kits.

Hellow people! As a novice brewer i did some researches before fermenting some kinds of beer. anyways i would like to know how to calculate the production date of a can kit (when it was made), in this way i can be sure that the beer that i am going to make it's made from fresh extract.

And, it is true that Porters and Stouts can kits become better and gets a more delicate and creamy taste when theyre left to age? LIke brewing an expired Can of a Stout makes it more tasty and hoppy flavour?
It is true that a decent porter or stout beer, requires at least 3kg of extract to turn out something serious? Since Porters and Stouts tend to be very "creamy" or high-density beers, they require more malt to turn out great?
I would like to brew an Irish Style Stout, (Muntons 1.8KG can) But some expert homebrewers wrote that i need at least 3KG of LME can kits to make a "serious" stout.

Thanks in advance for your help!:3

Hi SkyStar,
I don't know if you can work out the production date from the can. However, as long as there is a year or so left, then it should be fine. The extract would normally last well beyond the use-by date, as this is determined by the most perishable item in the kit - the yeast. It is true, however, that the extract can get a bit darker over time and the flavour can change, especially if it hasn't been stored correctly. This is less of an issue for stouts, as these are already dark beers with strong dominant flavours. High alcohol and darker beers do benefit from longer conditioning, but this applies to the beer being stored in the cool after it has been brewed. I don't think you would get any benefit from brewing an out-of-date stout kit. If you want to make a good stout, then the Coopers Original Stout, and the Coopers Irish Stout, are both very popular. If you brew them short (say, 18 or 20 litres instead of the 23 litres recommended on the can), and use 1kg of dark dry malt extract (DME) instead of the recommended sugar/brew enhancer, then you should get a very nice drink. I would also leave them longer in the fermenter than specified on the kit. Two weeks would be good, then two weeks in the warm after bottling to carbonate, followed by at least two weeks somewhere cool.

Hi and welcome :hat:

Can't really answer your 1st question other than to say that I thought the 'Best Before' system is designed to ensure the freshness of the contents. But having said that the kits that I bought this week all have a date in late 2017 ... so I dunno!

Can't really answer your other questions either (not sure why I'm replying then!) but I wouldn't necessarily trust the opinions of so-called 'experts' in any field.

As a kit brewer of several years, I tend to favour the 3kg+ kits over the others but have (and still do) also made some mighty fine ale from the other kits too. Indeed, many home brewers prefer the smaller kits and will sometimes vary the fermentables that are added to suit. I would start by looking at the reviews available - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17861 and then try a similar style in each type of kit to determine my own opinion.

As with most things there is no 'right' way so keep an open mind and be patient while you brew .... above all enjoy the product of your efforts and always feel free to ask advice.

I wont attempt to answer the Q about use by date because I don't know.

Stouts and porters definately become better the longer you leave them. The longest I've left a stout to age is 6 months. It was rich, smooth and creamy. I only had a few bottles of this as I had forgot about them. I wish I had a whole batch of 6 month aged stout.

I take it you mean stronger ABV% wise when you say "serious"? So to get "serious" with a stout you can do a few things. As menntioned you can brew it 'short' so you add less dilution water say, make it up to 20L instead of 23L.
The second is add more fermentables. Such as adding more DME/LME. You can also add 'adjunct sugars' such as molasses/treacle which is the common one for stouts (others include honey, golden syrup, maple syrup etc). You can combine sugars by adding BOTH DME and adjunct sugars to get different mouth feels and flavours in the same beer

A third way is to do what is know as a two can (sometimes you'll see it as toucan), where you use two kit cans and then combining it with some of the above ways to up the abv%

Heres a "serious" kit stout recipe to illustrate that

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49432&highlight=cerberus

If you want to turn the serious dial all the way up two 11 you might want to consider a style known as Russian Imperial Stout (RIS) which although the above cerberus stout is an example of, you can commonly get RIS' up to about 10% (merely a light breakfast stout for member Dad_of_jon btw)

Here's a 9.2% recipe illustrating that using THREE! kits and "shorting"

http://store.coopers.com.au/recipes/index/view/id/49/

The lady in my HB shop had questioned a muntons rep about best before dates.

He stated that the kits will last 10 years but the EU won't allow such a long date to be printed on the cans.

You could try emailing the company with a batch or lot number. They should have a record of its production date.

Awesome! Thank you so much for your help guys! I will do as you advice me! :3