Old extract kits?

[PFDarkside]

I bought a homebrew kit from Midwest about a year ago, I also ordered three kits (a honey brown ale, wheat, bitter). I only got aroundo to brewing and finishing the honey brown (responded well to extended bottle conditioning, after 2 weeks it was harsh, but two months later it was quite delicious)

Anyway, I finally have some time and I'm ready to get a few more brews under way. What parts of these kits should/could I still use? I'm prettty sure they all have LME, DME, Specialty grains, those foil packs of hops pellets and smack pack yeast. The yeast has been refrigerated since the day it arrived, and the rest have been in a cool, dry location. I was going to just go ahead and use it all, until I started a little more internet research and how hops have a "shelf life" and you should use the freshest yeast possible. It would be cool if I could head down to the LHBS and pick up yeast and hops to salvage the kits and reaquaint myself with the brewing procedure.

What advice do you guys have?

[danno]

well, it depends somewhat on how high your standards are. if I found a year old kit, i'd toss the grains and the hops in the garbage, keep the extract for starters, and smack the yeast pack hoping there was enough viable cells left to step up (with a starter) for my next batch. that's probably middle of the road as standards go. the specialty grains are for sure junk, the hops have probably lost 50% of their viability since they weren't frozen, LME is bordering on stale, yeast may be salvagable, but only if you can proof it and step it up with a starter, and DME, of all of it, is probably fine.

my advice, brew more often... :D (seriously, a kit is $25, ask yourself how much effort you want to go though and end up with two cases of beer that isn't any good... brewing is time and effort, don't waste it with questionable ingredients...)

[PFDarkside]

Life has been hectic and add to that no good place to brew... I'm actually in small town Japan for another 10 days (return for St. Pat's at the local Irish Pub I used to work at. :)) When I return, I have plans to brew at least 6 batches, one a weekend, and to purchase the necessary carboys and kegs to achieve this goal.

Seeing as I'd still really like to brew at least one Bitter and a lot of Hefe for the summer, I was just wondering if anything is salvageable. You're right, though... why waste the time and effort on possibly bad ingredients? Might as well start fresh...