The corner grocery store doesn't normally carry brisket, but earlier in the summer someone put in a special order for one. The store could not order just one, so the extra brisket ended up sitting in the meat bin for about two months. I was talking with the meat manager about it the other day and he offered it to me for a reasonable price, so I ended up taking it home.

When I first noticed the brisket in the meat bin, (around July 4) the sell by date on the grocer’s label had been blacked out. When I arrived home I saw the sell by date was for June 30. I could not find a date stamped on the cryovac for when the meat was actually packed. Since the bag was still sealed I did not think too much about it.

After opening up the bag this morning there was a VERY strong odor, but it did not smell rancid, just strong. The fat was, for lack of a better word, puckered. The meat itself had a good color and was not at all slimy. I am leaning toward assuming that the brisket is well aged. It is currently on the grill and I’ll see how it turns out. I'm actually cooking it a few days earlier than needed because the weather is a bit iffy later in the week. That does give me time to go to plan B if necessary.

I am still fairly new in town and have not met a lot of neighbors. I figured this hunk of meat would be a good excuse for a block party and an opportunity to invite some folks over to make their acquaintance. Just want to make sure nobody gets sick (not a good way to make a first impression)! Tonight I plan on being the guinea pig just to see what happens, if I croak they don't need to serve it!!

I probably would not be worried, if it is strong but not acrid you are probably okay.
I have wet aged out 2 months plus a little and never had a problem, many go longer that that.
Smart to try it but I am betting you will be in good shape.

Did it smell slightly like sulfur?

Did it smell slightly like sulfur?

I have a hard time trying to discern and describe  smells. I did not detect a sulfur smell. I asked my wife and she did not notice a sulfur smell either.

My brother likes to leave them until the liquid in the cryovac starts to turn milky.  He's a retired meat inspector so I figure he probably knows what he's talking about.

Making the decision for yourself is fine, but keep in mind, you are making a health decision for others if you serve it at a block party.

I guess the big question would be what temp was the "bin" that it was if for 2 months.
If it was under 40f, then wouldn't that be considered "wet aging" ?
But then no telling how many times it was taken out of bin to look at.

No matter what, I would not serve to guests.

Google "The year old brisket-Texas Monthly", might give you a little more insight.
Interesting read that's for sure.

 This is developing into a suspenseful event. Waiting on the outcome.

IMO when in doubt throw it out and chock it up to experience,

IMO when in doubt throw it out and chock it up to experience,

I agree

Hard decision... Cook it and try it if you like it don't feed it to the neighbors, eat it all yourself.

Bad sign that we haven't heard from the OP? The all caps VERY in the original post was enough for me. No way I would have tried it.

I would venture to guess there was nothing wrong with it and it is not going to harm anyone.  It is also a piece of meat that is going to be cooked to a very high temperature, so that would mitigate much of any bacterial issue!

Bad sign that we haven't heard from the OP?

Not a bad sign, just been running around a lot lately without a lot of time for posting. I did cook the brisket. I don't do brisket very often, but this is probably one of the best ones I have done. It looked good, very moist, and the little bit I tasted was great. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

From what I have looked into and read, I really think it is going to be OK to serve. The deciding factor for me was that the meat itself looked good out of the cryovac and was not slimy at all. My wife has a better nose for that kind of thing than I do and she insists that it smelled OK, it was just stronger than anticipated. I have wet aged top sirloin a few times and gone well past the use-by date without a second thought, but it was never that strong. I am confident it maintained a proper temp at the grocery store. Even if someone picked it up, it would have been set back quickly.

I am also doing a couple of pork butts and will be serving pulled pork (and possibly brisket) sliders. We'll see what happens and  make a game time decision tomorrow