Adox Silvermax developer

I recently ordered a bottle of this developer from a co. in NY. The bottle arrived but it has brown splotches on the outside although the liquid is clear but very slightly yellow, like very dilute urine. There is a date on the left side which is 06.05.2019 which I assume is the expiration date. I complained to the company and they refunded the charge but told me not to send it back. This is an experiment for me I also bought some Adox Silvermax 100 film which I do intend to use. Here are the questions: Do you think this developer is still usable? Is there another developer for Silvermax 100 film which is just as good? (They brag that the only way to get max. benefit from the film is by using this special developer.) I went to the Freestyle web page and looked at their picture of the Adox bottle it too had a 6/5/2019 date on it!

Often (in general, not just photography) stains on the outside come from leaks somewhere else.

If you see crystals under the cap, that is a bad sign.

 

I mostly don't worry about dates until I open something. At least not for months, but maybe years.

(I have had many years old powder developer that came out of the package brown, and was brown

in solution. Not good.)

 

Light yellow is usual for concentrated developer. Even dark yellow for higher concentrations.

(Specifically, HC-110 is pretty yellow in the bottle.)

 

Nice that they refunded you. Now you get to try it and see what happens.

Could be the date of manufacture. I've gone through several bottles of Silvermax dev. I suggest just shooting a roll, cut a few inches off and do a test development to see if it's working. Good luck!