Grain Storage and use by date

[user 4749]

I had a hiatus from brewing for a year due to family etc, so back ready to brew again
So I have lots of kits and grain that I bought before my hiatus. 7 kits which are crushed and range being bought from 11/11/22 until 02/02/23. About 25kg of various crush grain which was bought 01/01/23 all have been stored in Air tight blue storage drums.
So here is the question will the kits and grain still be OK for brewing or an I wasting my time and should start buying again .
Thanks in advance

 

[Clint]

Taste it. Kits as in tins should be totally fine. Maybe need yeast.

 

[The Baron]

I would brew them and use the grain, my advice would be to smell the grain and even taste it if all seems ok fresh yeast and away.
I am surmising that the kits/grains have been stored cool and dry which is standard for most of us homebrewers.
Amazingly enough some of my milled grain has milled date and over a year of Best Before and that's from the suppliers

 

[user 4749]

Yes all stored in cool dry conditions . The kits are ALL Grain kits ,luckily all the yeast is mostly in date and all Hops were stored in a fridge so going for it tomorrow .
Only my time and a bit of leccy to lose.
Glad to be back .

 

[Clint]

Hops in fridge or freezer? In the freezer I'd say they'll be fine...before kicking off tomorrow I'd check the hops if they've just been chilled.

 

[user 4749]

Unfortunately the fridge vacuum packed so I will start with ones that are in date and replace the rest which isn't many .

 

[The Baron]

I think the hops will be fine just smell them before brewing so you have chance to get fresher if needed but Vacuum packed in a fridge is how I store mine and always seem good to go for me.

 

[marshbrewer]

Don't be surprised if you notice a slight drop in mash efficiency with out of date grain. Nothing too drastic, just a few points, and certainly nothing to worry about.

 

[Moe]

I had a hiatus from brewing for a year due to family etc, so back ready to brew again
So I have lots of kits and grain that I bought before my hiatus. 7 kits which are crushed and range being bought from 11/11/22 until 02/02/23. About 25kg of various crush grain which was bought 01/01/23 all have been stored in Air tight blue storage drums.
So here is the question will the kits and grain still be OK for brewing or an I wasting my time and should start buying again .
Thanks in advance

I brewed with a bag of crushed pale malt two weeks ago that was purchased in November 22 and had been sat in my garage opened (top rolled down) for over 9 months.

The beer came out nice

 

[user 4749]

Brewed today with one of the old kits all went well the gravity was a few points down as expected . Thanks for the help just have to wait a see the final quality .

 

[CookieMonster]

Hi All,
Just thought I'd add a thread on storing grain and types of container after failing to find anything in my recent quest!
Was unsure what capacity container would be needed for a 25kg sack. Had initially bought a 30litre blue drum, though this will only fit circa 20kg. Ended up going the next size up to a 60litre drum. Space wise it doesn't take up too much more space, though it does leave you with a nice amount of headroom. Picture is courtesy of "Smiths of The Forest of Dean" incredibly helpful and friendly staff. If you're in the Southwest certainly worth getting from them, cost was £21.59.

 

[MashBag]

Testing thoughts.....

Yeast. Lob if nothing happens add fresh. Dead yeast is a nutient, so no loss.

Hops keep well vac pac in a fridge, better in freezer.
Test: sniff for cheese.

Tins keep for years.
Test: Taste / smell it when you make. You want Sweet biscuity not metallic

Grain. Should be OK.
Visually look for any black bits & remove.
Test: Easy: porridge or mini mash. Take ½ mug crushed grain. Add to a mug of water in a saucepan and warm for 10mins. Eat, chew, Taste, sniff etc.

 

[MashBag]

Hi All,
Just thought I'd add a thread on storing grain and types of container after failing to find anything in my recent quest!
Was unsure what capacity container would be needed for a 25kg sack. Had initially bought a 30litre blue drum, though this will only fit circa 20kg. Ended up going the next size up to a 60litre drum. Space wise it doesn't take up too much more space, though it does leave you with a nice amount of headroom. Picture is courtesy of "Smiths of The Forest of Dean" incredibly helpful and friendly staff. If you're in the Southwest certainly worth getting from them, cost was £21.59. Will update with a picture showing headspace later.

I moved on from these. I weigh out my sacks into small 4kg tubs on delivery. These are brim full, airtight and mouse proof.

I also find you get a better balance of husk & flour, as there is no settling caused by repeat handling of the sack.

 

[jof]

I moved on from these. I weigh out my sacks into small 4kg tubs on delivery. These are brim full, airtight and mouse proof.

I also find you get a better balance of husk & flour, as there is no settling caused by repeat handling of the sack.

Like you weigh out into 3kg large ziplock bags, then it's 3 bags to a plastic bucket that also seals & can be stacked.

 

[DocAnna]

Hi, grain can be stored for several years in the right conditions and I'll point to a guide here from Crisp on general storage. https://crispmalt.com/news/brewing-malt-storage-guide/

There are two main issues with long storage: Spoilage - moisture, rodent droppings, insects, fungi, bacteria, and degradation of the saccharification enzymes which impacts efficiency with mashing.

Correctly stored cool dark and dry - shelf life of whole grains can be several years, crushed grain is though more difficult and risks both forms of degredation faster.

Bacterial degredation is less likely to be an issue, it requires moisture and in most cases bacterial will be reduced during the mashing and boiling process to levels insignificant for brewing. There are some bacteria that are more heat resistant or spore forming and will cause off flavours but these are unlikely in a home brew environment.

Rodents are a significant issue and storage must be rodent proof, and preferably a foot or more off the ground, with spillages cleared quickly.

Fungal spoilage with visible white, pink, or other unexpected colours over the grain/malt suggest moisture has been an issue and would normally mean discarding the batch at home scale, while some fungi will be harmless, others will cause off flavours at best or more harmful affects so I wouldn't use a discoloured batch potentially affected by fungi.

Moisture: You'll also need to consider ventilation for the food bin and condensation - the blue drums can have issues with condensation of warm air if cold overnight.

If the grain batch is older than a year, then consider including some fresh malt in the mash to supplement the saccharification enzymes, I know 'some' isn't exact but at least 5% as a rough guide.

Lastly, the darker the roast the more time the malt can be stored, partly because the moisture level is lower and partly because the thing that the grain is contributing relies less on the enzymes and more on the colour and flavour compounds. So chocolate malt stored dry and airtight is likely to last for ages.

If in doubt, taste some of the grain, or add a spoonful to a cupful of water at 65 deg and taste it after sitting a half hour ...though as above I wouldn't do this for fungal spoilage.

 

[DocAnna]

Just to add - these are my two grain bins for my base grain, it isn't as neat now as it was then sadly : #548

 

[Northern_Brewer]

There are two main issues with long storage: Spoilage - moisture, rodent droppings, insects, fungi, bacteria, and degradation of the saccharification enzymes which impacts efficiency with mashing.

Correctly stored cool dark and dry - shelf life of whole grains can be several years, crushed grain is though more difficult and risks both forms of degredation faster.

Who's been paying attention in class then?

I know it sort of gets covered by spoilage but it's worth mentioning explicitly and that's the effect of staling on flavour. It's not huge - even at 18 months after crushing you can only really notice it when side by side with the same beer made from fresh beer but there's a definite "dulling" of the flavour. And even after 3 years you don't really notice it on its own, so it's fine for your own consumption even if you wouldn't expect it to shine in a competition side-by-side with similar beers made with freshly-milled malt.

 

[Leon103]

Hi All,
Just thought I'd add a thread on storing grain and types of container after failing to find anything in my recent quest!
Was unsure what capacity container would be needed for a 25kg sack. Had initially bought a 30litre blue drum, though this will only fit circa 20kg. Ended up going the next size up to a 60litre drum. Space wise it doesn't take up too much more space, though it does leave you with a nice amount of headroom. Picture is courtesy of "Smiths of The Forest of Dean" incredibly helpful and friendly staff. If you're in the Southwest certainly worth getting from them, cost was £21.59.

I have a.120l one of these, I don't empty my sacks so able to store all my grains plus room for spare tubing, towels etc.

 

[Appleton Brews]

I store my Maris Otter in a Galvanised dust bin and my Pilsner in plastic dust bin. This is historic ( to keep out the mice in the garage) but as these turn over quickly I’ve never upgraded. My other grains I store in sealed blue bins, one for Crystal, Roasted etc, one for Munich, Vienna etc and one for Wheat and adjuncts. All of which turn over much slowly.

 

[The Baron]

question to all how many have had vermin damage in the past?
I had one years ago when I stored a sack in my Outside bar stupidly over winter and then it was just a nibble at a full sack 25Kg but I threw the lot. Did I do right?