How long does grain keep?

[MickDundee]

I'm buying some second hand home brew equipment off Gumtree at the weekend as my first foray into AG (BIAB)

So far I've arranged to buy a Peco boiler, mash bag and some bottles but the woman selling (it was her late husband's kit) doesn't really know what everything is so told me to have a rummage and see if there's anything else I fancy.

Anyway, she also told me there's an unopened bag of grain (hasn't said what size or type) that he bought before he fell ill in October. I don't know how it's been stored but I assume he knew what he was doing and she hasn't moved it. As long as it's been kept dry am I safe to take and use it?

 

[cheapbrew]

If its been milled and stored properly then it should be ok, but use it up quickly, if its unmilled and stored properly it can be kept for years.

 

[Dutto]

The secret is "stored properly".

Two tales:

On a ship I poured some cornflakes into a bowl and then realised that the milk was on the other side of the mess-room. By the time I had walked over to get the milk and walked back to the table half of my "cornflakes" were trying to escape from the bowl. They were weevils!

In Spain a couple of years ago we were in our motorhome when one night I was joined in bed by a number of small beetles that fell from a cupboard above my head. Investigation discovered that the weevils had come from a bag of dried beans that we had bought a few days earlier.

In synopsis, if the malt smells okay and doesn't move when you look at it then it will probably be okay! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Notlaw]

Is there a rule of thumb when it comes to milled grains? If its stored in a sealed plastic bin in the garage, how long a shelf-life are we looking at?

 

[Steved53]

I picked up about 100 kg of grain from a brewery recently. It was all uncrushed, and everything that was dated was about a year past the sell by date. I went to use some of the opened bag of Maris Otter, and that was all mouldy. It had got damp at some stage. All the rest seems ok, and I currently have a brew on, made with the other grain. It seems to be going well, and tastes 'normal'. Time will tell.

 

[MickDundee]

Great, so the general consensus is, as long as it's dry and smells ok it should be fine. In that case I might pick up whatever hops I can get cheapest online and make my first brew a SMaSH.

 

[MyQul]

The OP didn'tsay whether it's milled or not. If it isn't, if it's been kept in a cool dry place, unmilled grain can last months

 

[darkbright]

The boil will kill the weevils.

 

[Dutto]

The boil will kill the weevils.

True, but they will have eaten all the sugary bits and I'm not sure about the fermentability of weevil crap ... :lol:

... but I'll bet that it's bitter enough to reduce the hop load! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[MickDundee]

The OP didn'tsay whether it's milled or not. If it isn't, if it's been kept in a cool dry place, unmilled grain can last months

I assume/hope it's milled. The woman knows hardly anything about any of the stuff so I didn't ask.

 

[Notlaw]

True, but they will have eaten all the sugary bits and I'm not sure about the fermentability of weevil crap ... :lol:

... but I'll bet that it's bitter enough to reduce the hop load! :thumb: :thumb:

This made me laugh way more than it should!! :lol:

 

[simon12]

Opened a sack of Crisp best pale malt crushed today and it said on it best before 31/01/18 so even crushed it can last 2 years unopened.

 

[GHW]

I once had some dried porcini mushrooms that had been in the cupboard ages. I went to use them and noticed the 'dust' in the packet was moving. WEEVILS.

Not helpful for the OP, sorry, but I thought I'd share.

 

[Dutto]

All grain is suspect if you don't know how it has been prepared or stored.

When living in Iran we always soaked and then washed rice in very salty water to remove the "brown bits". :thumb: :thumb:

Those that floated were weevils that could be skimmed off, those that fell to bits were usually rat or mice droppings and were rinsed out before cooking and those that stayed whole were classed as "brown rice and good to eat"! :whistle: :whistle:

Happy Days!! :lol::lol:

 

[Hoppyland]

Opened a sack of Crisp best pale malt crushed today and it said on it best before 31/01/18 so even crushed it can last 2 years unopened.

Not for me. Weevils, no problem - unless you store your grain in a barn, but then mice are more likely!!
But what really will kill the flavour of your beer is if your malt goes stale - by which I mean oxidised. What is "unopened"? If it's just a plastic bag filled with crushed grain and air, then the oxygenation will take place in the bag - air is about 20% oxygen if I remember.
Uncrushed grain will have little surface area exposed to the atmosphere, and will keep a long time in a cold, dry place. Crushed grain, at normal house temperatures, will go off very quickly. So, I guess that crushed grain could keep for 2 years if it was in an inert (oxygen-free) atmosphere. Or, if it was kept at freezing temperatures. Otherwise crushed grain does no t keep well in my experience.
Otherwise, I'd agree with MickDundee's inference - if it's dry and smells OK, then it's probably fine. In my experience, stale/oxidised malt does not smell pleasant!
(A bit like rancid cooking oil)

 

[Leo1983]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have a similar question.

I bought a sack of milled grain from LHBS in December and asked how long it would last, I was told 'A year'. But after reading other forums etc. that seems to be a lot longer than most recommend!!

It's been kept in a wheely bin in its bag in the garage.

I would much rather spend a bit of cash and have a nice beer than save a bit of cash and use rubbish ingredients, so shall I just cut losses and buy a fresher back for when I get the next brew on or is a year actually correct?

 

[Bodleigh Head]

I buy my malt from Chateau maltings ... they recommend a maximum of 3 months for milled grain and from 18 to 24 months for whole grain. Milled grain from October, I would chuck it out, it has probably gone slack even if it has been stored correctly. Why waste a brew day on inferior ingredients ? Get fresh. Used malt makes excellent fertiliser for the garden ... my roses are doing fine.