Vaccum Packing Malt

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Has anyone had any experience of vacuum packing malt to retain it's freshness

Would it make any difference to shelf life and are there any disadvantages?

 

[foxy]

Has anyone had any experience of vacuum packing malt to retain it's freshness

Would it make any difference to shelf life and are there any disadvantages?

If its un milled wouldn't really be any advantage apart from making a smaller package if you were posting.

 

[ChilledGecko]

I'd be interested with anyone's experience in vacuum packing pre-milled malt.
Maybe even vacuum packed and frozen as is done with hops.
Appreciate it probably would be frowned on from the boss as it would take up freezer space...

It would allow me to keep a variety of malt on demand, which would be nice!

 

[MrRook]

I've vacuum packed malts for years. Does it help retain freshness? I have no proof that it would, but it's what I've done since getting a vacuum sealer and it couldn't hurt.

 

[Ben034]

In my experience, as long as it's sealed, milled grain will keep for quite a long time, vacuum sealed or not. I use my vacuum sealer to just seal grain (no vacuum) as it makes a mess of the vacuum sealer with the "malt dust." Obviously freshly crushed it best, especially for malt forward styles. I've used 6 month + old grain, stored in a sealed bag with no issues though.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Thank you all

 

[RichardM]

I've vacuum packed malts for years. Does it help retain freshness? I have no proof that it would, but it's what I've done since getting a vacuum sealer and it couldn't hurt.

Same here, both milled and unmilled. I have a vacuum sealer so I use it. It might not help but I can't see any reason not to do it.

 

[Clint]

Stuff comes from MM sealed with twelve months use by date. I've got stuff I roll the bag top and tape and it seems fine... I think keeping it completely dry and pest free is a major factor in storage.

 

[Petrolhead]

I have a cheap, £15, vacuum sealer from Amazon. I buy the long continuous vacuum sealer rolls which are also cheap. So when I buy 25Kgs of Malt I break it down and seal in 3kg bags. It makes them easy to store and I admit I don’t know if they last longer or better.

I also open my sealed hops, use what I need and resell them in the same bag as supplied. That has to be good for them.

 

[Drunkula]

Last beer I made was with 18 month old pre-crushed grain I kept in an under-bed clothes vacuum bag thing. Was a wheat beer with CML Gretel and it's the closest tasting to a commercial wheat beer I've ever made. Drank 20 litres in a week.

I also put grain in the 2kg bags of dry cat food and seal it up with an iron.