redde2brew
Well-Known Member
I have some grain that was crushed a couple of months ago. I was wondering if it will still make good wort.
Give it a shot. I recently asked this of the woman at my LHBS. She said as an experiment once they cleaned out some ooooold crushed stuff from the store, brewed with it, and could barely tell the difference.
Palmer's book says it'll last about 2 weeks if it's kept cool and dry. I assume this means 2 weeks from when it's crushed.
How old is ooooold? 6 months? 1 year?? 2 years?
pjj2ba said:There are two issues with using "old" crushed grains (for the AG brewer). The first is: has the grain staled (oxidized - gone rancid). The second is: do the grains still have sufficient enzyme activity to convert the starch to sugars.
With respect to the second point, I've done the experiments (actually had my wife's students do it) and properly stored crushed grain can still have sufficient activity for as long as two years after crushing. There is some loss of activity so longer mashes might be required. I actually crushed the malt it into flour for ease of the experiment, so it was even more prone to loss of enzyme activity.
So, it is actually the first issue that is important. The general consensus is to smell and taste the grain. If it still tastes fresh/bready/etc., then use it. If it tastes bland and/or rancid, don't use it
I think she said a few months stored in a sealed bag in her dry and cool basement. So yeah, it was under some great conditions, but still. As long as it's protected, cool, and dry, it should be fine.
It is for meSo if you brew about once a month is it worth it to buy a grain mill and full grain bags?
So if you brew about once a month is it worth it to buy a grain mill and full grain bags?
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