How old can you go?

Just found some old (3 year-old) CRUSHED pale malt - too much to waste if it is useable.

So, has anybody managed to brew a decent beer using such old malt? Will it taste OK. Will it ferment?

Just a thought ... or is it for the refuse?

I'm sure someone out there has tried it or knows the answer! Go on, admit it.

YeastGardener.

Never used old malt
But i say mash it in and taste it. If its sweet brew it. if not dump it

I'd probably taste some of it (right out of the bag) to see if it was stale or not. No use to waste time brewing with something that will give you sub par results.

Can you advise as to what stale pale (!) smells like? (Or is that obvious?, i.e. stale)

I mean, they all smell similar to a new bag, just not as 'fresh'. I still don't know whether this means that they're sufficiently useless to even bother wasting some hops, yeast and labor with.

OK, nothing for it but to try a batch this weekend, test pH and OG etc.

Think I'll call it Stale Old Ale.

Thanks guys, I'll post in the future my results.

YeastGardener.

I've never left crushed grains around long enough for them to be stale then tasted them. That's just what I've heard from others. I'm betting it would be obvious, like stale bread.

If you have the time go ahead and brew. It will still make beer