Crushed Grain?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Depends on how you store it... In a loose bag (or paper bag) I wouldn't go past a week, two at the outside before using it. If in a sealed bag, where you pushed the air out, a bit longer. Vacuum packaged seriously extends the time too. Toss the vacuum packed bag into a freezer and it can last a lot longer.

Basically, I would almost treat crushed grain like you do hops.
 
Go buy a container of oatmeal. Make your self a batch and eat it. Notice the container it is in? Cardboard! Let it set on your shelf for a week and make another batch. Notice any taste change? Probably not. Leave it alone for a month and try another batch. Flavor change much? Another month? 2 months? Yes it will degrade over time but the shelf life of crushed grain is much longer than you would expect.
 
An R&D guy from Briess malting specifically addresses this here:
http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/03/3...-bob-hansen-from-briess-beersmith-podcast-35/

Its good info on malt in general, IMHO. I do grind my own most times so I didn't pay much attention at the specifics ( sorry) you'll have to listen to the podcast, but I know for a fact it's in there!

If I remember correctly he said to treat it like crackers or cereal. Sealed, it will be fine for weeks months.

On a side note, he was asked about uncrushed and his answer was years. I did hear in a separate podcast somewhere that the enzymes in the barley do denature slowly on the shelf, which (if true) means there is a finite shelf life to uncrushed barley.
 
Seal what you would use for each batch in double heavy duty plastic bags. Throw one of those handwarmer packs in each bag (it will consume any oxygen in the bag...No bug worries or rancidity) and close them with a long twist then a fold and a heavy twisty. In a cool dry place they will last for months.... Always sample before using for color, taste and smell. I put the individual bags into large coolers in the basement until I need one.

bosco
 
Back
Top