Brewing old grains

sa1126 · Feb 21, 2013

I have a stout all-grain kit that a buddy gave me last May (2012) before he moved. It has been sitting in its plastic bag in my pantry since I haven't had the equipment to do an all grain brew.

I was thinking of brewing it but was wondering if them sitting in the plastic bag for too long is bad. Thoughts?

StMarcos · Feb 21, 2013

I've brewed batches with old, chewy grains an they came out fine.

coosabrew · Feb 21, 2013

I had one sit in a bag for a few months. Came out fine, just came out short on the O.G. I blame it on the grains. Same brew I made a couple times, that was the only thing that changed.

RM-MN · Feb 22, 2013

Crushed or whole grain? Open the bag and smell. If it smells like fresh grain, brew it. If it smells stale, so will your beer.

SagamoreAle · Feb 22, 2013

May 2012 is 9 months ago. Hardly "old". Use fresh yeast and hops.

sa1126 · Feb 22, 2013

SagamoreAle said:
May 2012 is 9 months ago. Hardly "old". Use fresh yeast and hops.

What is the shelf life of milled grain? IE if you ran a home brew shop, at what point would you say "this has been here too long, time to toss it"?

coosabrew · Feb 22, 2013

I've heard a year if it's sealed and uncrushed.

FermentNEthinG · Feb 22, 2013

grain, uncrushed good for a year. Crushed, Sell by 6 months.

BBL_Brewer · Feb 22, 2013

Sometimes I have basemalt that sits around for over a year, maybe 1.5. No problems. Uncrushed and sealed up nice in a tote. I have some 60L that's over two years now, and I'm still using it. No problems. I know, right, why has it been sitting around that long? Anyway, if it's crushed, you're probably pretty close to the cutoff date. Like others have said, smell it and make up your own mind.

Walking_Target · Feb 22, 2013

Stale is how much air and moisture have gotten to it.

Theoretically, it as a pretty darn long shelf life if it's in an oxygen barrier bag.

sa1126 · Mar 15, 2013

I brewed it today and it smelled amazing. I'll keep y'all posted as to how it goes!

MNDan · Mar 15, 2013

I brewed a Hefe with 10 year old wheat that was stored uncrushed, and it turned out great! If kept dry, grains will last a very long time...

Brewing old grains

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

sa1126

Well-Known Member

StMarcos

Well-Known Member

coosabrew

Well-Known Member

RM-MN

Supporting Member

SagamoreAle

Well-Known Member

sa1126

Well-Known Member

coosabrew

Well-Known Member

FermentNEthinG

Well-Known Member

BBL_Brewer

Well-Known Member

Walking_Target

Well-Known Member

sa1126

Well-Known Member

MNDan

Supporting Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Brewing old grains

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

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Supporting Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Supporting Member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!