Weevils in my Pilsner and Wheat

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radial67

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About 4 months ago i asked a brewer friend of mine to buy me 2x25kg bags of malt from Muntons in preparation for a bunch of brews I was going to do. 1 wheat and the other a pilsner. I put them in my coolroom for storage and since then had a car accident and broke a few major bones, so havent had the chance to brew. Over the weekend I opened the pilsner only to find these little black beetles crawling on the outside of the bag and thru both bags of malt.

I know that its not possible for the maltsters to get all the bugs out of the product before its shipped, however im in a very isloated part of asia where obtaining malt is both expensive AND troublesome, esp for me at the moment, and I feel because the time duration between when I took delivery of the malt and now, its not my brewer friends responsibility.

So, considering the AG process, (mash, sparge, boil) am I faced with throwing the malt away, or, can i use it?
 
radial67 said:
About 4 months ago i asked a brewer friend of mine to buy me 2x25kg bags of malt from Muntons in preparation for a bunch of brews I was going to do. 1 wheat and the other a pilsner. I put them in my coolroom for storage and since then had a car accident and broke a few major bones, so havent had the chance to brew. Over the weekend I opened the pilsner only to find these little black beetles crawling on the outside of the bag and thru both bags of malt.

I know that its not possible for the maltsters to get all the bugs out of the product before its shipped, however im in a very isloated part of asia where obtaining malt is both expensive AND troublesome, esp for me at the moment, and I feel because the time duration between when I took delivery of the malt and now, its not my brewer friends responsibility.

So, considering the AG process, (mash, sparge, boil) am I faced with throwing the malt away, or, can i use it?
Click to expand...

Would have thought Singapore to be a bit less isolated than mainland. Have you considered trying to strike up a deal with buyers for the Guiness over in Petaling Jaya? Or at the Tiger brewery in Singapore?

As for the malt, I say freeze it hard for a week to kill the bugs, mash in and try to skim the floaters.
 
Just think of it as extra protein, and besides, won't the proteins coagulate with some whirlfloc? :)

How many bugs are we talking about? I'm leaning toward Gila's suggestion too, freeze if you're going to store longer and/or just skim 'em out in the mash.
 
The filter bed should get rid of the critters and the boil will kill anything they were carrying. Just up your grain bill to make up for the extra mass of non fermentables and the fact that they ate some grain. Heck this is probably more authentic of older brews!
 
Bugs poop, (more than you might think). The more bugs, the more bug poop will be in your wort. I don't think any grain is totally free from trace fecal matter but if you mash your pilsner and your wort looks like an amber or a stout you'll know.
 
The weevils won't have any effect on your beer that you can possibly detect. If you'd rather they were dead, and easy way to kill them is to add some dry ice to the container the malt is in. As it sublimes, the CO2 will fill the container and suffocate them. Easier than trying to freeze a whole bunch of grain.
 
Weevils are nasty buggers. Last spring some friends were visiting and wanted to play some cornhole. I noticed my bags were way lighter than they should be. I cut open one of the bags and found lots of corn dust, hollowed out corn kernels and hundreds of weevils. I had to refill all of my bags and I now store the bags in my chest freezer. A bit off topic, I know but I wanted to chime in my disgust of weevils.
 
  • You can brew with the weevils in there, live or dead. This won't have any affect on the beer.
  • Only takes 1 full day at freezing temps to kill them dead.
  • They don't eat much.
  • I've read that they abhor a bay leaf; I considered putting one in each of my grain containers, but never did.
Much more info here, with pics!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/grain-weevils-freezing-experiment-209746/
 
I didnt think about the dry ice concept, BUT something along a similar line..... What about dumping the grain into a trash bag and then half a tank of CO2 into the bag?

Do you think that would be enough to kill em?
 
Really? You guys would brew with bugs? How much are we talking about here? I know with insects in general if you can see 10 there's probably 100 you don't see. I know that boiling kills off harmfull critters but what about just simply knowing you are drinking (and serving presumably) vermin and fecal mater? I couldn't do that to my friends, even if I knew for certain it was harmless. Again, how much of an infestation are we talking here?
 
You'd be surprised how many of these cochineal beetles are used in food as a red food coloring ("Carmine"). A few products shown below. Yum!

Dyes-dontai-cochinealZ.jpg


enhanced-buzz-23181-1333381311-46.jpg
enhanced-buzz-13651-1333379228-46.jpg
enhanced-buzz-21676-1333380688-26.jpg
enhanced-buzz-13351-1333379782-36.jpg
enhanced-buzz-31281-1333379397-71.jpg
 
KavDaven said:
Hmm, I'd brew it up and name it special.

Singapore Weevil
Cured Weevil - Sophocles
Effortless Weevil - Baudelaire
The Weevil's Creed - Adorno
The Unequaled Weevil - Corneille
Weevil's Last Card - C.S. Lewis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boll_weevil
http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collect/history/weevilpg.htm
Click to expand...

Good and Weevil
Weevil Dead
Etc uses in place of the word evil. To prevent this in the future you can add a couple tablespoons to a 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth to each sack of grain. The stuff is made of diatom which have microscopic glass shells and when the weevil eats it they die very quickly.
 
AgingHopster said:
Really? You guys would brew with bugs? How much are we talking about here? I know with insects in general if you can see 10 there's probably 100 you don't see. I know that boiling kills off harmfull critters but what about just simply knowing you are drinking (and serving presumably) vermin and fecal mater? I couldn't do that to my friends, even if I knew for certain it was harmless. Again, how much of an infestation are we talking here?
Click to expand...

We are one of the very few societies that have NOT embraced the most prolific food source on the PLANET.

Did you know that per 100 grams of Grasshoppers there is 20 grams of protein and only 6 grams of fat?

Ever wonder WHY bugs reproduce so profusely?
 
I would just brew with it. Pick out what you can before you crush the grain and let the boil sterilize. I am a sound believer that if the boil doesn't kill it, it has earned its right to take a shot at me.


man those hoppers are making me hungry! haha
 
CreamyGoodness said:
One of the few times I backed down from a food challenge was the crickets in Mexico. Yknow, that still haunts me years later, I feel like such a half-way foodie...
Click to expand...

I've had them recently, dried in a bag with a bunch of cajun spices. They sucked, and it took days to forget the taste and general experience of eating them (seriously).
 
mbauer013 said:
To prevent this in the future you can add a couple tablespoons to a 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth to each sack of grain. The stuff is made of diatom which have microscopic glass shells and when the weevil eats it they die very quickly.
Click to expand...

Because microscopic glass is way better in your beer than bugs. :confused:
 
yeah not sure I would be eating them unless it was survivor man style "need to" basis.

Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy moth%$#&^&#.
 
JeepDiver said:
Because microscopic glass is way better in your beer than bugs. :confused:
Click to expand...

Some people eat that stuff, or feed it to their dogs to keep them dewormed in crowded rescue shelters. I don't think it would hurt you, but I won't be eating that any time soon ;)
 
"Mountain Rat" in parts of China demands a higher price at the butcher than pork. Since the rats live in the country, they would presumably be a lot cleaner than city rats.

I'd give that a go, no problem. I'm glad passedpawn didnt like the crickets, now I can feel a little less BS for not trying them.
 
CreamyGoodness said:
"Mountain Rat" in parts of China demands a higher price at the butcher than pork. Since the rats live in the country, they would presumably be a lot cleaner than city rats.

I'd give that a go, no problem. I'm glad passedpawn didnt like the crickets, now I can feel a little less BS for not trying them.
Click to expand...

I have eaten a lot of weird foods in my day, but man... Just not interested in rat. Even if it is "mountain" rat.
 
radial67 said:
About 4 months ago i asked a brewer friend of mine to buy me 2x25kg bags of malt from Muntons in preparation for a bunch of brews I was going to do. 1 wheat and the other a pilsner. I put them in my coolroom for storage and since then had a car accident and broke a few major bones, so havent had the chance to brew. Over the weekend I opened the pilsner only to find these little black beetles crawling on the outside of the bag and thru both bags of malt.

I know that its not possible for the maltsters to get all the bugs out of the product before its shipped, however im in a very isloated part of asia where obtaining malt is both expensive AND troublesome, esp for me at the moment, and I feel because the time duration between when I took delivery of the malt and now, its not my brewer friends responsibility.

So, considering the AG process, (mash, sparge, boil) am I faced with throwing the malt away, or, can i use it?
Click to expand...

I'm from singapore as well, and I think we get the muntons from the same guy. If u dont want them, I'll gladly buy them from you if they are maris otter. Every sack will definitely has weevils in them, even those you buy from the LHBS just that you dont see them. Heck, what makes you think that malt used by craft breweries are free from them as well?

PM me
 
JeepDiver said:
Because microscopic glass is way better in your beer than bugs. :confused:
Click to expand...

DE has more use in teh food industry than most people realise.

It's even a filter media for beer.

CidahMastah said:
yeah not sure I would be eating them unless it was survivor man style "need to" basis.

Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy moth%$#&^&#.
Click to expand...

I am always amazed at how oblivious many people are regarding the living conditions for much of the foods we consider "acceptable".

Chances are that sewer rat see less **** in a day than Belle at the dairy.
 
I am always amazed at how oblivious many people are regarding the living conditions for much of the foods we consider "acceptable".

Chances are that sewer rat see less **** in a day than Belle at the dairy.[/QUOTE]

I hear ya there. Hence my quasi farmer lifestyle with my wife. I want to take as much food responsibility back into my control as I can. We grow as much as we can and can etc. and plan to get some livestock in the couple years. I like to know where my food comes from. If I was interested in rat, I would set up a kobe rat farm :D Rat the "other" "other" dark meat.
 
I tend to cover my ears and say "LALALALA!" when people tell me about farm/factory conditions. Outside of the major abuses (ie pink slime) I just dont have time to worry if there are beetles coloring my cinnamon gum or if the chicken I'm eating ate half of her sister...

I notice there are plenty of folks out there worrying for me... Ha!
 
All the bugs and crap and whatnot that's already in my food is all good and well...until I see it, ie, in my sack of grain, haha.
 
This might be a dumb suggestion... but could you use some of the vegetable cleanser the hippies use to get rid of insecticides and bad shakras?

Id think that would get rid of the nasties, AND their poop juice....
 

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