Gallon Bottles (Carlo Rossi) for grain storage?

I'll be picking up grain this weekend (~100#) and I'll need to store it somehow.

We occasionally have rodent problems, so plastic is out. I have a BUNCH of rossi bottles and a good source for more. Any issues with storing them in rossi bottles? Something easier, rodent proof, and cheap?

The only one I can see is just make sure you get all the wine odors out of it before sealing the grains in.

Ya mean wine del skanko isn't an aroma profile sought out in beer?

Other option I'm considering is a local thrift shop has a bunch of the old military water storage bins - which would be more convenient for bulk grains but might not be quite as air tight (the liner is long since gone).

The only thing i would say is that it would suck to store 100+ pounds in gallon size jugs.

20 bottles of grain on the wall... 20 bottles of grain...


Kinda starting to think it may be a moronic idea for base malts - and I've decided to buy most of my specialty malts from my LHBS (I'd like em to stay around but I'm also a cheap SOB). Brewbrothers.biz is getting my bulk grain and yeast orders. I need to decide which specialty grains I'll order from BB.

I may carry through on the idea and use a carboy for bulk grain storage - not sure how long it'll take to pour 100# of grain via funnel.

Edcculus said:

The only thing i would say is that it would suck to store 100+ pounds in gallon size jugs.

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Why not buy a metal trash can (you can even get them really small like 20 gal or so. it will keep the mice out and its easy to get the grain in or out your self. You could prolly toss the whole bag right in as is.

Ended up saying fark it and just getting homer buckets and tossing them on top of my fermentation fridge. I SHOULD see any signs of "nibbles" before they get in. I'll probably try the rossi bottle idea with some specialty grains.

Should I loose any grain to critters I'll try out your metal trash can idea.

Yeah I was going to say, that's a hell of a lot of bottles for 100# of grain.

I would just go with an airtight container for grain storage. If the mice can't smell anything, they're not nearly as likely to nibble through.

how about a spare corny keg? you could keep it airtight.

You could probably get a 15.5 gallon sanke keg, flip it upside down and cut a square on the bottom of it, weld some hinges on and a clamp. On the bottom, some kind of ball value that you can open and close getting grain out when you need it. Make a mini silo! (I don’t know if that is over your budget. (I have an aluminum keg lying around not a bad idea).

Can they eat through PVC pipe? If not just get some big PVC pipe, go to a construction site and ask them to sell you a piece of scrap PVC. I have done that and they have always been more than willing, if what you want is just scrape to them.

Home depot buckets aren't NSF. But I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you are concerned about it you can buy 22 qt cambro containers at any restaurant supply store. For around $10-$15 each.