Storing wort

Has anyone ever mashed their grains, and then stored the wort (PREboil) and then used it at a later date? Any obvious cons that I'm not thinking about? I'm not actually considering this- so much as it's a concept that keeps kicking around in my head. I was thinking that taste, etc. could be affected by storing it- and of course storing 6+ gal. of anything is cumbersome.......

It's tough to keep it from getting spoiled.

You can buy kits that are essentially this exact thing, but I'd be wary of keeping it too long at home.

If you could get it refrigerated in a sanitary environment quickly you'd probably be OK a few days, but unless it's airtight i wouldn't trust it for long.

I had a gallon in the fridge for a week to step up a starter. I used plenty of hops and sanitized a gallon jar with star-san. I can't say if it did anything special for flavor but it didn't get infected.

I did it once without hops for starters. When I opened it a few weeks later it smelled horrible and I poured it out. I tried again using hops(antiseptic) and it lasted until I needed it, about 1 month later.

Caution
While some may get away with saving wort there is always the chance that it can kill you unless you boil it in a canning pressure cooker to kill any bacteria in the wort. A temperature of 240 F for 15 minutes is necessary to kill Botulism spores.

Ref: Starters

Ref: Bodensatz Brewing - Pressure Canning

WBC said:

Caution
While some may get away with saving wort there is always the chance that it can kill you unless you boil it in a canning pressure cooker to kill any bacteria in the wort. A temperature of 240 F for 15 minutes is necessary to kill Botulism spores.

Ref: Starters

Ref: Bodensatz Brewing - Pressure Canning

Click to expand...

Are you referring to wort that you take out of the freezer or fridge and then use to make a starter ? Or are you referring to wort that has been stored but then boiled in a pot or flask for 15-20 minutes first?

I know Kaiser keeps some boiled wort in the freezer and uses it for kraeusening.

I am talking about saving any wort from DME, LME, or from grain. It needs to be boiled at 240 F for at least 15 minutes and the only way you can get it that hot is to use a pressure cooker or pressure canner (more room). If you freeze wort it can be used before it takes on the taste of the freezer. I have no idea how safe that is but I would think unless it melted and had enough time it could become infected with something you would still be safe. If you read the referenced links I posted you might think twice about canning it properly rather than taking a chance with your life. It does not take that long to "can wort" when you consider the alternative consequences. When you want to use the canned wort you wash the exterior of the ball jar and spray with Starsan just before use. There is no need of any other precautions and you just pour it into a flask that has the yeast in it or previously fermented starter.

I was under the impression that boiling kills the botulism toxin (the part that makes you sick), so therefore IF you always boil the wort before you use it (however stored) you will kill the toxins and the wort will be safe to use. I think the issue is that most canned foods are not boiled before consumption, and if there are botulism spores in the can when it is canned/bottled it can produce the toxins and you will get sick when you open the can and eat the food without cooking. You are probably thinking that if you don't kill the spores you might get sick but actually your stomach acid and other things will take care of them. The spores seem to require a higher temperature for complete kill, which is required if you want to can something and put it on a shelf for a long time. You probably ingest many hundreds of spores per day of the toxin, but because of the body they cannot generate the poison that will hurt you once they are inside you. Likewise if you put some leftovers in the fridge and eat them a day later. Sure they will have some spores on them, but since the time from when they were cooked to eaten again is very low, with a low temperature (why fridges were invented) they wouldn't have enough time to generate enough of the toxin to hurt you. If you leave the leftovers long enough (say months like in a can on a shelf) and turn the temp of your fridge up (closer to the "danger" zone), you will have an increased chance of toxins being created and if you take the food out of the fridge and eat it, you may get sick.

Your advice is correct, but only applies to the case of directly using the wort out of storage and using it.

Kaiser doesn't even care much about sanitary practices with it because he boils it before using it anyway.
Whirlpooling - German Brewing Techniques

Spine said:

I was under the impression that boiling kills the botulism toxin (the part that makes you sick), so therefore IF you always boil the wort before you use it (however stored) you will kill the toxins and the wort will be safe to use.

Click to expand...

Exactly correct. If however you want to use the wort without boiling it first (right out of your pantry) you need to can it in a pressure cooker as mentioned.

I usually just take any extra wort (soaked up in the hop bag, deadspace etc.) that I can get and freeze it, then I'll boil it and use it for starters later.

As for storing wort (this is post boil) to ferment later, there is an interesting artlicle here HyperFox - The No-Chiller Method / Using A Cube that I'm going to try at some point here.

+1 on saving a quart of pre-boil wort in the freezer, for a starter (instead of DME).

I do it all the time with the last runnings of my sparge, but have never tried more than a quart jar. I let it cool, freeze it and use it for starters. It must be boiled and cooled just like any other starter, but it would be a major hassle to do that with six gallons.