Bulk grain storage containers

Well ……… I used to hate to see the Summer Sailing & Drinking Season come to an end. I hated Winter. Now it’s our Burning Firewood & Brewing so we can drink it next Sailing & Drinking Season … Season!! Ok .. we do drink a few of them while we are burning and brewing. We are going to buy bulk this year for both grains & hops. Questions about grain storage keep creeping in. What do you guys use to store your bulk grains in?

Preston

I bought a big plastic storage bin and just put my two 50 lb bags in there and scrunched the tops down so I could close the lid.
I have heard others say they bought plastic garbage cans with lids, and one of my friends bought these plastic bins designed for dog food. (new, of course)

I use these I get at walmart (comes with wheels). I get the 50 lbs version for 20 bucks and it is airtight.
Right now I have two of em - one for Marris Otter and one for basic 2-row.

The Home Depot "Homer" buckets have worked well for me. Two will hold between 50 and 60 lbs of grain, depending on the type. No problems with weevils so far, even in hot and humid north central Florida.

I just keep my unmilled 2-row in the sack that it came in with the top rolled closed. I go through a 55lbs sack in about 4 months, and it doesn't go bad in that time.

I keep my specialy grains in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer.

I bought the 50 lb Vittles Vault, which has a screw-on lid with rubberseal. Fits one sack of grain perfectly.

I use the Vittle vaults and these Iris pet food containers. The 30 quart holds a 55# bag and they have smaller ones that hold a 10# bag of grain.

stevo155 said:

I bought the 50 lb Vittles Vault, which has a screw-on lid with rubberseal. Fits one sack of grain perfectly.

Click to expand...

+1 and they are stackable to reduce footprint in the brewery.

ArcaneXor said:

The Home Depot "Homer" buckets have worked well for me. Two will hold between 50 and 60 lbs of grain, depending on the type. No problems with weevils so far, even in hot and humid north central Florida.

Click to expand...

+1

I had about 30 of these buckets full before I left to come overseas. They seal up great and stack with minimal strength to get them down off of each other. Plus they are cheap. I also put in bay leaves to keep the critters at bay. Lasted years in there. I don't know if I would recommend storing them for years though.

Walker----Why do you keep the specialty grains in the freezer but not your regular grains?

RugenBrau said:

Walker----Why do you keep the specialty grains in the freezer but not your regular grains?

Click to expand...

Because I never know exactly what I am going to brew next. I know it'll have a lot of 2-row in it, but that leftover 9oz of special B (for example) might not get used until next fall or something.

Thanks....just wondered if speciality grains should always be that way. Thought I might be missing something!

Well, I do recall seeing/reading somewhere that the stewing process used to make crystal malts might make the grains more susceptible to going bad, but I have ABSOLUTELY no idea if that is true or just someone's opinion.

Walker said:

Well, I do recall seeing/reading somewhere that the stewing process used to make crystal malts might make the grains more susceptible to going bad, but I have ABSOLUTELY no idea if that is true or just someone's opinion.

Click to expand...

I've heard Nathan Smith say this many times on the Brewing Network, and this guy wins a lot, epecially in the IPA category.

PiratePointBrewer said:

Well ……… I used to hate to see the Summer Sailing & Drinking Season come to an end.

Preston

Click to expand...

But hard water sailing season is coming up !!!

We use the 55 gallon drums with the sealable lids, they hold 3 - 4 sacks each, almost out of wheat, need to malt more barley. The future plans are a grain silo.

ArcaneXor said:

The Home Depot "Homer" buckets have worked well for me. Two will hold between 50 and 60 lbs of grain, depending on the type. No problems with weevils so far, even in hot and humid north central Florida.

Click to expand...

I also use these buckets. They are cheap and work well.

brrman said:

I use these I get at walmart (comes with wheels). I get the 50 lbs version for 20 bucks and it is airtight.
Right now I have two of em - one for Marris Otter and one for basic 2-row.

Click to expand...

I use the vittle vaults, but they aren't cheap. Do they use gaskets to keep them air tight or is it just a tight lid seal?

Go to the Wal-mart bakery/deli. Ask for empty cake icing buckets.
They just throw them away. The local walmart even saves them for me. The round ones are 5-gallon with a gasket lid. A good soak with oxiclean and rinse and they are good to go. They are food-grade, 90 mil vs. 70 mil homer buckets, holds about 30 lbs of grain, and the best part......free!

Bubba
How can someone from NC be a hard water sailor?

My grain closet. I can brew almost anything, anytime. Been like this for over a year without any problem. So far the only thing that couldn't be kept like this was DME. Lactose and dextrose are OK. Target plastic ware. 6 qt / 15 qt / 66 qt. One quart is about 1 lb. Click pic for big one.

passedpawn said:

My grain closet. I can brew almost anything, anytime. Been like this for over a year without any problem. So far the only thing that couldn't be kept like this was DME. Lactose and dextrose are OK. Target plastic ware. 6 qt / 15 qt / 66 qt. One quart is about 1 lb. Click pic for big one.

Click to expand...

You know a tidy brewery is a sign of a sick mind. And yours is mighty tidy.

Passedpawn, be carefull, looks like there's a hornet's nest in your corn sugar.