old grains

I have like 20-25 pounds of grain that was milled and been sitting around for like 4 months. I know its not worth much at all. Would it hurt to add it to my next batch? If i have it might as well use it, I dont want to just throw it away

Maybe you could use it to make starter wort and can it?

I would not use it.

if it was in a cool, dry place, it will be fine.

Having trouble seeing the problem with using grains which have sat around for a while. Depending on the time of year the grains are likely over a year old by the time they get used. They have already been dried at least twice at that point. At least I've not had a problem with grains some would label as 'old'.

brewingmeister said:

Having trouble seeing the problem with using grains which have sat around for a while. Depending on the time of year the grains are likely over a year old by the time they get used. They have already been dried at least twice at that point. At least I've not had a problem with grains some would label as 'old'.

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But, as the OP said, the grains have been milled for 4 months.

william_shakes_beer said:

But, as the OP said, the grains have been milled for 4 months.

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So what?

Taste it. If it tastes OK use it. If it tastes stale or rancid don't. I can guarantee you that the enzymes will still be active. I've experimented with malt ground to a find powder and it will still convert after 2 years

pjj2ba said:

Taste it. If it tastes OK use it. If it tastes stale or rancid don't. I can guarantee you that the enzymes will still be active. I've experimented with malt ground to a find powder and it will still convert after 2 years

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This.

I have used year and a half old crushed grains with success. You should be ok.

I would just mash it and use it for starters. For me just not worth all the effort for potentially "meh" brew. I wouldn't throw it out though.

The comment about smelling tasting and stale v.s fresh makes the most sense if you plan to try to brew with it.

I have heard from many people that after it's crushed, it's only good for a month and others that if kept air tight, it's good for 6 or more months. I've used Carapils that was over 6 months and it was fine but that added naught to the fermentation so I still try to keep my crushed grains used in under a month.

brewingmeister said:

So what?

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I purchase my milled grains from the LHBS for each batch, so I'm just talking out my A&^%. If you have personal experience, I'll defer. When I buy coffee beans, they stay fresher unground than ground. I speculate that milling the grains would cause them to dry out and loose their "freshness' faster than unmilled. Am I missing something? Consider; If there was no difference in storage time milled VS unmilled, why don't maltsters mill the grain as a part of the malting process?

Freshness certainly does make a difference. I had bought a bunch of bags of base malt for myself and a buddy, and we store it at my house as I have the mill. Well he's been busy and has rarely been brewing lately so I've slowly been chugging my way through the now 2 year old malt by myself. This is un-milled of course. It converts perfectly fine, and my recent beers have been turning out quite well.

That being said, I was a bit concerned about the flavors. It still tastes fine, but I bought a little bit fresh grain anyway for a recent batch and the difference in the smell on brew day was obvious to me. It was much stronger and just smelled better. The beer is still aging, so I don't know what the final result is, but I suspect it will have more going on compared to the same recipe with 2-year old malt. I'm almost done with the old malt. I think I might do a couple really big beers to finish up the last bits.

I have used older malt with really good results as well (over 1 year old). However mine was uncrushed, and stored in its sack, which was then stored in an airtight container in a 50 ish degree basement.

So I think storage is as big a factor as any. If you crushed your grain and it was sealed out of light in a cool environment I would say that you probably could be ok pending the smell test.

I would still venture to say it is best to crush right before brewing. But I never crushed grain and ended up storing it for longer than 2 weeks.

william_shakes_beer said:

I purchase my milled grains from the LHBS for each batch, so I'm just talking out my A&^%. If you have personal experience, I'll defer. When I buy coffee beans, they stay fresher unground than ground. I speculate that milling the grains would cause them to dry out and loose their "freshness' faster than unmilled. Am I missing something? Consider; If there was no difference in storage time milled VS unmilled, why don't maltsters mill the grain as a part of the malting process?

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I don't know of any data that has tested milled vs unmilled with various ages. Let alone one that has different storage methods as added variables. Storage is probably a big factor but who knows how much of an effect. As far as Maltsters crushing grains. Why spend the time and money to do so? Uncrushed grains transport better than milled anyway. There would be less settling of the product. Not to mention the danger of milling thousands of pounds of grain at a time. I would love to see some tests done on the subject but have yet to see any. Blind testing would be a minimum to rule out any psychosomatic effects from biases for old grains.
All I can go on is the fact that I've yet to have any problems with using properly stored crushed grains that may have some age on them. I see more of a variance in efficiency from different suppliers and the crush from different stores than from grains that may be older. Ymmv

I have a bunch of crushed grains that I've had for over a year now from my extract brewing days. Today, I have a grain mill and have been brewing all grain so my already crushed grain supply is slowly going away. I've been using them little by little in any batch that needs them, haven't noticed any off flavors.

I keep crushed grains ( 10 pound lots ) in double plastic bags. Tied tight and each gets a handwarmer pack thrown in to absorb any O2. Smaller lots ( 1-2 pounds ) get vacuum packed. All are stored in empty coolers in a cool dry basement area.


bosco