How long does grain last

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sherpa FE

The < 1% Club
HBT Supporter
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
818
Reaction score
20
Location
Blairsville
I am thinking of buying grain in bulk when I start brewing again. However, a LHBS owner told me that grains do not keep for any longer than a month, unless they are refrigerated.

I have an A/C'd shop that I would be keeping the grains in, as well as those large pet food containers, that have the screw on lids.

Do you agree that they would ony be good for a month?

Thanks for the help,
Josh
 
Sherpa FE said:
I am thinking of buying grain in bulk when I start brewing again. However, a LHBS owner told me that grains do not keep for any longer than a month, unless they are refrigerated.

Your LHBS owner is feed you a line of BS. Keep your unmilled grain in a cool dry location and it will last for months. Here's what Northern Brewer has to say about it.

A sack of uncrushed grain will keep for up to a year if stored in a cool, dry place.
 
yeah that's rubbish. sounds like he was talking about hops?

ps: with bulk grain, i'm pretty sure it's only recommended if you have a barley crusher. i don't think milled grain will last a year. (or will it, maybe someone can clarify this).
 
Yeah, thats kinda what I was thinking. It didnt sound right to me.
I am POSITIVE that he was talking about grain. I even asked him if he was talking about grains that were milled already. He said that it didnt matter because of weevils, and what not.

Oh well, I knew I would get the right answers here.
Thanks again guys.
Josh
 
Grain that is kept dry and cool will last several years. I brew with grain that I have had almost a year, and I'm sure it wasn't harvested the day I got it.
More like it was a year old at that point.
Crushed grain will keep a month or so if kept cool, dry and not exposed to air too much.

And if he has a problem with weevils, I wouldn't buy from him anyway. I have never seen any bugs in any grain I have bought, although from what I understand it isn't unheard of. And a bug or two wouldn't cause me to throw out grain anyway.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top