Smoking my Grain too Soon?

So, I am getting a little bored as of late with normal brewing. Hey, after 17 years of Brewing "Normal" beers, it'll happen. Anywho, I am firing up my Smoker on Sunday for some ribs. Going to use Apple wood for some Baby Backs, and I figured I should smoke 1/2 lb. of American 2 row Grain for a 5 gallon experimental batch for the future. Here's the thing. I won't be getting around to using the smoked grain until the Weekend of the 8th of January. I figure if I smoke the grain on Sunday, and then place the grain into a Zip Lok bag, I should be good to go. Think I can store the smoked grain normally, in a zip lok, and still get the smoky attributes from it? Also, how long do you think I should smoke the grain for? I am thinking 10 minutes in the Smoky atmosphere of the Smoker should be sufficient. Thoughts?

I would think that would be perfectly fine. Might even have the smoke flavor "soak" into the grains more.

As for storing, I haven't smoked grain yet, but when I would toast my own grain, I'd have them in the oven for however long, cool, then store them in a loosely sealed bag. I would suggest doing the same for the smoked grains; lets the grains mellow a bit easier instead of being sealed. For the length, after 10 minutes, take some grain out and sample it to see how it is. Go from there. I've also read articles where people soak the grains first before smoking.

The smoke shouldn't go away in a couple weeks.

You definitely want to soak the grains for a few hours at a minimum. Overnight if you can. The water will help the smoke attach to the grain and prevent the grains from drying out and getting more roast than smoke flavor. I would plan on smoking the grain for around an hour. It will get smokey faster when wet but it can still take a while. Your best bet is to start smoking and taste a few grains (after you let them cool!) every 10 minutes or so. I really think you won't get a good smoke taste until at least 30 minutes in but it depends on how smokey you want it.

The actually recommend when you toast or smoke grains that you let them "mellow" for at least a week. In fact the recommendation, which I have done (and first heard about on the Australian Craft Brewer Radio) is to store them in paper bags...In fact I bought paper lunch bags soley for that purpose and they work great.

IIRC paper is preferred because it lets some air in to help mellow the grains, and absorbs any moisture or oils that may come out of the grains...and prevents it from getting moldy.

I smoked some Munich over pecan earlier this year. The grain does need to be wet but not sure about soaking in water for an hour. I misted it with a sprayer which really wasn't enough water so a soaking of some sort may be the key.The grain did seem to need some time to mellow after smoking. I used some not too long after smoking and found it a little harsh. I just used it up last month to make a smoked Maibock. We'll see how well it mellowed.

PT Ray said:

I used some not too long after smoking and found it a little harsh. I just used it up last month to make a smoked Maibock. We'll see how well it mellowed.

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That's why they recommend letting it sit for a week or more.

Thanks for the great replies Everyone!!! I didn't think that much was involved in smoking grains. Well, looks like I will soak the grains for 2 hours prior to smoking, and let my palate tell me when they are done. I'll store them in a paper bag until I am ready to use them.

You might want to smoke more than a half a pound. My smoked beer is about half smoked malts.