Grain storage

[nachov]

Hi folks,


I've just bought unmilled grains (barley malt, crystal malt,mwheat malt), DME and hops.

Do you have any advice about what's the best option for storage.
I'm planning on using them within the next 2 months.

I live in a country where room temperature (in a shaded spot in my flat) is at 28 Celsius degree (82 Fahrenheit degree).

I've heard the grain could turn rancid in such temperature.

Do you think it's OK to keep them in the fridge.
I've measured my fridge temperature.
It's around 10 degree (50 Fahrenheit degree) or lower.


I'd welcome any advice, recommendation.

Thank you.
Cheers.

 

[slow_boat]

I've currently got my unmilled grains stored in a room that is hovering around 27 C. They have been sitting there over two months now, and I have not had any problems with them going rancid. My room is pretty dry though, very low humidity where I'm at, which is probably the key. So, if it's really humid, store them in the fridge. Your DME should be fine though.

Keep your hops in the fridge for sure though.

 

[Mojzis]

I keep all of mine in air tight zip-lock bags. I have all of those bags inside a plastic tote. This keeps them fresh and safe from moisture and creatures.

I wouldn't worry about temperatures around 28. However if you have temps that occasionally go over 37 I would do something different. Maybe fridge or air conditioning. But if you have enough space in the fridge then it couldn't hurt to store them in there now.

Good luck!

 

[nachov]

Thank you for your contributions.

The humidity here is alright. It's below 70%.
I store my grains in plastic bags (those for keeping food in freezer);
and inside an airtight plastic container.

I've put the grains in the fridge; but I've noticed a little bit of condensation.
So I might consider storing the grains in that shaded room instead.

What do you reckon¿


Thank you

 

[gcdowd]

I keep mine in buckets in my basement. Temp is around 70, low humidity

 

[joyceman]

Make sure you keep the DME in an airtight container. It'll suck moisture out of the air and turn into a cement block if exposed to humidity.

I wouldnt worry about the grains themselves. All grain bulk buyers report holding onto grain for months with no issues.

 

[Mojzis]

Thank you for your contributions.

The humidity here is alright. It's below 70%.
I store my grains in plastic bags (those for keeping food in freezer);
and inside an airtight plastic container.

I've put the grains in the fridge; but I've noticed a little bit of condensation.
So I might consider storing the grains in that shaded room instead.

What do you reckon¿


Thank you

I would just leave them in the shaded room. They will be fine.

 

[AlCophile]

You might ask a biochem major to be absolutely sure, but the three easiest things to do are: keep it cool, maybe even frozen; and keep oxygen away, i.e., back-flush with nitrogen or CO2; also, keep it dry.
Since these are malted, they are technically dead, so should not require even trace O2.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Keep your grain as cool and as dry as reasonably possible...for a two month storage period I would not be overly concerned. Many small breweries keep the grain in the sacks they came in for a month or two.

 

[atreid]

You might ask a biochem major to be absolutely sure, but the three easiest things to do are: keep it cool, maybe even frozen;

I would just advise against freezing the grains. Most enzymes are generally pretty fragile and get denatured easily. Freezing (especially in our usual auto-defrost freezers) tend to produce crystals that might damage the enzymes. Maybe I'm wrong but I would definitely never freeze my grains.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I just throw it in a Homer bucker with a Gamma Seal lid. Or a Homer bucket lid. Then I store them in my garage for months at a time. I have noticed no rancidity or anything else. I think moisture is the worry more than temperature. Remember though, these grains are silo stored for long periods of time.

 

[Gear101]

One of the mods here has the coolest grain storage. IMHO

 

[nachov]

Awesome!
Is that a fridge or is it an IT server rack?

It's very neat and tidy

 

[Onkel_Udo]

When I still lived in OK where my detached garage got to about 104 F three months out of the year I still have not problem with air tight freezer bags in a critter-tight 55 gallon plastic trash can. I regularly kept my Munich malt for a year.

Related but not, I found and ancient all grain kit someone gave me (at least 5 years old) that had sat in my 70 F basement for at least 5 years with milled grain. For the hell of it I brewed it anyway to test my new'ish all grain set-up. Tasted fine with no real off flavors and hit about 78% efficiency!

 

[unionrdr]

I always keep LME & yeasts in the fridge,the yeast packets in that lil butter cubby on the fridge door. Hops in a zip lock freezer bag in the freezer on that lil shelf above the ice maker. Since I have a Barley Crusher grain mill,I get unmilled grains & keep'em in their sealed bags. I was keeping them in the fridge,but with some 12-13 pounds of grains this time,momma wouldn't like that. So I put'em in my Home Depot orange bucket & sealed the lid,grain mill covered on top of that. So far,they've been there for about 2 weeks & are fine.

 

[cavalrymsh]

Awesome!
Is that a fridge or is it an IT server rack?

It's very neat and tidy

I might be mistaken but that looks like the linen closet. A No-go with SWMBO but she saw the picture and has agreed in principle...that's a Win! Now to find those tubs on Amazon...