Old Grain - When to Toss Out

[quaboagbrewing]

Was taking inventory this morning and have some specialty grains going on about 2 years now. These have all been used at some point and currently sealed in Ziploc bags. Not talking all that much......probably 6 different grains totaling 5lbs. My inclination is to toss these but wanted to see what others are doing with their old grains.

 

[bransona]

If they're dry and smell like they originally did, they should be fine. Maybe do a small batch trial and make sure there aren't any off flavors, but grain lasts well when stored properly.

 

[Big Monk]

Taste them.

 

[Oginme]

Take a couple of kernels and bite on them. If they are crunchy, firm, hard then you should be fine. If they are mushy and have no firmness to them, then I would toss them.

 

[quaboagbrewing]

Take a couple of kernels and bite on them. If they are crunchy, firm, hard then you should be fine. If they are mushy and have no firmness to them, then I would toss them.

There is my answer. More mushy then firm so think I'll just let the chickens have these and replace with fresh grain. Another good reason to invest in a vacuum sealer to keep these fresher longer (or in my case need to brew some more dark beers as it's always the darker grains that seem to grow old on the shelf.