Washing Dirty Malt?

[Protos]

Because of the rising prices and restricted availability of certain malt brands, I'm hoarding malt.
Which I believe is a wise decision, even if someone ridicules it. Six years ago I hoarded me some pipe tobacco, and now when the prices are twice as high I bless the day I did that.
I pack my malt for long storage in clean dry air-tight water canisters and store them in a dark place. How long would the hoarded malt stay well - I'll report here in a couple of years. So long, I've been not disappointed too much with my 2 or 3 year old malts.

The problem is, some of the bulk malt purchases I made recently are borderline dirty. No mold or odours (yet!) but the grain is just dirty and has a lot of powdery dust. I suspect it would store worse and get mold easier than my clean malts. Who knows which spores that dust contains.

So, I'm planning to wash my dirty malt in a weak (like 0.02%) Peracetic Acid solution and then rinse it two or three times with cold water. Drying the washed malt doesn't seem to be a problem now, at the height of the hot summer.

What's your opinion, is malt washable at all?
Has anyone had expericence of washing his malt?

 

[Sammy86]

Malt is definitely not washable…once you wet it you’re asking for mold and other unpleasant things to start growing. The dust is fine…people store malt in air tight containers for years without issue.

 

[Kickass]

I know nothing about washing grain but my insides are screaming “that’s the last thing I’d try to do”. Please keep us updated.

 

[Protos]

once you wet it you’re asking for mold

Even if I dry it afterwards in the direct sun, spread in a thin layer on some board?
It will be completely dry by the sunset. And it will get quite hot while drying.
I'm not arguing, just asking.

 

[Sammy86]

Even if I dry it afterwards in the direct sun, spread in a thin layer on some board?
It will be completely dry by the sunset. And it will get quite hot while drying.
I'm not arguing, just asking.

You’re asking for trouble IMO. Once you wet the grain you’re activating it…essentially you’re pulling sugar from it. As I said in my previous post, the dust is fine…it’s natural from the grain. So why extract sugar from the grain when you’re not mashing it?

 

[Protos]

Yep, that's logical. I've thought about it.
Do you think any enzymes are activated when the water is at 15C/60F and the "mashing time" is 5-10 minutes long?

the dust is fine…it’s natural from the grain.

I suspect worse than dust: I can't confirm but I feel the malt is on the brink of getting moldy. With my Acid Wash, I hope to delay the development of mold.

 

[Broken Crow]

Even if I dry it afterwards in the direct sun, spread in a thin layer on some board?

That's how malting began in ancient times! At the very least you will change the character of it if not allow even more microbes to settle and adhere to the surface. At best, maybe get a large screen and use it to shake the dust off like panning for gold, but I really don't see how wetting it, without scrubbing and hand-drying each grain with sanitized material will improve it.

 

[Dland]

Yeah, I would not wash with any liquid. If worried about excess dust/dirt, perhaps you spread out and blow fan over it or something.

If it is sealed & dry, I'd just leave it that way, and perhaps clean up just before use, if you feel the need.

 

[Sammy86]

Yep, that's logical. I've thought about it.
Do you think any enzymes are activated when the water is at 15C/60F and the "mashing time" is 5-10 minutes long?


I suspect worse than dust: I can't confirm but I feel the malt is on the brink of getting moldy. With my Acid Wash, I hope to delay the development of mold.

If the malt came in a sealed sack I wouldn’t worry about it…you’re gonna do more damage then good by getting the grain wet without mashing it right afterwords.

EDIT: Also, what could possibly be in the malt? Farmers have standards too ya know…

 

[Protos]

No sealed sack, unfortunately. Godknows how it's been packed and stored before I bought it.
I'm quite unwilling to wash it, actually, and you guys seem to strenghten my doubts.
Washing and drying this much of malt would be a hassle.

I'd just leave it that way, and perhaps clean up just before use

I like the idea of blowing off the dust, storing it as is, and washing just before use, if it really needs washing.
Bulk washing and drying seems like a herculean task.

 

[hotbeer]

Seems like the dust you are seeing in the malt is likely just to be little bits of the malt themselves.

At best getting rid of the dust is just getting rid of bits of the hulls with nothing useful. At worst, getting rid of the dust is getting rid of some stuff that might have some sugars in it.

And if it's nothing useful at all, it'll just become trub on the bottom of the FV, if not removed during your mash process or boil.

If you want to store malt for long periods. Don't do much with it other than put it in the proper containers for long term storage. And that might just be a plastic bucket with a good sealing lid.

 

[superiorsat]

The fan idea is good. Maybe dump it from one 5 gallon bucket to another a bunch of times with the fan blowing to carry the dust away.

 

[okiedog]

Some malt can contain a considerable amount of dust or dirt but malt from a quality maltster should be fairly clean. When there is noticeable dust (usually husk particles) I usually use a big sieve to get the "dust" out. It lessens the chance of a stuck sparge. Washing the malt is not recommended unless you will be milling and mashing the malt soon after. In that case, you don't want the malt to be too wet for the malt mill. Sieve it or don't buy from a supplier that sells "dirty" malt.

 

[Protos]

It's a tasty malt, I know it. But it's not from a "quality maltster", it's an "artisanal" one. The dust isn't its worst problem, it's just dirty. And, I think, is more prone to molding, as any "artisanal" malt is comparing to an industrial-made one.
I have used it before as it was, and was happy with it. I just didn't buy large amounts and didn't have to think how to store it for a long time. And now I need to, as the maltster is leaving the business. He knows I'm hoarding malt so offered me a load of his dirt-cheap (what a pun!) tasty dirty malt. Which I hope I'll be able to preserve for some reasonable time.

 

[Sammy86]

It's a tasty malt, I know it. But it's not from a "quality maltster", it's an "artisanal" one

What makes artisinal malt not quality? I know artisinal malsters like Mecca Grade and Root Shoots are very high quality.

 

[Protos]

I don't know.
That one I'm trying to prepare for a long storage, isn't a quality malt as in Weyermann or Simpson. But it's a very good tasty malt. Although a dirty and dusty one and prone to mold.
I haven't ever found a moldy grain in Weyermann's. Here, I'm used to find one or two or ten per batch. Not a big deal when you buy no more than for a single batch. The deal gets bigger when you plan to store few sacks for, say, three years.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I am an engineer in the seed/grain world, but no experience with malt other than drinking it and brewing with it.

In the seed/grain world moisture is your enemy. Not just water, but internal moisture in the seed. You combat this by drying/aerating. There's charts out there about how long you can store grain at different moisture content, and how much air to put on a bin to store safely.

Malt should already be dry, so I wouldn't worry about it personally. Unless you feel it's wet or insect-related, which means you probably have other problems.

I've personally just started exploring the world of preserving food with sealed bags and oxygen absorbers. This seems like it'd work well in your case, unless you are talking hundreds of pounds, which would get old. I know some guys use sealed buckets, but I have no experience in that world either.

 

[okiedog]

+1 for what Nick said about moisture. Moisture content of the grain should normally be 5% or less. Dirt is mostly minerals. Have you noticed any negative flavor or brewing effects when using this dirty malt?
Also, I'd say that 3 years is a long time to store malt. I try to use my malt within 1 year, as recommended by most suppliers. Depending on how quickly your supplier turns over inventory, it could be 6 months or more before the malt makes it from the maltster to your house. Under ideal conditions, you maybe could store malt up to 2 years* without significant degradation. *See craftmalting.com, below.

I hope this information and opinion are helpful. Brew on!

Storing Malt Grains Before Brewing – How Long Is Too Long? | Beer Creation

Crisp Brewing Malt Storage Guide | How To Store Your Brewing Malt.

How Long Can I Store My Barley? - Craft Maltsters Guild

 

[Protos]

Do you think any enzymes are activated when the water is at 15C/60F and the "mashing time" is 5-10 minutes long?

Well, after thoroughly thinking it over and doing some research I can answer my own question.

No, the quick cold wash won't extract sugar from my uncrushed grain.
What will do however, is drying the wet washed malt in the sun afterwards. Evem if the malt gets perfectly dry in the end, in the course of the drying process the wet grain would be exposed long enough to temperatures high enough to trigger saccharification enzymes. So the diastatic power of the malt might be severely reduced.

That means I better abandon my plan to wash the malt. If I had a way to dry it quick and cold, there would have been some sense in it. Drying it wet and hot - no thanks.

 

[seatazzz]

Curious...by "dirty", how are you gauging that? Unless there is obvious mold (or worse, rodent droppings/hair) in your malt, the mashing process will probably put paid to anything nasty. From how you described your storage process, it should be fine. I dump my base malts into vittle vaults once the bag is opened, and adjunct grains either get put into lidded plastic containers or sealed in bags with my vacuum sealer. I wouldn't 'wash' the grain either, as you are risking more mold or early conversion of starches, that would then either promote mold growth (at worst), or staling of the grain.

 

[Brewdog80]

Just store and use it up. I think that your washing, or rinsing it would potentially do way more harm than good. If it is really dirty, then I'd just toss. But if it is just white dusty, that is just malt from crushed grain.