3 year old bag of grain. Opinons

[StoliDude]

Alright guys, I have an interesting question for ya. One I've never run into myself in my time working at the LHBS. In front of me sits a 3 year old bag of Mild malt. un-milled, no bugs, just been on the shelves for some time. I'm tempted to buy it at a discount, but I'd like to make sure i'm not buying a whole bag of grain that will make horrible beer. Anyone had any experience with this?

 

[theonetrueruss]

I'm guessing the bag is closed and you can't taste it?

 

[Silentdrinker]

I bought a huge lot of all grain and kegging gear literally out of a barn in BFE oregon. Apparently the original owner died, and this guy was selling it for his daughter, so he had no real insight on the gear.

Within that gear were some Rubbermaid tubs. In one was a full bag of 2 row still sealed. I've been using it and have made excellent beer with out any illness or death.

I'm not entirely sure how old it was, but I'm sure if stored well and no nasties, you're good.

 

[IslandLizard]

Since the DP of many British malts is quite low already, and this grain's may be a bit lower because of age, you may not be able to use it as 100% base malt. A small test mash will tell you. You can always add some MO to it if you think the DP is too low.

As long as it smells good, not stale, rancid, or moldy and the discount is too lucrative to pass it up, buy it. For reference, a fresh sack of Crisp Pale Malt or MO can be had for $60 or less at group buys.

 

[StoliDude]

Yeah, the DP was mostly what I was concerned with. I guess the only true way to know if its stale will be to buy and test. I would open the bag and try the grain, but i'm not sure how my manager would respond if I decided not to buy haha. Thankfully Muntons does a good job of packaging their grain (And if SilentDrinker there can get away with a bag that was kept in a barn, I'm sure a bag kept in the store should be alright ). Knowing the prices though it's a pretty great deal. Store retails it at 79 bucks, and I managed to work down to 30 bucks for the bag. I guess worst case I have some very interesting specialty malt. Or I add some MO (or even 6row) and just make an old english ale with it. Very worst, I have beer

 

[JKaranka]

Mild malt is cool. It will still surely convert itself, but you might want to add some other pale if you go with lots of adjuncts / specialty malt. British brewers used to love adding American 6-row to cheap beers like milds and porters anyway (same way they used American hops for bittering...).

 

[IslandLizard]

If you know how that store stores their malt (cool and dry) chances are it is good. I would tell them you want to open it up (just the corner) and test for staleness before committing to it. If it's stale (got damp or was stored in a damp basement) would they sell it anyway? After all, you're doing them a favor. You probably also know or can deduce what their real cost is on that sack. Just pay cash without a receipt, and the deal becomes sweeter for them. I'm quite sure they're writing it off.

 

[Calder]

I have 3 year old grains (some older), and I don't have any question about them. I use them without any thought.

 

[MrTux]

I wanted to do a brew with my older hops and grain I didn't use from a leftover extract. (yeah, still making those but excellent brews). I looked for an extract that came close to some of the seeping grains I had and worked well. I did add some fresh grains but the batch came out with no problems. Think about adding some fresh, but I believe you should be just fine.