In the Vittles Vault (intended, would you believe, for dog food), the seal is made by an o-ring. The lid screws into the body thus compressing the O-ring. Pretty tight. Can't picture how this would work in an un-threaded bucket. Force fit is good enough, I guess.
Acid malt storage
- Thread starter ajdelange
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ajdelange said:
The lid comes in two pieces. An outer ring, that is actually a bit tough to get on (and realistically requires a mallet) and is pretty much permanent when you do, and the other piece is the part that screws into it.
samc
Well-Known Member
Seal grain in bags/containers and freeze, that will kill your average Weevil.
samc said:
Problem is many of us buy in bulk. I have about 300lbs of grain right now, and that is even considered a small amount by many others (I only do 5gal batches!)
Freezing just isn't at all practical with so much grain, and even with smaller amounts it's totally unnecessary. Proper *airtight* storage will keep the grain fresh, and bugs out.
samc
Well-Known Member
Many of the pests that eat the grain, come with the grain. Let it get to the right temp & moisture level and you get bugs. You can freeze it in batches, a week at 0F will kill the eggs and you will avoid the issue. I've usually got 50-100lbs of imported flour in my freezer at any one time to kill potential egg hatching.
samc said:
I know that's technically true, but I've never had issues with bugs when storing grain properly, ever, because moisture simply isn't an issue when you use perfectly airtight containers (the lids with foam gaskets that often come with buckets are not good enough).
I think most people wouldn't really have the room to freeze all their grain, and even if they did it in batches as you suggested, they'd STILL need a good longer-term storage solution (like the ones Gamma provides) to ensure the grain continues to be bug-free anyways. Since that alone has always sufficed for me, there's really no reason for me to go through the additional hassle of freezing in batches, and I can't see it being worth anyone's trouble unless bugs are somehow an issue DESPITE good storage practices with suitable containers.
If you have the capability/capacity and desire to keep everything frozen and therefore have no need at all for these kinds of containers, that's a somewhat different story.
But since you mentioned flour, I should also mention that I know someone who keeps large quantities of flour, rice, etc, in containers with these lids and has never run into a problem with bugs OR freshness. And so, given my own experiences, and knowing a number of people using either complete Vittles Vaults or just the standalone lids on food-grade buckets, without ever even hearing of a bug problem even once, It'd be impossible for me to justify the constant energy expense of storing everything frozen.
This thread is broken off from the "Water Chemistry Primer" as the thread was getting derailed from water chemistry and into a discussion of grain storage. Good info, but definitely off topic from water. So, it's moved here to a new home- Yooper
Certainly. I know plenty of folks who have had good success with the sauermalz, but I prefer acid since I don't know the % acid content of my malt and it doesn't store well (for some reason acidulated malt seems to attract weevils at my house).
Certainly. I know plenty of folks who have had good success with the sauermalz, but I prefer acid since I don't know the % acid content of my malt and it doesn't store well (for some reason acidulated malt seems to attract weevils at my house).
That's what Gamma Plastic's Vittles Vaults are for. Needless to say a 55 lb sack of sauermalz lasts a pretty long time around here. No weevils, no loss of acidity, no rancid smells. Those things are FM for grain storage.
The big plusses with sauermalz is that it adds complexity to flavor as well as doing the pH reduction and it is so easy to calculate/measure. The 1%/0.1pH rule of thumb really seems to work. Someone will find a case where it doesn't in which case the brewer would have to adjust.
Saccharomyces said:
Kal's method of using 5- or 6-gal buckets and using Gamma Seal Lids to make them nice and airtight is a pretty surefire way of keeping bugs out. Bulk grains get poured directly into the buckets, specialty grains go in labeled Ziplocs, stored in identical buckets.
Edit: after seeing the ajdelange's post, I should add we're talking about almost the same thing. Gamma Seal Lids are standalone versions of the lids that make Vittles Vaults so useful, but IMO are much more cost-effective.
