Bugs in LBS grain bins...

[Gagunga]

I went to my local brew store today for the first time. I wanted to buy some different grains. Their grains are all stored in plastic totes. When i opened them, i noticed many had winged bugs inside. One bin even had a 'maggot' (larva?) squirming up the inside of the tote. I was shocked and somewhat dissapointed since i drove 45 min to get there. I told the person at the register about it and they just looked at me blankly like i was an idiot.

Is this a common thing to expect? Have you guys ever experienced this at your LBS? A little extra protein in my life is OK but i prefer eating furry dead things to get my dose... not from malty larva shakes.

 

[Wortlover]

Wow, that's crazy. Makes you wonder how old the grains are as well...

 

[LLBeanJ]

I've never come across it myself, but it's not all that uncommon and I wouldn't be alarmed by it. As a precaution, you can put the grains in the freezer for a few days to kill off the bugs and keep them from getting into any other food you may have in the house.

 

[Gagunga]

Sucks. Id rather give my LBS the business but ill be purchasing all my grains online from now on.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I was brewing the other day and when I was finishing my fly sparge I notices some black bits. They were little weevils. So my beer is NOT vegan.

I know it happens more than we realize. I take precautions to keep the bugs out and such but every now and then it does happen. A while back I worked at a LHBS and we would find bug every week in different buckets. The bucket went into the freezer to kill the bugs but that was it. As long as its almost entirely grain and not almost entirely bugs I think you are okay. At least I'm okay with it. There are other things that bother me. I quit working at that LHBS and stopped shopping there because they didn't care at all about the human blood on the sacks of grain from someone who was injured. That set off some red flags about overall quality and care of the products.

 

[soccerdad]

extra protein

multiple infestations in multiple bins is unacceptable .. it indicates that they are not paying attention (why don't THEY freeze and sift?) and that they do not turn over their inventory well

on line buying is not immune ... first time I bought rye flakes on line there were bugs .. into the freezer for 24 hours and the prob was solved with no cross contamination

 

[Gagunga]

I would say 80 perecent of their bins had creepy crawlies.. i understand a lot of stuff we eat has insect parts in it, but its a little different when you actually see larvae squirming around. Id be embarrassed as a lhbs owner tbh, but they didnt seem to gaf. Lol

 

[Murphys_Law]

That type of infestation should be unacceptable!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

80%?? Hell no. That ain't right!

 

[LLBeanJ]

I would say 80 perecent of their bins had creepy crawlies.. i understand a lot of stuff we eat has insect parts in it, but its a little different when you actually see larvae squirming around. Id be embarrassed as a lhbs owner tbh, but they didnt seem to gaf. Lol

Yeah, that's no good. If I were the owner and found live insects in a bag, container, whatever, I'd freeze it to stop the infestation from worsening. Ignore it and pretty soon all the grain in the building will be infested and that appears to be what happened here.

 

[Gagunga]

After a bit of research it look s like weevils are the typical pest of grains. But i didnt see any in the bins. I think i found the culprit though. The spawns of satan i saw are known as FLOUR MOTHS. DUN DUN DUN!

 

[MaryB]

I buy wheat in bulk to grind my own flour. Every bag goes in the freezer for 48 hours then into a 5 gallon bucket with gamma seal lid. Every 3 months those buckets get a hunk of dry ice and the top set back loose until it has melted to fill the bucket with CO2 and stop any creepy crawlies. 12 month old specialty wheat that is fine with zero bugs!

I do the same with brewing malt skipping the dry ice because most of it gets used up in 3 months(ROTATE YOUR STOCK!!!!!)

 

[Gagunga]

I buy wheat in bulk to grind my own flour. Every bag goes in the freezer for 48 hours then into a 5 gallon bucket with gamma seal lid. Every 3 months those buckets get a hunk of dry ice and the top set back loose until it has melted to fill the bucket with CO2 and stop any creepy crawlies. 12 month old specialty wheat that is fine with zero bugs!

I do the same with brewing malt skipping the dry ice because most of it gets used up in 3 months(ROTATE YOUR STOCK!!!!!)

THAT'S HARDCORE!! Do you sell your wheat products or just batch it up for home use? I am a lover of everything baking, especially bagels and flat breads baked on my wood-fueled fire pit. I go through a decent amount of flour in the winter. Summer months I'm too busy. Do you show off any of your food porn? Link me if ya do!

This is my flatbread in the making...probably not so appetizing in a BUG thread lol

 

[GPP33]

Yup. No way I'd ever go back. A bug or two is one thing, ignoring an infestation tells me everything I need to know about your business.

 

[brick_haus]

My LHBS has a similar issue. I find that I need to reduce the bittering hops by 11% due to the insects. I also need to increase the grain bill based on my guesstimate as to the insect/grain ratio.
You should stop by sometime for a beer!

 

[MaryB]

Mostly just bread... I can't eat store bought bread because of all the chemicals they add. No bread pics right now, ones I had were lost in a hard drive failure. Need to bake one of these days though! I make up enough dough for 3-4 loaves and freeze the dough. Thaw in the fridge overnight then set on the counter in the morning. By 3pm it has risen and I can bake it

THAT'S HARDCORE!! Do you sell your wheat products or just batch it up for home use? I am a lover of everything baking, especially bagels and flat breads baked on my wood-fueled fire pit. I go through a decent amount of flour in the winter. Summer months I'm too busy. Do you show off any of your food porn? Link me if ya do!

This is my flatbread in the making...probably not so appetizing in a BUG thread lol

 

[foam_top]

I get my grain online and order it crushed. Never worried about a bug infestation but I've never really inspected the crushed grain. Now I'm going to be a paranoid wreck!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

That's nasty. I would never go back.
I wonder why they store in bins? My store sells everything in sealed 1# 10# or 50# bags sealed from the manufacturer

 

[GPP33]

That's nasty. I would never go back.
I wonder why they store in bins? My store sells everything in sealed 1# 10# or 50# bags sealed from the manufacturer

I havn't been in a ton of LHBS but they all have the grain in bins around here. If I need .25lb of some random specialty grain I don't want to have to buy a full pound. If my LHBS didn't offer this convenience I'd have one more reason to save money and buy online.

 

[Dcpcooks]

I think I want to bake and brew with MaryB sometime.

 

[MaryB]

I do BBQ too LOL I used to cater it and had a Klose wood fired offest BBQ pit. Now I just use a Traeger pellet fired BBQ pit, easier on my trashed spine. I also make my own bacon, beef jerky, grind my own fresh sausage...

If you get the hint I like food! I look like it too! LMAO I admit to being FAT!

 

[Gagunga]

I don't mind the bins as long as they are the right bins. Putting them in plastic totes with no rubber seal isn't protecting the grain at all. A bigger investment for better bins but will pay off in the long run

 

[Gagunga]

I do BBQ too LOL I used to cater it and had a Klose wood fired offest BBQ pit. Now I just use a Traeger pellet fired BBQ pit, easier on my trashed spine. I also make my own bacon, beef jerky, grind my own fresh sausage...

If you get the hint I like food! I look like it too! LMAO I admit to being FAT!

I look at some of my friends who don't drink or smoke; and eat like grazing gazelles. Naaaa... gimme red meat, a scoop of smashed carbs and a brew. I cant fit into my old jeans anymore, but life's too short to short yourself.

 

[MaryB]

My grandfather ate bacon and eggs every morning, beef at night, drank like a fish, smoked a pipe... and lived to 96!

 

[IslandLizard]

Online ordering doesn't exempt you from bugs.

One of my friends here on HBT received weevils in a few all-grain kits he had mail ordered from one of the largest homebrew stores. He called me asking if he could/should still use those. I calmed his nerves, nothing to worry about, brew away! I think he still called them and they sent him new grain.

 

[radwizard]

I gotta bump this... I just got a bunch of grains from the lhbs, and when I got home set the grains on the dining table to have some lunch... My cat came over and started "hunting one of my bags of grain. There were a few small red bugs crawling on the outside of the paper sack.

All in all, I found about 20 little bugs crawling in my grain. I called the lhbs. They were cool about it and were happy that I called to bring to there attention. The source was a sack of flaked wheat they had just opened. Apparently it came from bulk order.

LHBS guys offered new grains, and apologies-- but I just decided to brew with what I got and try and not be wasteful. I can't see any more bugs anyways.

I found this thread during my initial WTF phase of first seeing critters in my grains, and thought I would comment.