Evil weevils

[CDS]

Well my brew day got off to a bad start. I plunked my grain mill down on top of a 5-gallon bucket and started weighing out my grain. Just before I started milling, I saw what I thought were ants in the bottom bucket! Closer inspection determined they were weevils. The grain itself wasn’t infested - it seems they were just hanging out in the mill, which admittedly I don’t regularly clean out, so there’s quite a bit of grain powder coating it. I guess that’s what attracted them? Don’t know much about these critters - never saw them before until today.
Anyone else ever have a similar experience? I guess I have added another step to my process: clean out the mill every time! And I think I’ll store it in a plastic bag from now on.

 

[McMullan]

Well my brew day got off to a bad start. I plunked my grain mill down on top of a 5-gallon bucket and started weighing out my grain. Just before I started milling, I saw what I thought were ants in the bottom bucket! Closer inspection determined they were weevils. The grain itself wasn’t infested - it seems they were just hanging out in the mill, which admittedly I don’t regularly clean out, so there’s quite a bit of grain powder coating it. I guess that’s what attracted them? Don’t know much about these critters - never saw them before until today.
Anyone else ever have a similar experience? I guess I have added another step to my process: clean out the mill every time! And I think I’ll store it in a plastic bag from now on. View attachment 748956

It took me weeks to get rid of a weevil population. Traced mine back to a small bag of roasted barley that had been sat on the shelf for a couple years or more. It seemed to be the source, as it was infested more than any other opened bags I had. They seemed to spread randomly to several small open bags of grain. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, but obviously you‘d want to eradicate the source, if you can find it. Most likely brought home from a home brew shop. I brewed at least one or two beers before finding them and I didn’t notice any impact on the beer. Other than blasting with compressed air occasionally I don’t really clean my grain mill. I certainly wouldn’t want to introduce any moisture, even with SS rollers.

 

[CDS]

It took me weeks to get rid of a weevil population. Traced mine back to a small bag of roasted barley that had been sat on the shelf for a couple years or more. It seemed to be the source, as it was infested more than any other opened bags I had. They seemed to spread randomly to several small open bags of grain. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, but obviously you‘d want to eradicate the source, if you can find it. Most likely brought home from a home brew shop. I brewed at least one or two beers before finding them and I didn’t notice any impact on the beer. Other than blasting with compressed air occasionally I don’t really clean my grain mill. I certainly wouldn’t want to introduce any moisture, even with SS rollers.

How did you exterminate them?

 

[McMullan]

How did you exterminate them?

Dumped the noticeably infested grains. Killed the source. Only about a dozen or so small bags of old specialty malts, a few kg. Just left overs mainly. Now I routinely reseal all bags, even if it’s just tying a knot, like I’ve always done for sacks of base malt. Just seems like good practice now, to keep things out and potentially in. The weevils are going to be species associated specifically with barley and other grains, with farms and maltsters being the original source(s). Poorly managed home brew shops probably help disperse the little critters, too.

 

[MaxStout]

Interesting that weevils showed up in roasted malt, as the roasting process would kill any inherent eggs/bugs. Which means they found their way in later, either at the maltster, in transit, in store, or end-user. Good reason to seal up opened bags, so they will at least be confined to one place if they hatch inside.

Another option is to put newly-acquired grain in the deep freeze for a few days to kill bugs and eggs. May not be practical for large quantities of base malt, but I freeze small bags for a while.

 

[McMullan]

Interesting that weevils showed up in roasted malt, as the roasting process would kill any inherent eggs/bugs. Which means they found their way in later, either at the maltster, in transit, in store, or end-user. Good reason to seal up opened bags, so they will at least be confined to one place if they hatch inside.

Another option is to put newly-acquired grain in the deep freeze for a few days to kill bugs and eggs. May not be practical for large quantities of base malt, but I freeze small bags for a while.

I did type 'roasted' barley, but actually it was flaked that got infested. I threw out some old roasted malts at the time, but I don't think any were supporting weevils. I had some flaked maize, oats, caramel and vienna that were harbouring quite a few. Not a bad idea to freeze them. With the low moisture content the grains themselves won't freeze.

 

[Brooothru]

I once had a similar situation: whether to dump the grains or brew as normal with them. I decided to brew with the little bugs, since it would be "the lesser of two weevils."
/s

 

[MaxStout]

I once had a similar situation: whether to dump the grains or brew as normal with them. I decided to brew with the little bugs, since it would be "the lesser of two weevils."
/s

Gets 'em drunk too, but the little buggers can hold their booze. Weevils wobble but they don't fall down.

/I'm here all week.
//Try the veal.

 

[Optx]

Yea I second on just putting your grain in the freezer. I once got a 55lb bag of biscuit from a buddy and it was seriously invested. I had to put grain in my freezer as I chased down the source of the infestation.

 

[dwhite60]

I've always wondered how these things live without water. I've found a few at times in unopened bags of grain that have been sealed for quite a while, like months.

Half the reason roaches come in to your house is they are looking for water, not just food.

I just bought 20 pounds of 2-row. Put it into my chest freezer for two weeks. Should be good to go.

 

[Summa_Brewologica]

I bought a whole 50 lb bag of 2 row and let it sit in my kitchen for about two weeks. Noticed they were all over the bottom of the bag. I poured the grain into buckets and stashed them away to give to my neighbor who has chickens, thinking it was my fault.

Went back to the LHBS and bought another bag and was smart and decided to pour it out into containers immediately. Once I did this I saw that this bag was infested as well. So it was actually a LHBS issue. I returned this bag and exchanged it for a different brand as it seems their stash of briess was the culprit.

Truth be told the eggs are in every bag you get. It takes certain conditions for them to hatch (moisture and temperature).

 

[MaxStout]

Caveat: Freezing the grain for a while will only kill eggs inside the bag. It won't stop bugs from getting in later if there is a breach somewhere in the packaging. I go from freezer to Gamma seal buckets, keeping the grain in their factory bags until use. If I use part of a bag I seal up the rest with tape and put it back in the bucket. Small amounts of specialty grains can be vac-sealed if you have a sealer.