Fermaid O storage question

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JP_BeerFan

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Thought I'd put this here, since our Beer Brethren tend not to use the nutrients much....

How are you all storing your Ferm O and similar stuff?

So, I have a bag of Ferm O, that I got some months back. Have used it a few times, stored in closet, tape across cut corner of original bag. Also have a Ferm K bag, same conditions.

Now I find that most of the Ferm O is caked to a solid, will crumble with a bit of pressure back to a mostly fine powder but some is a bit sticky... I didn't know it was this good at absorbing water out of the air! Of course, I look at the Scott labs recommendations and they say "store at 65F in a dark place, once opened keep tightly sealed and dry".

Weirdly, the Ferm K is a fine powder still, dry as a bone... Just lucky, or its different? Hell, I live in So CA, it's pretty dry here most of the time.

Now that I know this, will try putting it in a tightly sealing glass jar, and maybe with one of those silica gel absorber packs... But, what do you guys do? And, should I worry about the humidity exposure compromising it? Will probably try to get a question out to Scott Labs or someone..
 
I got mine since years, formed a brick as yours did. Still does it's thing when used in meads so I don't worry about it. Some little clumps in the mead will dissolve with time, call it time released nutrient addition if you like :D.
 
When I opened mine (O&K) about a year ago, I transferred them to mason jars. Still nice and powdery. I live in Missouri, not Florida humid, but humid enough.
I have had that happen with Fermaid O as well. The idea of putting it in amson jars is a great idea. I think when I have to buy more, I will do the same, as well as an oxygen absorber to keep it fresh.
Thanks for the tip.👍😉
 
Well, back from some research... found on the Scott Labs site (they seem to be US distributors for Llalemand?) product sheets for the various Ferm products. They all say something like "Once opened, store at 65F, tightly sealed." They also mention an expiration date, but when you buy it repackaged like most of us do (who don't get the 2.5KG package!) we don't get to see that. OK, would have been good if I'd read that back at the beginning!

Of course I didn't know that it might do a great imitation of DME powder left to the air for too long...

Also found a discussion just a few days old in the Doin' the Most Discord, where they covered exactly this subject... and the best suggestion was good, tightly sealing jars, with a desiccant pack in each. Looks like the obvious answer is the obvious answer...

Someone there suggested Dry and Dry, as a good company for those. They're available thru Amazon. The 2 or 3gram non indicating, basic paper packs looks like the optimum choice. They're cheaper, totally food safe, tight enough not to take on any powders, and they can be baked in the oven to recharge them/drive out the water, for many reuses. Not terribly pricy, especially for the smaller sizes one would use for this. Think I'll pick up some!
 
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Well, I got OCD activated enough to actually contact Scott Labs, and a very helpful gal there gave me some extended info... Meant to post it here, but Life(tm) and the holidays happened, etc...

Notes on the topic...

Storing at room temp vs the suggested 65F probably isn't causing degradation all that much. The thing she suggested might be the bigger issue, connected with soaking up the moisture in the air, is you might get microbial growth and have contamination issues. Serious nutrition source, a few leftover bugs, add moisture.... uh-oh! So, it's probably worth the efforts, besides not having to crumble it back up again, to keep it dry and flowing.
 
Well, back from some research... found on the Scott Labs site (they seem to be US distributors for Llalemand?) product sheets for the various Ferm products. They all say something like "Once opened, store at 65F, tightly sealed." They also mention an expiration date, but when you buy it repackaged like most of us do (who don't get the 2.5KG package!) we don't get to see that. OK, would have been good if I'd read that back at the beginning!

Of course I didn't know that it might do a great imitation of DME powder left to the air for too long...

Also found a discussion just a few days old in the Doin' the Most Discord, where they covered exactly this subject... and the best suggestion was good, tightly sealing jars, with a desiccant pack in each. Looks like the obvious answer is the obvious answer...

Someone there suggested Dry and Dry, as a good company for those. They're available thru Amazon. The 2 or 3gram non indicating, basic paper packs looks like the optimum choice. They're cheaper, totally food safe, tight enough not to take on any powders, and they can be baked in the oven to recharge them/drive out the water, for many reuses. Not terribly pricy, especially for the smaller sizes one would use for this. Think I'll pick up some!
I use the Dry & Dry , but, I use the 5 gram. Also when I first started making mead, I bought the 2.5 kg package of Fermaid O & Fermaid K, (never realizing there was NO WAY I would be able to use that much as a home mead maker by the expiration date), I never even opened the K. The O got broken up into seperat Mason jars with several of the 5 gram desiccant packs in each. Unfortunately, the expiration date is late in 2023, so, either I have a lot of mead to make this year or I take my chances with the expiration date😕
 
Unfortunately, the expiration date is late in 2023
It's dry powder, a mixture of nutrients, what's in there that can expire? If stored dry and it can be kept for 3 years, why not for 5, 10, or longer?
Anything to oxidize or break down perhaps?

Definitely worth testing, see if it still works as expected in 2024, 2025, and so on...
 
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