I don't think malt is like bread. The moisture content of bread is maybe 30-40% and it appears stale because moisture has left. Malt on the other hand is kiln dried to maybe %3 and when its used a whole bunch of water gets added back in. The effects of oxygen on kilned malt don't seem similar to that of hops at all. If your talking nitrogen flushed, vacuum sealed and never opened hops that don't see any oxygen over time perhaps, but if you open the container at all the hops are doomed.
I am curious about malt aging. I have a 3 year old sack of malt I am gonna experiment with in the near future. My first batch is gonna be a barleywine which is also gonna use a 4 year old can of Alexanders malt syrup.
I am going to "well, actually..." you on this one. Bread goes stale when its moisture content increases, not decreases.
Nope. I am referring to bread getting hard or "stale" when moisture is absorbed andcauses the crystallization of starch granules. See: http://kitchen-myths.com/2011/11/19/myth-bread-becomes-stale-by-drying-out/
Ah neat. Could you speculate if a similar effect is possible grain?
kal said:That's definitely the way to do it (especially for grain). I've been trying to reduce the amount of base malt I keep on hand (2-row, maris otter, pilsner, etc) as fresher is better. Some of the higher Lovibond crystal I don't mind keeping for a while but for the base stuff I'm trying to have it used up within a year, and that's with keeping it nicely sealed:
Kal
kal said:Correct - Gamma seal lids. Complete details and more picture available in my 'grain storage' article here.
Kal
Correct - Gamma seal lids. Complete details and more picture available in my 'grain storage' article here.
Kal
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