How much grain do you have in stock?

[grathan]

Is your malt also vacuum sealed?

 

[kal]

No. That would certainly help but would go through a lot of foodsaver bags.

Kal

 

[grathan]

I'm not convinced that oxygen degrades malt. A lot of malsters ship their grains in bags that freely breathe. You would think a controled atmosphere would be in order if it mattered much.

 

[kal]

No. That would certainly help but would go through a lot of foodsaver bags.

Kal

 

[DrunkleJon]

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.

 

[grathan]

I am going to "well, actually..." you on this one. Bread goes stale when its moisture content increases, not decreases.

Hey you could be right. Are you referring to mold and bacteria growth? Dried out bread can be considered stale in my household (try leaving a piece on the counter overnight). The same can happen to grain (mold, bacteria) which is why I suspect some malsters leave their bags breathable.

 

[DrunkleJon]

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/

 

[Channel66]

I've got 87 lbs of pilsner
50 lb 2 row domestic
43 lb maris otter
10 C40
8 C60
5 C90
10 special b
25 wheat malt
5 C-pils
5 acidulated
5 flaked wheat
10 debittered black
23 Vienna

Running low on pils. I brew mostly Belgians.

I've got a bunch of other specialties that are under a lb. And these are just the beersmith approximations based on my grain stores and what I've brewed. I like to keep an accurate inventory

Hops I have a lot of. And yeast slants? I keep slants of all the yeasts I use, haven't bought yeast in awhile.

 

[grathan]

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?

 

[hio3791]

124 lbs 2row
16 lbs Pilsner
15 lbs Vienna
14 lbs C10
5 lbs C60
2 lbs Biscuit
2 lbs Carapils
2 lbs Flaked Barley
2 lbs Flaked Corn
2 lbs Dextrose
1 lb each of: C120, Roasted Barley, Munich and Rice Hulls
Aprox 3 lbs of hops (Centennial, Chinook, Cascade, Sterling, Willamette, Kent Golding and Tettnang)
6 US05
4 US04
2 Notty
1 Montrachet

Recent group buy got me stocked up on the bulk items and I just placed an order today for the smaller stuff. Should be good through the winter!

Planning to brew 10 gal batches of Bee Cave House APA, Centennial Blonde, Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale, SNCA, Irish Red, Munich Helles (ale style), 5 gal of Apfelwein and still have enough ingredients to brew something without much planning.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Ah neat. Could you speculate if a similar effect is possible grain?

Unfortunately I have no clue. I have kept grain around for 3-4 months with no noticeable flavor difference (I am storing it in homer buckets with lids in my garage). I guess the question to pose to these people with their own backyard silos how long they tend to keep grains around and if they notice any staling.

 

[mikescooling]

I've one last bag of 2 row that's 8 months old. I can't tell a difference. I don't normally keep this much around, but they closed a loop hole in group buys, and we were told to buy heavy because things were about to change.

 

[newbies13]

I imagine it's pretty common for a newer brewer, but I don't have any grain in stock. I buy what I need for a batch and use it all. I am quite surprised to see so many people with 100's of pounds of grain sitting around.

 

[mredge73]

I had some 2-row that I forgot about that is nearly 2 years old; full 5 gallon bucket (~20lbs).
I cannot notice much of a difference, it still has a good crunch and doesn't have anything weird growing in it. It isn't papery like stale cereal so I figured it was still good to go.

Brewed my last beer with it; I hit all my numbers that I expected, so no loss of extract.
Because I was worried about it I brewed something that uses lots of specially grains (oatmeal stout); this turned out to be one of my best brews.

 

[grathan]

That is encouraging. I would say that %80 of my current grain inventory is over 2 years old.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I agree, that is encouraging. I want to stock up on more grain, but I know some of it will be around for 12 months, or even longer.

 

[Aunt_Ester]

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

What kind of buckets are those that have the twist-tops.

 

[mikescooling]

Gama lids, about 8 bucks per lid

 

[kal]

Correct - Gamma seal lids. Complete details and more picture available in my 'grain storage' article here.

Kal

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Dang. You should have asked me 6 months ago. Had about 800 pounds but now down to about 70 taking a small break. Just did a malt experiment so I have about 45 different varieties.

 

[Aunt_Ester]

Correct - Gamma seal lids. Complete details and more picture available in my 'grain storage' article here.

Kal

Thanks, Kal. Great write-up. I'm beginning to price out storage bins and a scale, and I may just try it your way.

 

[tripplehazzard]

1/2 a pound I'd oats. Forgot it in my ipa brew .. found it hiding in the corner of my cabinet. Lonely and ready to be extorted

 

[DrunkleJon]

Correct - Gamma seal lids. Complete details and more picture available in my 'grain storage' article here.

Kal

I will second these. They are great and you can get them in the paint section of your local hardware store.

 

[mredge73]

I got mine from here:
http://www.bayteccontainers.com/gamma-seal--14-pack.html

After shipping they are not really discounted compared to the big box stores, I saved less than $10 overall.
But the variety of colors available was attractive compared to the black ones found at Home Depot / Lowes.

 

[Oceantendency]

55lbs- Belgian Pils
6lbs- Caravienne
5lbs- White Wheat
3lbs- Special B
3lbs- Munich
Just starting my stock pile

 

[Maltyman]

About 70lbs with half being base grains. A few pounds of hops. Generally, I buy the base grain in bulk and then buy extra hops, specialty grains when I complete a recipe. Over time I develop a good library to brew from. I find that helps when I get the bug to brew and don't have to go the store for anything.

 

[timmber]

I found the gamma lids at Menards for under $7.00