Old Grain....

[Cammanron]

It's not expensive so I'd toss it. It's not going to be as good as fresh. I wouldn't want to waste time on an unknown variable but if it's just fun to experiment with, then I get it.
"Old grain is like yeast--pitch it"

Seems like wasting perfectly usable grains....

I searched for a Brulosophy article and found this...
It also has a link to a brew he made with old grains.

https://brulosophy.com/2018/10/29/the-impact-of-age-on-crushed-malt-exbeeriment-results/

 

[davidabcd]

Seems like wasting perfectly usable grains....

Ten years old. Vacuum packed or otherwise, unless it's going to defy the natural laws of the Universe, fresh grain will give you a better product. We'll have to disagree on what is perfectly usable.
If it was $80 a pound, I might answer differently but it's less than $2 a pound. Toss it or use it for some other purpose so as not to just throw it away.

 

[RedMan99]

Thank you everyone for your insights and weigh ins. I was leaning on - what the heck, why not? Nothing to lose here but toss if bad. Will keep everyone posted on the results.

Plenty of great ideas and feedback. I appreciate it all.

 

[pigroaster]

Up here in Canada some of the guys use old barley malt for throwing on their sidewalks for grip from ice and snow. I also provide a chicken farmer with my spent grains. Last year he got 57 kegs worth of feed. We trade eggs for beer. Go figure. The former farmer just gave me eggs for the spent grain. I supply the containers and get them back when we trade spent grains.

 

[GrowleyMonster]

Old malt. Or AGED malt? LOL who knows, if it is sealed up good like you say, it might actually be improved. Okay, probably not improved, but it's probably still good if the weevils didn't get to it. I would make a small stovetop BIAB batch with it, before just tossing it or feeding it to livestock. I would be rather surprised if it isn't fit to drink and I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out just as good as a batch made with "fresh" malt. What do you got to lose?

<EDIT> Although @Golddiggie might have a point, so maybe adding about 20% "fresh" base malt might be a good idea.

 

[lurker18]

Considering they used to do this on old floors with minimal technology other than one guy that says it looks right, this can't be any worse than anything that made beer hundreds of years ago. And they still got good and wasted off that. Maybe due to all the other funguses and other stuff that went along with their malt back then, but that is another story.