Found a bin in the "junk room" and it had about 20 lbs. of pale malt in sealed plastic bags. It's at least 6 years old and has been stored in a plastic bin that kept it dark, dry and relatively cool in the summer and shows no signs of any kind of insect activity. Being a bit of a prepper, I know wheat and corn will last for years unground and sealed. Thought I'd ask some of you with more experience if you thought it was still good.
Old Pale Malt
- Thread starter Billie
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
madscientist451
Well-Known Member
No way to tell until you brew with it.
I'd use all of it to make some barleywine. If the efficiency is a little off, you'll still have beer. You could add 3 lbs of fresh malt to bump the ABV and help the conversion a little.
I'd use all of it to make some barleywine. If the efficiency is a little off, you'll still have beer. You could add 3 lbs of fresh malt to bump the ABV and help the conversion a little.
I'm a grain farmer. If your stash has been kept cool, dry, and insect free it should be fine. Dry, whole grain has a very long shelf life.
There are some basic tests you need to do before you brew with those grains. First is a sniff test. Open the bag and sniff. If it smells bad or stale, discard it. If it passes the sniff test the next test is the taste test. Taste a few of the grains. If they taste bad....discard. Once the grain has passed those two tests, make a small batch of beer that is mostly base malt. If you hit your expected OG, then the grain is fine to brew with.
I'll agree with Grampamark, good storage means the grain will keep a long time.
I'll agree with Grampamark, good storage means the grain will keep a long time.
christpuncher123
Well-Known Member
I've just brewed with 3 year old 2-row in an unsealed bag that was rolled up, in my furnace room. Smells just like day 1, crushed great hit my numbers .
It should be fine. You would notice if there was any obvious issue (infection, damp, or stale/off). If stored dry it should be fine. It may have lost some of it's diastatic power, so if you are brewing with a lot of adjuncts, you might need some fresh grain in the bill with it. If you are brewing something with 90% Pale, go for it, even 80% should be fine, but it starts to become questionable.
