old un-crushed grain

[Yellowirenut]

I found a few 1lb bags of uncrushed grain wile cleaning out storage. Guessing they are about 2 years old. I am curious if they are still any good of if I should just feed them to the birds?

chocolate rye
crystal 40L
chocolate malt

 

[msa8967]

If the bags are sealed and have been in a dry cool place I would use them.

 

[Aristotelian]

Especially since they are not base malt, I would say go for it.

 

[Yellowirenut]

If the bags are sealed and have been in a dry cool place I would use them.

yep originally bagged and sealed from AIH. Cool not so much as they were in a storage garage with the rest of my brewing equipment.

 

[kh54s10]

Munch on a couple of grains of each. You should be able to tell if they seem stale. If not - use them. I often have specialty grains that get old. I keep them in sealed containers in my basement. (semi controlled environment...) I would guess that some that I have used were over 2 years old and had no issues. If you do use them you might want to use a little more than a recipe calls for to compensate for any loss in potency.

If they seem stale - then feed them to the birds.

 

[Owly055]

If they don't have a rancid flavor........ go for it.

 

[bschot]

If the grain is crunchy and not mealy use 'em. I've got a little pilsner malt left over from about 2-3 years ago; I keep it in a Homer Bucket in the house, so semi stable temperatures, the grain is still nice and crunchy and produces a fine beer. From what I understand the thing that spoils unmilled grain is moisture and I'm sure cool, stable temps help too. So my thinking is keeping grain in air tight containers, the grain should keep more or less indefinitely. If I'm in error about grain storage; someone correct me. I love to learn and want to produce the best beer possible.



-Brian

 

[unionrdr]

I buy my grains uncrushed, keeping them sealed in there bags & in dinage containers on my wire shelf off the floor. They seem to last for months quite well. Some for a year or so just fine. As long as they're firm, rather than mealy.