Should I have my online vendor crush the grains?

[mgr_stl]

How far out from brewing would you suggest having the folks at the website crush the specialty grains for an extract kit. Always? Never? X weeks out? I'd be using a rolling pin if I did it instead.

 

[bad67z]

Throw them in the freezer if you cant get to brewing right away. They will be good for months.

 

[J-Drew]

+1 on making sure they're sealed and putting them in the freezer. I brewed an all-grain that turned out pretty well even though I couldn't get to it for 2-3 months. Once I realized I wasn't going to be able to brew it right away (as in a few days after getting my grain, which was already crushed), I wrapped them in additional plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. I still wouldn't do it if I can avoid it, but my beer didn't seem to suffer too much for it. I would think that you would have even less to worry in this case since it is an extract kit. So based on my experience, I'd say you can get away with up to three months if you need to. I can't speak with experience on any more than that.

 

[unionrdr]

I keep them sealed & placed in a zip lock freezer bag in the fridge. I've had them work just fine over a month later. But I do a finer crush on them for BIAB on brewday. Seems to freshen them up as well.

 

[454k30]

Unless you have a small mill at home having the vendor crush them is the best choice. You can even ask most of them to run them through the mill twice if you are doing a BIAB. I haven't had any of them say no to my requests.

 

[stpug]

Rolling pin for anything more than a pound or so just sucks!

I recently read that crushed grain can supposedly store nearly as long as uncrushed grain. I believe I read that this info came from a malster (Briess maybe) and I believe I read it on this forum. Of course I can't find the post at the moment and may just totally be blowing smoke. HOWEVER, you are definitely fine having it crushed a couple weeks in advance as long as you store it in a respectable manner (bag closed, cool, dry, dark place).

Specialty grains would be in the same boat with the possible exception of something like smoked malt and/or honey malt. I can see how cracking open a grain containing some volatile aromatics might allow those to dissipate a little too quickly. Conversely, carapils would be a b*tch to use a rolling pin on so definitely have that done by the brew store.

Edit:
Found the post, here it is:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-long-do-malts-last-crushed-vs-whole-391507/#post4922892