Stale Ingredients?

[Coreyolf1]

Hi, I ordered some pre-milled grains about a month and a half ago. They have been sitting in a closed bag stored in 18C room out of sunlight. Same as the hops and dry yeast.

My question is: Is it possible that the malt and hops be "stale" after sitting there for so long?

 

[eadavis80]

NB says their extract and grains are good for up to 6 months. I have quite a few kits I order at a time and I know some kits I've had for close to 6 months before brewing and I feel that the beers come out fine.

 

[m00ps]

I've found malts keep a lot better than hops. Maybe not pre-ground malts though. Hops tend to loose their aromas pretty quickly at room temps if not vacuum sealed. But they still can have most of their bittering powder. Dry yeast is fine. I'd just smell them and see. I've had bags of grains sit for as long as 7 months at room temp, but they were un ground

 

[unionrdr]

I've had pre-crushed grains last a couple months in the bags in a dunnage container on the bottom shelf of my wire rack. Un-crushed grains last even longer. I keep hops in a zip-lock freezer bag in the freezer where they keep the best. Yeast go in the little butter cubby on the fridge door, where they won't get kicked around by everything else in there. LME goes in the fridge too.

 

[fartinmartin]

My hombrew shop here in UK only stock crushed grain, some of that will be many months old and the hops are vac packed in the open shop environment I bet some of them are more than a year old, I just looked at a vac pack of hops harvested 2012 and best before date of Feb 2015, I used them last week !

 

[unionrdr]

Yikes! My lhbs keeps all yeasts & hops in 2 different fridges that are temp controlled. Grains are all uncrushed, to be crushed if desired upon purchase. He needs to get a couple wine bottle fridges to keep stuff like yeasts & hops in. They don't use much power. But for now, watch those package dates!

 

[bbohanon]

Before I got my grain mill, I was buying pre-crushed grain and there were a few times where I took advantage of those NB "buy 2, get one free" kits and by the time I got around to brewing the last one, the efficiency was lower than expected and the beer just did not seem as "bright" as it would if I brewed it within 2 weeks of recieving the premilled grain kit.

I chalked it up to the grain getting stale as sometimes it would be more than a month before I could get through 3-6 kits grain-wise depending on how many kits I picked up.

With having the grain crusher, I keep my bulk 2-row/pilsner in food grade 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids in my brew shed at 75 deg and crush the day before brew day. No more stale grain issues.
Not sure what the lifespan of uncrushed grain is, but I think (and from experience) that if you keep it in airtight containers(keeps bugs out) and at a decent temp, it stays good for quite a while.
Plus having the grain mill allows me to know how well my grain is crushed everytime.

As far as yeast and hops, keep those puppies in your fridge until its brew time or starter making time for your yeast. You do NOT want to have those in a non-refridgerated environment if at all possible to keep both the yeast healthy, alive and hops maintaining their freshness. There is a reason every LHBS I know keeps their hops(outside of the extract kits) and yeast in a fridge.

 

[andy6026]

I'm not by any means an expert on shelf-life, but I'd go ahead and use the grains and the yeast. I'd also use the bittering hops, but for taste and aroma hops I would buy fresh if it's not too inconvenient. From now on I suggest storing hops in the freezer (or at least a fridge), yeast in the fridge (NOT the freezer) and grains in a cool dry place.

 

[bbohanon]

Dug this up to add to the thread..Some good info here on this:

https://byo.com/hops/item/1362-shelf-life-storing-your-ingredients

 

[Opiate42]

Have got a stock of some hops from Hop Union still in unopened bags in the freezer, plus some opened ones in ziplock bags frozen too, plus some milled grains in the fridge I haven't finished off yet that have had for a while, may not be perfect but still tastes fine after brewing.

The only thing I'm iffy on is yeast. Pretty intent on using it well before the bbd.

 

[unionrdr]

I also tape opened hop bags shut again before putting them back in the bag in the freezer. Not sure it helps much, but can't hurt to try?

 

[Coreyolf1]

Thanks for all the info. So the general consensus is to refrigerate of freeze hops, as well as refrigerate yeast.

In my situation, I haven't refrigerated my hops and yeast. They have been kept in my basement at about 70F. Should I still use them in my upcoming brew day?

 

[eadavis80]

I brewed a Brooklyn Brewing kit that my buddy got as a gift 2 years ago. He just wanted to use it to see the brewing process. It made okay beer and he didn't keep his stuff frozen or fridged for those 2 years. It should result in a decent beer. Award winning? No, but if you ferment at good temps and follow sanitation, you should easily be able to make something you enjoy drinking.