How Long Can You Store Malt?

[huscre]

Cool thanks for all the theory and anecdotal evidence.
Sounds like I won't be too silly to buy a few 25kg bags of the more common stuff.
I'm sure i can get through 25kg in a month or two, I was just concerned that my tastes (and recipes) may change and I might need to store it for longer. I had no idea whether it would store for 60 days or 60 years so all the above posts paint a good picture and will help me plan my next order.

Cheers.

 

[mwd]

If it tastes O.K. use it. If it tastes stale sling it.

Never believe anything you read on the Internet unless you are left $5M from a Nigerian Prince hiding in Iran.

 

[manticle]

The question from huscre was "How Long Can You Store Malt?" My experience and Skottie72's ,years.

Batz

And my response was basically a good wack of time. You're the voice of experience (far more than I) and the kind of person I learn from. However the qualifier 'at least' is an absolute minimum. I never claimed grain went off after 6 months, but by the same token, not having the experience of someone like yourself, I wasn't game to claim 'oh mate you could leave it in a cardboard box for decades".

I'm happy to take a back seat to one such as yourself. I'm willing to accept I know next to jack but I try and pass on the bits of knowledge I've acquired on here and elsewhere because:

1. I've learnt a lot and I'd like to give something back.
2. I've learnt a lot from experienced brewers and they may get sick of answering simple questions but new brewers need simple answers. That's where good things grow.

The reason Huscre asked the question (as indicated by later comments) was to know whether bulk buying was an effective use of malt.

 

[Darren]

How long?

One year at least and probably many more.

Keep it cool and dry (dont put it in a fridge as although it is cool, its not dry).

cheers

Darren

 

[Cocko]

17 years.

 

[mash head]

As a farmer we try not to keep grain for seed more than 2 years as germination % deteriorates, but once malted its an already germinated bundle of sugar, starch and enzymes wraped in a relatively air tight shell. So IMO it should be good for at least 1 year but could be many. Honey found in the pyramids 000s of years old is still ok, so if kept properly who knows. I think the "if kept properly" is the key to preseving the freshness of any thing. I wish I was still 17 but time catches up with everything and every thing has its prime. Now I am just krapping on with out answering any thing. So keep it well and not too long. :lol: Greg

 

[Sammus]

You could store it indefinitely, what kind of condition itll be in at the end of umpteen years is anyones guess

But seriously, according to Weyermann, their malts (the 2008 crop anyway, and I'm going off the spec sheet they provide- have a look on their website) has a shelf life of 12 months in dry storage conditions.

What exactly that means I don't know, but I don't think itll suddenly become unusable at 12months, maybe just not optimal in some way.

 

[newguy]

But seriously, according to Weyermann, their malts (the 2008 crop anyway, and I'm going off the spec sheet they provide- have a look on their website) has a shelf life of 12 months in dry storage conditions.

What exactly that means I don't know, but I don't think itll suddenly become unusable at 12months, maybe just not optimal in some way.

That has more to do with liability than the condition of the malt itself. If you go into business producing a food product that has a shelf life of many years if properly cared for, do you want to be responsible for someone bitching about 5 year old product - and replacing same? No. You set a "reasonable" shelf life figure of 12 months and....voila....you're not responsible for product older than that.

I'm just finishing up using some malt that I bought 2 years ago and my efficiency has actually gone up approx 5%. No off flavours either. Of course, I have no idea how long it sat in the warehouse before I bought it. This has been kept dry in the original sacks for most of that time in my basement. I also have approx 3/4 of a 25kg sack of caramel 60 malt that is about 3.5 years old and it too is fine. Malt lasts many years if simply kept dry and rodent free.

 

[manticle]

So essentially we all agree that if you keep your uncracked malt away from light, air, humidity and heat fluctuations, that it will probably last quite well for at least a year and maybe even up to 3000 years?

 

[mje1980]

The malt i was referring to was at least a year old. I have never used that brand, so the efficiency drop may be something else. Still great malt.

 

[dig]

Taste it. That's a good place to start. We recently sent back some Weyermann specialties that tasted stale.

Someone just PM'd me on a wine forum and asked about malt aging... What's going on? Are people thinking about stocking their disaster survival bunkers?

 

[devo]

In the right conditions it can last years. Wheat malt even longer.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

The malt i was referring to was at least a year old. I have never used that brand, so the efficiency drop may be something else. Still great malt.

Weyermann recommend a shelf life of twelve months.. what sort of brewer has a sack of grain for 12 months ! Saving it for your superannuation ?

Store your grain away from pests, light and moisture and it should last years. Why you want it to last years .. weird.

Back to original thread by a new AG who has bought his first 2 sacks of grain in a bulk buy, use common sense and store the grain as suggested above and it will last for ages. 50kg, 10-15 brews (say) - you'll use that grain within the next six months. If not you are brewing too slow .. invite me to your place and we'll solve that problem

 

[PostModern]

It's malted grain we use I know..but

We use the starch in the grain the convert into sugar, what makes starch deteriorate? I don't know.
Grain from Egyptian pyramids has been successfully germinated after 3000 years, so I'm guessing you could brew with grain when it's a few years old.

The question from huscre was "How Long Can You Store Malt?" My experience and Skottie72's ,years.

Batz

But malted grain is more than starch. There are proteins and enzymes. Starch can oxidise, enzymes deteriorate, protein can feed micro-organisms.

I don't doubt that grain can be used after several years, I've done it myself. Even had cracked base malts work perfectly after 6-7 months storage in unsealed plastic bags.

I suspect the diastatic power of malt will drop off over time, but it's just a WAG. Here is a study of the fermentability of wort using grain stored for a year before malting. Doesn't address the question of stored malted grain, but gives an idea of the complexities. For me, the anecdotal evidence of home brewers is "good enough" for my amateur brewing persuits. You can store malt for "ages" if kept perfectly dry, imho, but you might have trouble converting mash adjuncts with low diastatic malts.

 

[captaincleanoff]

ok, another OT post about hops.

I recently aquired a number of kilos of hops.. I dont have the freezer space, so they are currently in the fridge.

Since I've got so much, I'm going to be storing these for some time... Will they be ok in the fridge (which is actually -1c), or should I be looking at making space in the freezer?

I've read that freezing hops causes crystals which actually damage the hop cells... so some people actually recommend fridge storage. But for long term storage, should I be freezing?

 

[mwd]

ok, another OT post about hops.

I recently aquired a number of kilos of hops.. I dont have the freezer space, so they are currently in the fridge.

Since I've got so much, I'm going to be storing these for some time... Will they be ok in the fridge (which is actually -1c), or should I be looking at making space in the freezer?

I've read that freezing hops causes crystals which actually damage the hop cells... so some people actually recommend fridge storage. But for long term storage, should I be freezing?

Was thinking freezing hop pellets poses no problems. Probably not a good idea for fresh hop flowers though. I would think a fridge at -1 would be fine for hop pellets too.

edit: must be a big fridge to be storing kilos of hops ( they must be pellets kilos of fresh hops would be a housefull. )....

 

[Stuster]

ok, another OT post about hops.

I recently aquired a number of kilos of hops.. I dont have the freezer space, so they are currently in the fridge.

Since I've got so much, I'm going to be storing these for some time... Will they be ok in the fridge (which is actually -1c), or should I be looking at making space in the freezer?

I've read that freezing hops causes crystals which actually damage the hop cells... so some people actually recommend fridge storage. But for long term storage, should I be freezing?

CC, dried hops are fine to store in the freezer - pellets, plugs or whole. They will be ok in the fridge at that temp, but will store better for longer if they're cooler. So I wouldn't worry too much, but if you have some room in the freezer, put some of them you are going to keep the longest in there.

 

[Jazzafish]

Lets list the likely things that will happen before your malt becomes unbrew worthy. Provided you store it in a container out of the elements.

1) you brew it all
2) vermin eat through the container, then the bag and feast on the grain... ok you forgot to put the lid on it. Either way they'll only eat a few grams in a sitting and you'll be unharmed by the results.
3) bats gets embalmed and laid to rest on top of your remaining grain under a beer can pyramid

What I'm getting at is grain lasts for quite a while. That said I'd only buy 2 or 3 batches worth of specialty malt at a time and avoid stroing cracked malt. If the husk of the grain becomes soft to touch or mouldy it is past the use by date.

Cheers,
Jarrad

 

[jimi]

Lets list the likely things that will happen before your malt becomes unbrew worthy. Provided you store it in a container out of the elements.

1) you brew it all
2) vermin eat through the container, then the bag and feast on the grain... ok you forgot to put the lid on it. Either way they'll only eat a few grams in a sitting and you'll be unharmed by the results.
3) bats gets embalmed and laid to rest on top of your remaining grain under a beer can pyramid

What I'm getting at is grain lasts for quite a while. That said I'd only buy 2 or 3 batches worth of specialty malt at a time and avoid stroing cracked malt. If the husk of the grain becomes soft to touch or mouldy it is past the use by date.

Cheers,
Jarrad

Hi Jazza,

Why do you figure that spec malts keep less well? I'm assuming that's what you ment by only keeping 2 or 3 batches worth. I've tended to hold onto my spec malt longer than the usual base. I've worked on the theory that the extra kilning would improve its storability, though I'm certainly no expert. Thoughts?

 

[manticle]

I would hazard a guess s/he means that s/he just uses a lot less of it in each brew so will go through pils (for example) far quicker than caramunich and therefore doesnt need to buy large bags that will potentially sit unused for longer..