Storage Of Grain And Hops

[oldbugman]

I use these bins..

I leave my grain in the sacks. Cable tied shut.

I just keep adding sacks and half sacks till the bin is full, then on goes the lid.

 

[reVoxAHB]

Thanks guys. Some good tips there.
Cheers,
reVox

 

[justsomeguy]

Digging up an old thread here...

I'm wanting to properly store my 100kg of grains from the recent BB. Was at Bunnings- they have 60L heavy-duty black rubbish bins with a locking top that looked the goods @$9.98 on sale. Figured I'd grab 4 of them.

Question is, as these bins are not food-grade, would the grains pick up any "plastic" aroma or otherwise from contact? Wanted to dump the grains from bags into the bins themselves, to maximise storage space.

Also, would a 60L bin hold 25kg of grain, approx? I drink way too much beer to know what this conversion is called or even how to google it :icon_drunk:

Cheers,
reVox

Got a couple of these at home myself. I keep the grain in the bags and just put the bags inside the bins. One bin holds one bag with not much free space left over.

gary

 

[slacka]

You know the trick for getting rid of odours in the fridge? An open box of baking soda. It works wonders for plastic containers too. Keep the container sealed with the baking soda in it for a few days until the odour seems to subside, then pour in your malt. I did this my rubbermaid containers when I bought them.

Half a teaspoon into the boil usually does the trick.

 

[RobW]

Bunnings currently have 48 litre plastic containers with snap lids for $8.99.
They hold 25 kg nicely and have wheels so they're easy to move around.

 

[Chad]

I'm currently keeping my grains in the Sistema food containers. They are available from Woolworths and Coles and are airtight and range from approx. $5-10. I've been picking up a container each week with the groceries.

5L - for large quantity grains that I don't use all that often, e.g. Munich, Rye, Vienna
2L - for common specialty grains, e.g. Cystals, Caramunich
1L - for small quantity specially grains, e.g. Patent, Chocolate, Carared

I work on the principle that I should have enough grain to get me two brews per month, without having to store copious volumes of grain. Then I can top up what I've used on a monthly basis.

As for my Pale, Pilsner and Wheat, I am looking into maybe getting 60L drums from here.

 

[barry2]

Bunnings have 20 litre "Handy Pails" for $9.65.They are made of "Food Contact Approved"white plastic and come with a close fitting lid and wire handle.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Bunnings have 20 litre "Handy Pails" for $9.65.They are made of "Food Contact Approved"white plastic and come with a close fitting lid and wire handle.

I use these as well , they hold 12.5 kilo and seal very well, 2 buckets per bag of grain.



Andrew

 

[crozdog]

I use these as well , they hold 12.5 kilo and seal very well, 2 buckets per bag of grain.

View attachment 18605

Andrew

Are they the same as 20l Mayo buckets? They look like it.

 

[ausdb]

I use these as well , they hold 12.5 kilo and seal very well, 2 buckets per bag of grain.
rew

+1 The universal brew house bucket, mine is about a 12 bucket brewery too. Supercheap also have them for about the $10 mark and I have never seen them for $10 at Bunnings in WA. The buckets also work well as yeast propagators as they are food grade, if I am brewing a big batch or are designated the "yeast master" for a club big brew I buy one or two new ones to ferment the starter wort/beers in, they then progress down the lines as primary fermenters for a few times then as general brewing buckets and then when they get scratched up become grain storage buckets.

On the storage front I have some grain that is 2 years old and whilst it may not be at its peak it is definitely not slack, I have stored plain sack in the same space in my shed and had it go slack in about a quarter of that time. I have also yet to have a mouse chew through the sides of one yet.

For hops, it's hard to go past a foodsaver or similar vacuum sealer and the freezer. You just need to convince SWMBO that you should buy one so you can money in the long run by being able to buy bulk packs of meat and breaking it down yourself.

 

[Jerry]

Are they the same as 20l Mayo buckets? They look like it.

crozdog,

I use mayo buckets and they look the same as those.

Scott

 

[AndrewQLD]

crozdog,

I use mayo buckets and they look the same as those.

Scott

They would be the same I'd say.

Andrew