I have some belgian pilsner malt I bought crushed about a year ago (15 lbs) and life got in the way and I wasn’t able to use it until now. It has been stored in a sealed plastic bag in my garage inside of a pastic tote. It has stayed dry but has been exposed to 90 plus degrees. I recently purchased some fresh and compared the two in terms of taste and texture and there was no perceptible difference. Any reason not to use it? I’m thinking of brewing a belgian dark strong ale with it this weekend.
I’d probably cut some of the old malt with the new to use up the old over a few batches…
No change in taste is a good sign. Use it up!
It will not be ideal but it will still make beer.
If it tastes good why would it not be ideal? If it was kept dry and sealed, why would it make a difference?
Have some DME just in case you don’t hit OG. Like smokeymcb said blend into other batches.
Trust me, I have used precrushed grains for 5 years now and run a 12 bbl brewery. The beer will still be good, but it is always better when it is used sooner rather than later. the differences can be subtle but after you’ve brewed thousands of gallons you start to notice from batch to batch.
Finally getting an auger and a grain mill in November and I am expecting some improvement in the beer.
Thanks for the responses. I am starting to think I may use it in a couple of patersbiers. Something that is more sessionable rather than a bigger beer that I would want to age some. I have some trappist high gravity yeast I rinsed last year. I may see if I can wake that up in a starter and at the very least, I will have a big yeast starter for a quad once it ferments.
Trust me, I have used precrushed grains for 5 years now and run a 12 bbl brewery. The beer will still be good, but it is always better when it is used sooner rather than later. the differences can be subtle but after you’ve brewed thousands of gallons you start to notice from batch to batch.
Finally getting an auger and a grain mill in November and I am expecting some improvement in the beer.
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I’m guessing you will see an improvement. Plus you will get to alter your crush to your liking. Really cool watching your hard earned progress. All of your beers have been fantastic by the way.
I’m guessing you will see an improvement. Plus you will get to alter your crush to your liking. Really cool watching your hard earned progress. All of your beers have been fantastic by the way.
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Thanks man! Yeah, new auger and grain mill comes with new 20 bbl brewhouse too!
Probably won’t miss using an electric system anytime soon. Excited to see it when it is all rolling!
The system I have now is direct fired. The 3 bbl system we started with was electric, about 3 years back.
If it has been crushed for over a year, I would ditch the 15# and buy some fresh grains. Even if it has been sealed I would think the freshness is not there and losing 20 bucks over the course of a year on spent old grains isn’t the biggest loss.
Start fresh and you will be happy you did.
Am I missing something? Do grains lose something, specifications wise, over time?
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Crushed grain is like ground coffee. Fresh ground coffee almost always tastes better than pre-ground coffee.
Yes. They can go “slack” after awhile and become mealy (not as crisp/crunchy as before). This can actually affect efficiency negatively depending on how “slack” they are.
I know some people really try to save money, but I look at it this way. If I am spending 5-6 hrs brewing a batch of beer and use old ingredients (especially malt) and if the beer does not come out as good as it could have, then I will be more pissed I wasted the time, then the grains. Therefore, I try to use the freshest ingredients when possible to give myself a “fighting” chance in making the best batch of beer I possibly can during that brew day. Just my .02.
Once they have been crushed they do.
The OP said they tasted fresh. So that takes care of taste. So you take a hit in efficiency. Not really a big deal right? What other negatives are there?
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I can’t imagine a batch of crushed grains (even vacuum sealed) tasting “fresh” after one year or more.
This is not a bad idea if one plans on brewing with those older grains.