Pale Malt Shelf Life

[Motters]

Hi there.

I'm just getting ready to do my 1st all grain brew and am considering buying a 25kg sack of Maris Otter pale malt. Should do me at least 5X5 gallon brews maybe 6. Question is:

How long will it keep fresh? I can only make beer as fast as I can drink it! Well I could could make it a bit faster if I keg one brew and bottle the next. I obviously want to be as thrifty as possible with this hobby!

What say Y'all?

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I only ever buy Malt in bulk. Try out the Crisp Maltings Malt from The Malt Miller. I keep mine for about 6 months and its fine.

[jimp2003]

Like Steve I get through it in about 6 months.

Ideally keep the sacks somewhere dry and cool in a bin of some sort to keep the mice out. I use a big old HDPE bin and roll the sack back down as tight as possible and hold down the folds with a brick.

Damp is your enemy here so as you get through the sack have a chew on a few grains - if they are crunchy it should still be good, if it is soft then it might be a sign of it going off so use it up.

Don't forget that most beers benefit from a longer period of maturing than most of us allow. If you find yourself not getting through the beer and hence the grain as quickly as you would like then its worth brewing up some batches that need to be stored for a few months before drinking. I recently did that when I unexpectedly got hold of the best part of a sack for £5 (I could not resist it). I knew I was not going to get through all my grain in good time so I brewing a barley wine which needs a year to condition and a dark ale which will need at least 3 months.

Good luck with your first AG!

Cheers

Jim

[polymoog]

ive kept bags of grain for up to nine months without any trouble whatsoever.
just store it dry if you can.
However these days i try to make 3 good brews in quick succession so as to use up a sack quickly.
Better to have lots of beer stored in bottles and cornies than a half used sack of grain waiting and as jimp2003 says beer needs more time to mature than i (we) can normally wait!

[Motters]

Thanks fellow brewsters!

You have reassured me that its worth buying in bulk. I've seen 25kg Maris Otter from Warminster Maltings on a site called BREWUK. Can anyone recommend anything better value? This seems quite good to me.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Thats quite a good price.

I've just started buying Crisp Maltings Pale Malt from the Malt Miller for £19.50 + p&p, I have been very impressed with that compared to the Fawcetts Maris Otter I had been using previously.

I can vouch for the quality and Freshness of the Malt Millers products a well.

http://www.themaltmilller.co.uk

[koomber]

You're in the presence of the 'Malt Miller Fan Club' now I always use the malt miller. I buy a 25 kilo sack of pale and usually some smaller bags of munich and pilsner. Wouldn't go anywhere else. Cracking service. I order with one of my mates and I get mine in uncrusshed (on account of the bulk buy) whilst he gets his crushed. I've yet to have an order turn up crushed that shouldn't have been, and we've had the same malt ordered crushed and uncrushed.

Anyway, MM is the bomb. The malt will keep for ages if stored properly, though I think for maximum shelf life you really need to keep in uncrushed (though my understanding may be out of date).

[Blue Sky]

You are probably already aware of this, but don't crush/mill any more than you need to for each recipe as & when you're just about to brew it ...'processing' the grain significantly shortens it's shelf-life.

[jimp2003]

You are probably already aware of this, but don't crush/mill any more than you need to for each recipe as & when you're just about to brew it ...'processing' the grain significantly shortens it's shelf-life.

That is the good thing about ordering from MaltMiller - Rob crushes the grain to order. Not all online suppliers do that.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I buy all my grains crushed from Rob, as I have no way of crushing them myself. I have used grain up to 4 months since crush date and havent noticed any adverse effects as yet.

[Parabolic]

suerly these are a fantastic deal http://www.worcesterhopshop.co.uk/index.php?cPath=2

or is there something to good to be true here?

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Check out the price of the pale malt from Crisp Maltings

It's excellent malt and has improved my efficiency substantially and makes great beer.

[Parabolic]

@ Runwell-Steve

no offence mate but I take it you get a discount or have some conection with them? thats 4 times you have plugged them all in the same thread....

I would probably order from them myself due to the fact that they mill the grain just before sending out.

happy new year when it comes

[GrowlingDogBeer]

no offence mate but I take it you get a discount or have some conection with them?

No discount, I'm afraid, I wish

I have no connection either, apart from the fact It's the only supplier I will use now.

I have bought Malt and Hops from all the main suppliers, and I haven't yet found a supplier who can match the quality of the products on offer and the excellent Customer Service.

Whne I find a good supplier I tell other people about them.

Agreed, I may have mentioned them too often in this thread, but I rarely read the whole thread each time so forget I may have said it before so apologies for that.

[Beer O'Clock]

@ Runwell-Steve

no offence mate but I take it you get a discount or have some conection with them? thats 4 times you have plugged them all in the same thread....

I would probably order from them myself due to the fact that they mill the grain just before sending out.

happy new year when it comes

You will always find that "cream floats to the top" and The Malt Miller is the best many of us have found, and think they deserve praise.

It's not always about "shilling"