Assuming it is stored cool / dry / dark: Is there a usable lifespan for malt and other grains / adjuncts ?
If older grain does deteriorate over time, in what way does it break down.
I know I have had grain around ofr several years and it seemed completely fine.
Just wondering.
I use them for a year with no problems but I’m not sure what effect it will have on the final beer if grain is stale.
Slack grain (old and stale) is soft and chewy. Fresh grain is “crisp & crunchy.”
I have been told and read that cracked grain does not keep well. Some people say you have to use it within a couple of weeks. I don’t believe that! Before I had a grain mill, I would routinely buy a full sack of grain, have it cracked at my LHBS and use it over the course of 6+ months. It still made good beer with no stale off flavors. I enter a lot of competitions and have won many, many medals with beers made from crushed grains that have been sitting around for months and months before I brewed with them.
Good to know. In my case the grain would not be pre-milled, and most of it will be in vacuum seeled packaging. Even for my larger quantities of base malt I usually enclose the sack in a plastic garbage bag and seel it as best I can.
I can tell you this: I have been entering competitions for about 6 years or so. I historically do much better in comps in the Spring or early summer than in late summer thru winter.
The only thing I can figure is: I always buy my grain in January. My theory is that the grain goes downhill after about 6 months. I do store it fairly cool, and dry.
Ya, I’ve thought of other factors, such as fermentation temps, etc, but no other factor I can think of would have as great an effect as grain age (I use a ferm controller…). Maybe my well water changes a bit season/season, but doubt that’d be a large enough factor to matter much.
