What Do You Stock Your Grain Supply With? And what do you store your grains in?
I store mine in Home Depot 5 gallon bucket and always have 2 row on hand. I keep smaller amounts of others, just not 5 gallons of them.
For base grain, I typically have Rahr 2-row and Crisp MO on hand. I store them in Vittles Vault
http://www.amazon.com/Vittles-Vault-50-50-Pound-Stackable/dp/B0002DJOOI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1407900903&sr=8-3&keywords=vittles+vault
. Fits 50-55 lbs perfectly. Just picked up a third VV, so I could get a sack of Golden Promise to play around with.
I keep a wide variety of specialty malts on hand, but it’s a bit variable depending on what season I’m brewing for. I probably have 15-20 different specialty malts at the moment.
I store bulk base grains in 5 gal buckets, I normally just keep 2 row for base. Specialty malts in large zip lock bags in a 5 gal bucket. I normally keep a few lbs each(more or less depending on the grain) of several different crystal malts, rye, wheat, Munich, victory, chocolate.
I also store in buckets, but in my case they are gasketted six gallon buckets. 2 and a half buckets hold a 40 kg sack, which is how I buy my pale and pilsner malt, and occasionally wheat. Specialty malts go into plastic bags, which are packed in another bucket. Whenever I don’t have enough of a specialty malt for an upcoming brew, I’ll buy a 1 kg bag of it and know the rest will get used eventually. I might have 20 different specialty malts in that bucket on average.
I use 5 gallon buckets with Gamma Seal Lids. Amazon has them for $10.95, but I paid less at Menards
http://www.amazon.com/The-Gamma-Seal-Li ... B0089QJQTSI keep two row and a variety of crystal and roasted malts on hand. My closest LHBS used to sell grains in sealed 1 pound bags and I would load up on those. They’re now gone to open bins of everything, which is great if you’re building a recipe, but not so great if you’re like me and just want to stock up.
I buy sacks of 2 row and MO and store in vittle vaults.
Wondering where everyone stores their grain- basement, closet, garage? I would assume a garage is out due to excessive heat in the summer months.
The dog and I walk the six blocks to Hop Heads in Fort Walton Beach where they weigh out the grains for my next brew.
The few bits and pieces I still have left from before Hop Heads opened live in a plastic tub with a dehumidifier pack in the utility/brew room.
Uninsulated, outside shed. As long as humidity is kept out, temperature doesn’t matter much. My grain goes from a high of 85 in the summer to a low of -20 in the winter without any problems.
How long do you all consider uncracked grains good for?
Stored properly years.
The bags of Crisp MO I’ve bought lately have had a best by date of 2 years from when I bought them. Not that I’ll get anywhere near that. 
To answer that, you have to know what would make the grain go bad. Humidity can quickly cause grain to go stale, but if kept dry, I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t take a long time to happen. Eventually, I would guess the enzymes will denature, but that is only a worry with base grains, and I’ve kept base grains for 3+ years with no problems.
I consider properly stored, uncracked grain to last indefinitely.
I usually buy one sack of base grain at a time and brew all my beers using that grain. I just finished off a sack of 2-row and am about to (hopefully next week!!) brew a german pilsner with the 55lb sack of best malz pilsner I just bought.
I store mine in home depot buckets but with a slight modification: the “gamma lid” (also sold at home depot in the paint aisle). I love these things. Makes it super easy to open and close:
I keep 55-330# of 2-row, and 2-10# each of C-10, C-20, C-40, C-60, C-75, C-120, CaraPils, Rye, Wheat & CaraVienna. That allows me to brew most anything on a whim. I brew 20+ gallons at a time.
I keep the grains uncrushed in UTZ pretzel containers (11# capacity) and PUB Mix (6# capacity) containers in the garage on top of the cabinets, neatly organized and labeled. No issues with the heat and the containers keep the humidity and insects out. I have taken a few pics of this area but cannot seem to locate them at this time.
Color Malt - Large square plastic strage bin,
Base Malt - a large rolling trashcan with a good top. I keep 2-4 sacks in there.
Currently stored in the living room but am looking to make structure in the backyard to house all my brewing stuff.
Barry
Base malts (2-row and Pilsen) in vittle vaults, specialty grains in individual zip locs in a five gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid.
+1 on the Vittles vaults - the big ones that hold a full 55 pound sack. I keep 2 row, pilsner, and Maris Otter in them, with all crystals or similar specialty malts in a fourth Vittles vault in their original bags of 1-5 pounds. Then other dark roast malts, flaked malts and unique grains and rice hulls go in a Rubbermaid tub with a snap lid.
[quote=“MullerBrau”]I keep 55-330# of 2-row, and 2-10# each of C-10, C-20, C-40, C-60, C-75, C-120, CaraPils, Rye, Wheat & CaraVienna. That allows me to brew most anything on a whim. I brew 20+ gallons at a time.
I keep the grains uncrushed in UTZ pretzel containers (11# capacity) and PUB Mix (6# capacity) containers in the garage on top of the cabinets, neatly organized and labeled. No issues with the heat and the containers keep the humidity and insects out. I have taken a few pics of this area but cannot seem to locate them at this time.[/quote]
No Pils malt or Munich? Roast malts? How do you brew German beers, stouts or porters with that puny selection of grains?
