grain storage

[old world beer]

is it necessary to put grains in the frig to keep them fresh .. or can i keep them in a giant rubbermaid that seals tight. I always thought that would be good enough.

[tnlandsailor]

Grain should be kept dry and cool. Dry is very important. I think it might be too wet in your refrigerator unless you actually have the grains in sealed plastic bags. I store my grains in zip lock bags stored in a plastic bin (too keep the mice at bay) and get a year out of them easily (uncrushed).

Prosit!

[brewmonkey]

Uncracked grain should be stored in as airtight a container as you can while cracked grains should be used ASAP. In the brewhouse we kep sacks of whole grain for close to 9 months at times with little effect on the grain. Of course the bags were sealed and once they were opened they were used ASAP or transfered to a rubbermaid type bucket with a sealed lid.

[banjolawyer]

I bought a bunch of food grade buckets and air tight lids from US Plastic. The 6 gal. buckets will hold 25 lbs. I also got some 3 1/2 gal., 2 gal. and 1 gal. buckets for grains that I only keep low quantities of. As for the lids, I wish I had gotten the ones with spouts, because the regular ones are a real pain to get off.

[old world beer]

thanks I think thats what I'm going to do