Old Malt too Old???

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akelley
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 10:49 pm

Old Malt too Old???

Post by akelley »

Well, I've been out of brewing for a few years due to various circumstances including finishing my thesis, graduating, starting a new job, getting married and having a son...whew, hope that gives me a good excuse ;^)

So I'm planning to brew a Bitter this weekend and was getting together my old equipment. It turns out that I have some Marris Otter Pale Malt that I estimate is about 4 years old. The bag was sealed well and it still tastes OK. I am wondering if I should brew with it. I have about 25 lbs left, enough for my 10 gallon batch. However, I'm not brewing so often and don't want to waste my time with Malt if it has gone bad. However, the only things I can think of that would cause problems are it rotting by getting wet and possibly it oxidizing. I know neither of these has happened with it being sealed well.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Aaron
Gravity Thrills
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 285
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2001 10:12 pm

Get some fresh stuff

Post by Gravity Thrills »

Welcom back to this crazy hobby. I took a similar hiatus for a few years while I finished up my dissertation work and had a couple kids and whatnot -- what the heck is wrong with our priorities anyway?

Humidity and temperature during storage would have been the critical issues. But, even if these were ok, four years is a long time with a perishable product. Your return to brewing needs to be marked by the production of a superlative brew (otherwise you might go awol again. Dump the old stuff and get some fresh grain.

Cheers,
Jim
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