[Mark G]

Home Depot sells buckets and gasketed lids. I believe for less than 3-4 bucks total. Two will hold a 50/55 lb sack of grain. As long as you keep the grain dry, it lasts a long time. Although I can't really say I've gone past maybe 6 months since I go through them pretty quickly.

[Tim McManus]

I had a mite or weevil infestation in my kitchen pantry.  The bugs I had attack breadcrumbs and flour.  I was told by a friend that putting a stick of Wriggly's Spearmint gum, unwrapped, into the pantry would get rid of the bugs.  It worked using 3-4 sticks of gum equally spaced in the pantry.  Now I put a stick of gum in the garbage cans we use to store our grain.  I've never had a problem with bugs since.

[Dave King]

Our club did a bulk buy about 8 mo. ago, and I somehow ended up with a lot of Crystal malt, 25L, 45L, and 65L.  It's not milled.  I'm figuring it'll last me for another year, maybe 1.5 years, so that'll be 2 to 2.5 years old, in total.  It's in storage bins in our basement, no mice should get in, but they aren't sealed.  I run a dehumidifier in summer months, so the RH should be no more than 50%, and usually much less, like 20 to 40%.  Any thoughts about the affect on taste?  Thanks,     

[denny]

Dave, I do something similar.  A friend and I will split a bag of crystal 60.  It takes a couple years to use it all and it seems to keep fine for that length of time.

[Dave King]

Thanks Denny, I figured it would be OK, but nature's success is with the dry grain laying on frozen earth until spring, or inefficiently eaten, so some full grains end up in animal poop, waiting for spring to warm and dampen it.  Anyway, it normally wouldn't need to wait more than about 6 mo. 

I didn't mention, my basement near Syracuse NY is 55F now, and being partly exposed, it drifts from a minimum of about 50F in Feb. to about 75 in August.  I could refrigerate at least some of it in the summer, but it probably won't all fit.  Thanks again, and I agree, my brews are in the 1.060's to 1.070's.   

[Slowbrew]

I'm the lazy carefree guy in this crowd apparently.   

I have had full bags sitting on the floor of my basement (no containers) for up to 16 months without critters of any kind becoming a problem.  I've never noticed any drop in quality over time either. 

My basement is a walkout and the floor is bare concrete.  The temp hangs around 55F to 65F all year long.  I might just be lucky (that would be a first) but as long as it's cool and dry it should be fine.

Paul

[Dave King]

I'm in agreement with the "relax theory," in fact, a big part of my recent brewing investigations, are based on determining what to sweat, and what to let go.  I've been at it since 1994, and I'm not great, but I do OK. 

You can't get too geeked out on everything, or the fun leaks out.  Thanks for the info on your experiences, Paul, Denny. 

[CASK1]

Those sacks of grain will produce weevils after a while if they sit around. Lots of weevils. Especially when it warms up. Anyway it doesn't affect the brew much but they can spread throughout your house if their population explodes. Keep your grain airtight. Depending on the strength of your brews you ought to get upwards of three 10 gallon batches out of a sack. Seeing your incipient enthusiasm for brewing that probably won't be a problem. 

Also, your grain behaves a lot like flour, so if it isn't sealed up good then humidity can throw your weight off some but it really affects how the malt feeds through the rollers in your grain mill.

I've read and it has been my experience that the weevils and eggs can be killed by putting the grain in a freezer for a week or so. It may not be practical for a 50# sack, but it does seem to work.

[redbeerman]

I keep open bags of grain in big Rubbermaid bins.  A year is no problem.

Me too. Although they usually don't last a year.

[blatz]

Home Depot sells buckets and gasketed lids. I believe for less than 3-4 bucks total. Two will hold a 50/55 lb sack of grain. As long as you keep the grain dry, it lasts a long time. Although I can't really say I've gone past maybe 6 months since I go through them pretty quickly.

or make friends with the bakery dept at your grocery store - most of the ones here ship icing in 5gal food grade buckets with gaskets and _throw_them_away afterward. 

my buddy's girlfriend is a baker and she brought me a few a week until I had more than I needed.

just a thought.

[ipaguy]

You can always take a grain storage tip from the folks worried about black helicopters:  Air-tight plastic buckets purged with nitrogen or CO2.

[dano14041]

You can always take a grain storage tip from the folks worried about black helicopters:  Air-tight plastic buckets purged with nitrogen or CO2.

But the black helicopters are out to get us! 

I have been thinking of getting some of these: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753804
Just don't mix it up with the dog food or you might have Kibbles n Bit Ale. 

[beveragebob]

Then there are these stack-able, completely air and water tight :

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=261_335_297&products_id=1657

[bluesman]

Then there are these stack-able, completely air and water tight :

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=261_335_297&products_id=1657

I think these would work well in my garage. I will put them on my list which keeps getting longer.

[oscarvan]

They're cool but not cheap. I think I will go with some $7 Home Despot tubs for now.....