Leftover grains

I have been trying to decide if I should go with Northern Brewer or AHB to get my grains. AHB you can order fractional amounts but they are overall quite expensive. Northern Brewer however (excluding very expensive shipping) is priced a little better but no fractional amounts. Bottom line if I get 1 lb of a grain milled and delivered but only need 4 oz how long will the unused portion stay before getting stale and whats the best way to keep it fresh for the longest time ? Any help on this would be great.
P.S. I know un-milled grains last longer but I can't afford my own grain mill right now.

If you keep them cool, dry, and as air tight as possible I would think 3-6 months should be no biggie. I keep my unmilled extra grains in their original ziplock package (with as little air as possible). Then I group all of these small bags in a larger bag. And it all goes in a plastic tote that sits in the coolest area of our basement.

Midwest Supplies is another option that ships everywhere and they do 1/2 lb amounts. You pay 60-70% of a full lb though, so I often just get a lb and mill the rest later.

Check out ritebrew.com. They sell by the ounce or the pound.
You also get a discount when buying more than 10lbs of the same grain.
You can setup grain bills so that all the grains for your brew can be mixed and milled together.
Also, if you are in the upper midwest you can use Spee-Dee delivery.
I can get a 55lb bag or grain delivered for $17! UPS is $45.

Cheers!

I've kept crystal and specialty malts (unintendedly) for over 2 years with no problem. In plastic bags in bucket, dry, cool, and dark. Base malts may need to be used faster than that, but I've heard storage for a year is very possible.

You have no location listed. Any Brewshops nearby?
I tend to get my grains there, rather than mail order. Or join in on bulk buys for larger amounts.

i have found also when you get a lb or whatever quantity milled ahead of time then try to measure out you a lot of times end up with all the husks at the top and all the flour at the bottom. I had horrible problems when I was doing this

72Chevelle said:

i have found also when you get a lb or whatever quantity milled ahead of time then try to measure out you a lot of times end up with all the husks at the top and all the flour at the bottom. I had horrible problems when I was doing this

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Well, you got to mix it up first.

IslandLizard said:

Well, you got to mix it up first.

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yeah, I always mixed it up it just always worried me about the repeatability, as well as I never really knew when I was doing a recipe what my efficiency was so I didn't know how to adjust. I ended up with a corona mill off amazon and modifying it per some instructions on the DIY forum now I have low efficiency but its repeatable

To stay on topic, when you get your grains crushed elsewhere, you are at the mercy of their mill settings and the operator. I've seen some really bad crushes here from internet suppliers.

Having your own mill can really help in getting that consistency and level of crush you want. 72Chevelle is right, better low and repeatable, except there is no reason to have it low. Just squeeze those Corona plates together and add some rice hulls if you get worried. Or brew in a bag (BIAB). Those guys really mill down to only a hair shy of flour.

Buy a barley crusher + buy base grains in bulk = save money. Barley crusher paid for itself after (3) 50 pound bags of 2-row. Plus my efficiency increased 10%!

You can also get the Corona style mills for $25 (here) and mount them in a bucket (I like this design). It works pretty well if the price of a roller mill is out of budget for the time being.

There's also http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/ that a lot of people like. Check out their prices + shipping and see if it is any cheaper than AHB/NB.

72Chevelle said:

yeah, I always mixed it up it just always worried me about the repeatability, as well as I never really knew when I was doing a recipe what my efficiency was so I didn't know how to adjust. I ended up with a corona mill off amazon and modifying it per some instructions on the DIY forum now I have low efficiency but its repeatable

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I agree, I tried to buy milled grain originally and no matter how I mixed up the leftovers, husks and grain seemed to be on different sides of the bag. I could spread it out on the counter after but really my repeat ability was all over the place. Bit the bullet and bought a $26 corona mill and used that for over 2 years before I bought a better one.