A friend and I brewed 10 gallons of this about a month ago, we just tried our first bottle. Oh my, it is amazing, as close as I would guess you can get to the original. The OG was a bit lower resulting in a bit less ac but good enough for me.
A good way to make sure your grain stays fresh is to buy a fresh loaf of bread. When the bread is stale the grain will be stale. With that said, grain from October is most defiantly stale, uncracked grain will keep for a few months if stored properly.