So I have some malt that is about 10 months old or so since I purchased it. It's whole and it has just been sitting in a paper bag inside my house waiting for me to have time to brew. Any advice on this? Should I scrap it or just brew it because it'll be mostly okay?
It's probably fine. I would smell and taste it. If it doesn't seem stale/sour/mushy, then I'd use it. Malt, or rather the barley that's used to make malt, is harvested annually. So 10 months old isn't particularly unusual (even if you had bought it yesterday). A lot depends on how it has been stored. But again, I'd smell and taste it. Or you could google up some useless, context ignoring, arbitrary age guidelines published by maltsters.
I googled it but didn't get the answer I wanted. Something I read said six months as an upper limit. I was hoping for a better answer. I like yours and I will try tasting it.
I believe 6 months is suggested by Briess malts. I do try to manage my malt supply so that I never store malts past 6 months, but I've never known when my malts left the maltster, either. I wouldn't let 10 months stop me from brewing with it. I do not believe that kind of age will impart distinct off flavors. More likely, it causes the malt to be a little less flavorful?
I've heard a good way to assess malt freshness is to make a small batch in a coffee maker as you would coffee, grind up the malt in a coffee grinder and brew it. Cool, taste and smell. Never tried it though. Also, chew a small amount of the malt, it shouldn't taste stale and also shouldn't be soft and mushy, which is a sign of too much moisture absorption.
Below is from Briess Malting Company: “STORAGE AND SHELF LIFE Store in a temperate, low humidity, pest free environment at temperatures of <90 ºF. Improperly stored malts are prone to loss of freshness and flavor. Whole kernel diastatic and preground malts are best when used within 6 months from date of manufacture. Whole kernel roasted malts may begin experiencing a slight flavor loss after 18 months.” Cheers!
