As a passionate brewer, it’s part of the job to meet strict storage guidelines for all ingredients. A brewery without proper storage won’t produce flavorful batches. You need improved ingredient storage procedures to set you apart from the competition. Here’s a walkthrough on how to properly store your beer ingredients.
Malt Extracts
You’ve studied every ingredient and have every recipe down to a T, but you may have trouble keeping things separate. It’s okay if you get confused, but you must get better. The critical thing to note here is that there are two different malt extracts: dry and liquid, and they have separate storing processes.
You must store dry products inside a dark, cool place, like a cabinet or pantry. For long-term storage, dry malt materials go into foil bags or containers with no oxygen. If the contents are exposed to oxygen, they fall apart.
Leave liquid malt extracts in the refrigerator. When one’s opened, workers must use it within three months. It is possible to restore liquids into newer containers.
Brewing Grains
You must store bags of uncrushed grains in a room between 50 and 75 degrees. The steady temperature keeps everything fresh. If you must place it in a cooler place, leave it in the refrigerator and keep the temperature consistent as you would with any other cold storage space.
Use bags of crushed grain right away as they go bad from exposure to oxygen. Like malt extracts, bags of crushed grains might go bad after two or three months, so use them up. Otherwise, store them in glass jars in the refrigerator to retain freshness.
Hops
To preserve the bitterness and flavor of your beer supply, make sure the hops glands are in the right place. The best storage solution is to keep the hops in a freezer, untouched in a glass jar. The glass jars create airtight seals that prevent the plant from losing its flavor profile.
If you want to sustain the best-aged hops, buy yourself an index that shows the best time to use them. The graph shows how long to store the hops, and since there are two hops varieties, you need to pay attention to both lifespans.
Yeast
Yeast is the ingredient you want to store the best way possible. Dry and liquid yeast have different storage requirements, so keeping them separate helps improve their age. Create a brewing schedule to keep track of the yeast—both types have expiration dates.
Cleanliness is vital to a brewery, especially when it comes to storing yeast. While developing a better cleaning schedule for the brewery, it’s best to continue updating how you store your beer ingredients. These storage tips will help everything stay fresher longer.
