Bugs in the Grain at LHBS

[FPMBomb]

I'm preparing an Oktoberfest brew day tomorrow and realized I had purchased Weyermann Dark Munich (only 10L) instead of the Briess Munich 20L I usually use as part of my recipe. I ran over to my LHBS and alas they didn't have any Munich 20L but did offer me GoldSwaen Munich Light (30L). I opened the 5 gallon bucket, which only had about 5 pounds in it, and found numerous small bugs crawling around in the grain. I pointed this out to the guy and he shrugged it off "it's that time of the year". He suggested I could still use it and the bugs would be filtered out along with the spent grain during my brew. Being that I had some Weyermann Caramunich (35L) at home I just opted to pass on the buggy stuff and modify my recipe.
I've never encountered this before...

 

[Megary]

I buy everything but grain from my LHBS. I just have no way of knowing how long the grain has been sitting in those community bins.

 

[philjohnwilliams]

As far as I know all malt has some weevil eggs in it that can hatch. I've had some weevils in my grain at home, but I would pass on buying grain that had weevils crawling around in it. Now when I bring grain home I put it in the chest freezer for a few days to kill off any eggs.

 

[FPMBomb]

As far as I know all malt has some weevil eggs in it that can hatch. I've had some weevils in my grain at home, but I would pass on buying grain that had weevils crawling around in it. Now when I bring grain home I put it in the chest freezer for a few days to kill off any eggs.

I store my grain in the garage, which here in AZ gets well above 120F. I haven't found any in my own stored grain.

I just found this about making Munich Malts:

The kilning process used to produce Munich malt gives rise to the unique properties characteristic of the malt type. Initially Munich malt is kilned relatively gently with the kiln temperature set at anywhere between 50°C to 70°C until the moisture content has dropped to 10% to 20%. The kiln temperature is then rapidly increased to approximately 110°C to drive off the remaining moisture. The slow initial kilning at a low temperature helps to preserve the diastatic power of the malt. The final curing temperature at 110°C initiates the melanoidin producing Maillard reactions which gives the malt its characteristic malty and biscuit flavour and deep colour.

So, shouldn't any weevil eggs have been killed during production? This seems like an issue with the cleanliness of the LHBS.

 

[philjohnwilliams]

I have no idea at what point the eggs get into the grain, perhaps after malting and before packaging? Or maybe the eggs can survive malting, I've never really looked into it.
While the LHBS should be taking care of the issue rather than just saying it's that time of the year, realistically weevil eggs are in pretty much all our grain based foods and can hatch given the right conditions.

 

[Hawkbox]

I grew up grain farming, you're getting some bugs in everything so I wouldn't worry much about it.

They probably could have gave a better answer though. I'd brew with it.

 

[BOB357]

I'm not opposed to brewing with grain that have a few weevils in it, but wouldn't buy it. The life cycle of weevils is short enough that a few adults could turn into a big infestation within a matter of a very few weeks. Retailers should take care to eliminate infestations. It's just good business.

 

[Hawkbox]

Oh I wouldn't be putting it with my other grains or even paying full price for it, but I wouldn't worry overmuch about it.