Grain treated with fungicide

[Boda Getta]

I was unable to find raw barley in my area; I had my local feed and seed guy order 3x 50# bags of barley seed. I did a search and are satisfied that seed barley would work (I was unable to find cereal barley that was affordable) The feed guy called back and said its possible when it comes it may be treated with a fungicide. Is this a deal breaker? If its a problem is there anything I can do and still be able to use it?
Any help and advice greatly appreciated.

BG

[still_stirrin]

Plant it and grow your own. Didn't you already ask this question?....I answered it here: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 6#p7481572

Didn't like the answer so you asked again?

[Still Life]

You're not gonna get around this, Boda. Don't use it except in a garden. Bad mojo.

[Boda Getta]

still_stirrin:

No, different question. Your post warned against seed grain treated with insecticide, not fungicide. Is fungicide as harmful as insecticide, I don't know, hence the question. I've read that fungicide is water soluble and washing the grain helps.

BG

[Pikey]

still_stirrin:

.............. Is fungicide as harmful as insecticide, I don't know, hence the question. ...............

BG

Yeast is a fungus
Washing may help, It may or may not kill your yeast if washed, then you ferment it and still it - Then what ? You gonna drink it ??

[still_stirrin]

I'd still pass on it. You don't really know what the grains have been treated with. And unless I knew the guy who sprayed the grains, I would assume any and all treatment as toxic.

You can gamble with your health...or your life. But I've given you a warning.
ss

[shadylane]

...The feed guy called back and said its possible when it comes it may be treated with a fungicide. Is this a deal breaker? ...Any help and advice greatly appreciated.

Just my opinion
Almost all feed grain will have Propionic acid in it.
And it hasn't killed me or the livestock yet.

[still_stirrin]

Just my opinion
Almost all feed grain will have Propionic acid in it.
And it hasn't killed me or the livestock yet.

...my local feed and seed guy order 3x 50# bags of barley seed....

But boda getta said "barley seed", not "feed barley". I believe there is a big difference there.
ss

Here, have a look: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/Public_Docs/Pe ... atment.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[kiwi Bruce]

My 2 C's....feed grain YES this will work....seed grain NO don't use it. If its is seed and not feed ask the store guy for the source, you may be able to hook up with a local farmer and get your grain at harvest, cheaply and untreated. You will have to provide the sacks, so keep an eye out for used sacks like 50lb coffee been bags. These will actually cost more than the barley you put into them...but they are reusable.

[Kareltje]

I got some organically grown seed barley.
I would not take the risk of whatever seed treatment is given: it is harmfull for insects, fungus or weeds and I ma neither, but don't want to test it.
As is said: you can sow it and harvest your own clean barley next year, or go to a farmer who is harvesting it straight from the land or get some organically grown.
I expect the same problems with oat, did not yet solve it.

[shadylane]

My 2 C's....feed grain YES this will work....seed grain NO don't use it.

+1
But
Here in my neck of the woods, grain seed, means it will germinate.
And the treated seed is dyed a funky purple color

[shadylane]

Here, have a look: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/Public_Docs/Pe ... atment.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Thanks for the link

[still_stirrin]

Peace. I get it.

My brother harvested 250 bushels of wheat from the fields this year that he intends to plant next year (rather than buying seed wheat). But , it will be treated...as in processed to be used as seed grains. Out of the field...it was great...big berries with lot's of protein. The moisture was great at 11%. It would have been perfect to malt at that point (in fact, I did grab a bushel for my personal use).

But the seed wheat was hauled to a treater to process through the insecticide, fungicide, fumigating process. Coming out of the processor, it was indeed colored (green in this case). And I would NEVER use it to brew. It was poison. Whether or not that poison would pass through a still....I don't even want to know.

So, my point with boda getta is that you don't know what has been sprayed onto the seed grains. And it very likely is highly toxic.

I don't want any "passers by" to think it is EVER SAFE to use those (seed) grains to brew. Just don't do it. My responsibility on this site is to protect safety to the best of my ability. So, I will never condone using seed grains for brewing. EVER.
ss

[Boda Getta]

Thanks for all the in-put Guys. I'm convinced; I will call the feed store guy first thing Mon morning and see if I can cancel the order. I will see if I can a decent price for pearl barley or rolled barley from a brew store. How will rolled barley work. I use the no cook method (pour 200'ish F water over the grain and let it sit overnight, then add my malt at 140F). Another possibility is to use use rolled oats instead of raw barley. My plan is to use 50% malted barley and 50% raw grain and triple distill for a Irish whiskey.
Any additional input on these points greatly appreciated.

BG

[Still Life]

Thanks for all the in-put Guys. I'm convinced...

Good choice. I searched all over for a way to say yes to this, and met nothing but NO's

[The Baker]

Grow a little barley patch in the garden?

Geoff

[still_stirrin]

...I will see if I can a decent price for pearl barley or rolled barley from a brew store. How will rolled barley work...additional input on these points greatly appreciated.

Rolled barley, or "crimped" barley is feed grains for livestock. It is perfectly good to use. The crimping, or rolling slightly crushes the husk so that horses can digest it easier (for nutrition). Otherwise, it would pass through the system without much benefit. See if your feed guy can get you crimped (rolled) barley.

But as far as using rolled oats, it too would work. Again, the rolling process opens up the husk so it has more nutritional value as feed. From a brew store, rolled oats usually means the oats were soaked in hot water to gelatinize and then run through the rollers producing flakes. It has been gelatinized already so you simply add it to your mash as you would malt.

Oats is a different grain than barley and will have a different flavor. I think of oats as a "softer", more "cream-like" flavor. In addition, it will contribute a different texture (mouthfeel for beer brewers) than barley, especially raw barley. I wouldn't offset barley with oats at a 1:1 ratio, rather I'd use 1:3 or 1:4 oats to barley ratio. But of course, keep your total grainbill proportional to the batch size (lb./gallon) for your target OG.

Glad you're not using the seed grains...unless you were to plant them.
ss

[gsugg]

BG,

It's actually really easy with seed to know. If it's got a color to it, it's been treated with one of a number of poisons to prevent "things" from eating it prior to it sprouting. That also means you shouldn't want to eat it! In recent years, the color is required to let people know not to eat it. That means you don't want to drink something made out of it as well. I am friends with the people that own the local feed store and when you get feed grains, and according to them, you may get insects, mice heads, etc; but none of that will hurt you once it's been run through the still. (though if given the choice, I'd rather not have them as well!) So still stirrin is 100% correct. You don't want anything to do with seed as a general rule just to be safe.

Gsugg

[Boda Getta]

Agree, went with Honeyville Pearl Barley, price was decent compared to brewing stores, but amazingly, shipping for a 50# bag from UT to AL was a flat rate of $4.99! Thanks to someone on this forum for turning me on to them. Just got through running the Irish Whiskey and just put 4.50 gallon to bed in a 5 gal keg.

BG

[dieselduo]

did they ship it in the bag ? I was going to order some but figured it wouldn't make it here without breaking

[RedwoodHillBilly]

Agree, went with Honeyville Pearl Barley, price was decent compared to brewing stores, but amazingly, shipping for a 50# bag from UT to AL was a flat rate of $4.99! Thanks to someone on this forum for turning me on to them. Just got through running the Irish Whiskey and just put 4.50 gallon to bed in a 5 gal keg.

BG

Honeyville is pretty good. BTW, the 4.99 shipping is per order. You could order 1000 lbs of stuff and the 4.99 still applies. I've used them for the last 5 yrs or so. If you bake your own bread, try their "fantastic bread flour", it really is.

Another thing, when you don't order from for a while, they tend to send you a 10% - 20% off coupon e-mail.
Also, they have a lot of different flours and flaked grains. No grinding needed.

[RedwoodHillBilly]

did they ship it in the bag ? I was going to order some but figured it wouldn't make it here without breaking

They ship the bag inside of a box, should get there just fine.

[dieselduo]

thanks ! I will try it

[Truckinbutch]

If it's any help for balance , my wife paid $17 for 50# of steamed , flaked barley at a feed store a couple of weeks back .