3 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

I have a bunch of 1lb packs of DME from B3 that have not been opened.  they are all in various states of solid forms.  probably okay to use but kind of annoying.  the bags seems to be fairly heavy duty too.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I noticed that today. Mine aren't from b3 bit one I must have got 8 months ago was hard. Still it crumbled fine and the wort for the starter is chilling.

[neddles]

Weird. I always repackage them in quart or half gallon mason jars with a light lid and haven't had any trouble keeping the DME dry. I guess I'll continue doing that.

[gnef]

Depending on the type of plastic and the thickness of the bag, they can have a certain amount of diffusion. We typically only look at the oxygen permeability of the plastics, but moisture can cross as well. It is exceedingly slow for most plastics, but given enough time, enough moisture should be able to cross to react with the DME to harden it.

 

The mason jars are glass which have zero permeability to moisture and oxygen, the lid is metal, and the only place where I could see moisture or air ingress would be the seal itself, which is minimal in surface area. I could see given an exceedingly long amount of time and no firm seal from a vacuum could allow some moisture through, but I don't think it would be worth worrying about for reasonable amounts of time.