Used Grains?

Greetings All,
I just finished my first batch which is now comfortably fermenting.

I'm curious as to what do you guys do with the used grains. My first thought is to toss it into a community compost near my apartment. Google search results say that bread could be baked using these but I cant find anyone whos actual done this.

These have been a big hit: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/spent-grain-make-your-best-friend-cookies-87097/

I made some bread with spent grains yesterday. Still haven't perfected it yet, but I just replaced half a cup of flour in a white bread recipe with a cup of spent grains. My advice would be to lay them out and bake the grains at a low temperature first to dry them out though. Both times I've tried making bread with the grains it's turned out a little soggy.

As above....dog treats and breads (pretzels, bread, pizza crust, etc) is what I've done. I usually put most of them in the compost pile though.

I put mine in the yard waste for recycling.

Most of mine end up in compost (nothing I can do to use all the grain from a 10-12 lb batch in 3 weeks to a month). I always save some for bread, though. For most batches, I scoop out four 1 cup scoops & put them in ziploc baggies & stick 'em in the freezer. Whenever I use my bread machine to make bread, I just add a baggie of spent grain to the ingredients. I set the machine for a slightly longer cycle because of the extra grain & it always comes out great. Lots of texture & character added.

mine go into dog cookies, or into the garden, I just turn them into the soil. excess that I dont use goes to a friend with horses.

I make bread with 'em. Basically, take a cornbread recipe and swap your spent grains for the cornmeal. Add a little extra flour to make up for the extra moisture the grains contribute.

All mine go into the compost bin. My roommate maintains a fairly decent sized garden in our back yard and I'm sure he appreciates the additional 30-40 lbs of organic matter that's getting added to it every month.

I made chocolate chip cookies with some spent grain a couple weeks ago. They were okay, but would've been better without the spent grain.

Going to give the dog biscuit recipe a try next.

My dogs love their treats, but I also dry some out and add it to their dog food. They eat a lot so this makes their food go that much further.

Mine go into the compost pile by the garden as well. The deer will usually eat it if I leave them in a big pile on top without mixing them in though.

Kilted Brewer said:

As above....dog treats and breads (pretzels, bread, pizza crust, etc) is what I've done. I usually put most of them in the compost pile though.

Click to expand...

I've got about 4-5 cups of spent grains from a brew day this weekend waiting for something like this. I've looked up the bread and dog biscuits (I don't have a dog, so little help there) but I think pretzels sound really good. Could you post your recipe for pretzels? I'd really like to take a look.

Couldn't you use it as a filler in meatloaf, soups/stews, etc.

ReeseAllen said:

My roommate maintains a fairly decent sized garden in our back yard and I'm sure he appreciates the additional 30-40 lbs of organic matter that's getting added to it every month.

Click to expand...

30 - 40 pounds a MONTH? You must have a liver the size of a pumpkin!

Fingers said:

30 - 40 pounds a MONTH? You must have a liver the size of a pumpkin!

Click to expand...

I brew every weekend if I can, and each 5-gallon brew session produces at least 10 lbs of spent grain (not including soaked-up water). So yeah, 30-40 lbs a month.

I'm not just supplying myself, I've got thirsty roommates, not to mention friends who are knocking on my door more and more often these days looking to sample the latest product

Hmm... I didn't flinch at the 30-40lbs per month.

Perhaps I have a problem.

I put all of my spent grains into my compost. They do tend to smell quite funky after a few days, but after turning the pile everything gets better. This compost then goes into my hops planters for fertilizer the next year. Nothing better than growing hops with composted grains used for brewing!

rsmith179 said:

Nothing better than growing hops with composted grains used for brewing!

Click to expand...

It's like you dry grained your hops!

We usually have at least 4 deer stop by daily. They enjoy 'em.

lunchbox said:

It's like you dry grained your hops!

Click to expand...

Ha I love it

I just made this recipe a couple of days ago, and it's really good. Other than that, I just spread the spent grains out in the back yard, and various local wildlife come and take care of them for me.

Use them to condition the soil for my hop garden