Uses For Spent Grains

After my recent brew session, I got to pondering on how malt extract is made and what it is used for. After spending more time than I should've Googling the subject, I discovered that malt is used with more frequency in foods than it is in beer. So, there sat a hot pile of freshly sparged grain with plenty of moisture remaining in it, destined for my chickens and the compost heap.

Instead of just lugging it out and dumping it, I squeezed as much moisture as I could possible get out of it and drained that into a soup pan. Then I left it on low heat to evaporate the water, until it became a thick molasses-like syrup...or malt syrup to be exact I suppose.

It is AMAZING!!! Roasted chicken never tasted so good! And I can make an excellent malted milkshake or cold malt and coffee drink. It adds depth and flavor to food, without adding a sugary sweetness. And on chicken and turkey, it gives the skin that rich, chestnut brown glow, while permeating the meat and keeping it juicy. From here on out, I will use every last drop from my grain!

Does anyone else have suggestions for frugal use of spent grain or yeast? Ways to get more bang for the buck, homesteading style.

spent grain dog treats

SWMBO and I love the smell of grains so much that we're going to make some spent grain candles one of these days. Thought about doing some hop candles, too, but I feel like that would be a waste of hops.

I've used spent grain to make bread. My family enjoyed it.

hop candles sound good....or hop soap! I grew some hops this year, but the crop was pretty small being the first season. I expect that I will grow more than I can use at some point. Has anyone done anything with the yeast trub? I'm trying to figure out how to dry it and use it as a supplement to sprinkle on my chicken's food. It's really high in vitamins I guess.

bssrf4 said:

I've used spent grain to make bread. My family enjoyed it.

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That sounds interesting. How do you use it? It seems like it would be pretty crunchy. Do you mill it finer, or just use a small portion for added texture in a normal bread recipe?

fatal_degree said:

That sounds interesting. How do you use it? It seems like it would be pretty crunchy. Do you mill it finer, or just use a small portion for added texture in a normal bread recipe?

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I blend it up in the cuisinart, divide it into 1/2 cup portions and freeze it. 1/2 cup per loaf of bread. I also replace the water and sugar with second runnings.

What if anything do you do to the grain before giving it to your chickens? My neighbor has them and I've been wanting to offer up my grain but I thought it would need to be dried or something.

This is the recipe I use

I used spent grains in a pizza crust just mixed 1/2cup wet grains with a standard pizza dough recipe. Came out pretty good too.

Compost, or feed 'em to the deer.
Regards, GF.

right now, it gets composted, but next year, we're getting chickens. I will feed some of it to them. I figure on spreading it out on the driveway to dry out, then put it in a bucket to feed them from.

Feed it to the cows! Lots of breweries give their spent grains to dairies and ranches as feed. Works pretty well too.

fatal_degree said:

That sounds interesting. How do you use it? It seems like it would be pretty crunchy. Do you mill it finer, or just use a small portion for added texture in a normal bread recipe?

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I just use about 1/2 a cup to add texture/flavor. I also put some on the top of each loaf for looks.

joepezHB said:

This is the recipe I use




View attachment 78633

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I went to that brewery for the first time the other day. Their Cascade IPA is really as was their cask conditioned pale ale.

Cask conditioned pale ale, get me a bottle lol

No need to do anything to spent grain before giving it to chickens. If I can't get mine to my friends with chickens quickly I'll freeze it into a solid block so it doesn't sour and they eat it a little at a time as it defrosts.

The deer like it and dog treats are a must!

compost, bread and dog treats.

joepezHB said:

This is the recipe I use

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Thanks for sending the recipe and the great advice about freezing in portions!

GilSwillBasementBrews said:

I used spent grains in a pizza crust just mixed 1/2cup wet grains with a standard pizza dough recipe. Came out pretty good too.

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Great Idea also! We do a lot of home-made pizza crust in my house.

Xpertskir said:

What if anything do you do to the grain before giving it to your chickens? My neighbor has them and I've been wanting to offer up my grain but I thought it would need to be dried or something.

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Hi!

For my girls, I have always just fed it to them wet for a few days and then pitched the rest in the compost pile. Personally that feels TERRIBLY inefficient and wasteful. I am looking for a way to dry it, without too much hassle. And without having to buy anything fancy to accomplish it. The way I've dried some in the past is by squeezing it out as much as possible and then spreading it in baking pans about 1" deep. Then toss it in the oven at 300ish (my oven is antique and lacks a thermostat) until it is like granola. But that requires my attention, and I'm looking for something less tedious.

If your neighbor has a decent size flock, I bet the birds would mow through it quick. My birds are little and it takes 2 weeks or more for them to eat 10# of chicken feed. It's just fine if they eat it wet.

I have made suet cakes out of it also...to feed as treats.

I don't know if you care or not, but keep in mind that spent grains have almost no nutritional value for humans. (Livestock is another story, as they are able to digest different proteins.)

ztexz said:

I don't know if you care or not, but keep in mind that spent grains have almost no nutritional value for humans. (Livestock is another story, as they are able to digest different proteins.)

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I bet you there is tons of fiber in it though.

Also, just because the starches have been converted to sugar, wouldn't there be unconverted starches left, and proteins?

Mushrooms. My father has been playing with mycology in the winters when he can't play in the garden so I've been mixing up my spent grains depending on the mushroom strain preference and autoclaving in mushroom bags for later inoculation. My favorite are the shiitakes and criminis but there are tons of options. When the blocks are spent the remains gets composted.

sput said:

Mushrooms. My father has been playing with mycology in the winters when he can't play in the garden so I've been mixing up my spent grains depending on the mushroom strain preference and autoclaving in mushroom bags for later inoculation. My favorite are the shiitakes and criminis but there are tons of options. When the blocks are spent the remains gets composted.

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I actually did try to inocculate some grain with plurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) but I didn't have any luck initiating mushroom formation. I got decent mycelium run...I need to be able to control my enviornmental temperatures better I think. I would love to do leotiporus sulphureus (sulphur shelf), but I think that requires hardwood in particular. And the strain I ordered from Washington prefers hemlock....none of that here. Our sulphurs grow on oak.

I've been thinking of using a little wort ( maybe with hops ) to make beersicles! Figure that if they come out good it could be a good and a fun summer treat for grown ups while the kids have their popsicles.

Maybe using a re mash of used grains would be a good way to try this? I think I'll try it.

I have grown shiitake, oyster and turkey tail mushrooms on spent grains. I got best results using inoculated dowels. With some varieties hardwood shavings need to be added to the spent grains.

We've used all kinds of crap in the mushroom substrates. Like you said sometimes you have to put wood in the mix. Around here you can get both hard and softwood pellets that have worked well. The dowels we use for innoculating logs and I have some pretty good pics of some successful fruiting.

Lemme take a look to see which sulphureus we have. Any interest in a list of strains I have? Happy to send wedges (or whatever you prefer) out on request.

The pleurotus seems to fruit despite us here, on cakes and logs. Have you ever taste them before?

Some quick shots of stuff eating spent grains

Pholiota nameko


Shiitake (foggy from the humidifier)

Now thats what I'm talking about!
I just put a 5 year old blue oyster culture on a petri dish the other day with intentions of doing something similar. Its probably too old to work, but who knows? Guess I could always take a tissue sample off a store bought mushroom...

I usually just compost my grains but man I would love some edibles!
Badger badger badger

I pour mine out around my trees like mulch. Looks funny with circles of different colored grains around each tree.

sput said:

Some quick shots of stuff eating spent grains

Pholiota nameko

Shiitake (foggy from the humidifier)

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They look good. I am interested what varieties you have. I will take some wedges if you are offering.

How many do u force fruit at once? How many times do you force each log before discarding? I am interested in yr methods aswell.

I have only played around with the three types. I did have two types of pleurotus but I lost the entire batch this summer when I was away on a business trip.

ztexz said:

I don't know if you care or not, but keep in mind that spent grains have almost no nutritional value for humans. (Livestock is another story, as they are able to digest different proteins.)

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I've heard this, and I've heard the opposite answer as well. There are some studies online claiming that even though the carbohydrates have been depleted, there remains a lot of fiber and protein that humans can eat. But I'm skeptical. I'd love to hear a dietitian's opinion on it. Any out there?

I've been considering spent grain granola for a long time, but I haven't done it yet because last thing I want at the end of my brew day is to do more work in the kitchen making granola. But if I ever got motivated to do it, high-protein, high-fiber, low-carb granola (if all those things are true) sounds like the jackpot to me.

Right now I just compost my grains.

Have to check individual viability though


Agrocybe aegerita
Coprinus comatus
Cordycep militaris
Ganoderma lucidum
Grifola frondosa
Hericium erinaceous
Hypholoma sublateritium
Hypsizygus tessulatus
Laetiporus conifericola
Laetiporus sulphureus "Trout"
Lentinula edodes "CS-321"
Lentinula edodes "S75"
Lentinula edodes "705 Solstice"
Pholiota nameko
Pleurotus djamor
Pleurotus eryngii
Pleurotus eryngii var. nebrodensis
Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus
Pleurotus pulmonarius
Stropharia rugoso-annulata
Trichoderma viride

just check on my petri and wow the 5 year old culture was definitely still alive!!


Would no-sparge grains be the best to use for cultivation because of the higher levels of sugars compared to fully sparged, flavorless grain? Should I start with a smaller grain such as millet then inoculate to barley? Do I need to add nutrients? I guess its time to fire up the autoclave and experiment...

What gravity do you usually stop sparging at? What else do you have laying around for substrate? Depending on those, you can prob blend to get something oysters will love.

This is what stamets has for a few relevant substrate materials

sput said:

What gravity do you usually stop sparging at? What else do you have laying around for substrate? Depending on those, you can prob blend to get something oysters will love.

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Well gravity usually depends on the beer. But I'm lucky if i get 75% efficiency, so theres probably still alot of good stuff left. My initial test results seem very promising... maybe not as fast as other grains but still pretty darn good since I also made a beer with alot of the converted starches. I'll probably use it to inoculate some bulk... I'll have to keep an eye out for some straw bales that families usually toss after the holidays.

Also thanks for the chart, sput. I'm gonna have to try dehydrating some yeast now.

Badger badger badger... :rockin: