What do you do with your spent grains?

Chuck em in the trash? Compost pile? Just wondering what everyone else does with the grains the use.

I have been throwing them out on the two all grain batches that I have done so far. I'm new to brewing so I don't have any answers but I feel that composting them would have to be advantageous. I just have not done so because I don't know if it makes good composte. I would assume it would..... right?

I would think so, I don't have a compost box or bin, so I have actually spread mine on my rose beds. But after several batches, I think I should lay off of that. I have raked the grains in with my mulch there, but there is an odor issue sometimes.

I am just trying to figure out what else to do with the stuff, I have been ramping up my production schedule, and I don't want to throw the grain away if there is a good use for it.

I dump them into my garden spot and will turn them under if the ground will ever get dry. Then I will sart a compost pile.

I've heard of people making dog treats out of them. Also have seen pictures of people putting them out for wildlife, deer and such.

I made a few PM batches when I had my squirrel and he seemed to enjoy the hell out of them...

I'd put a picture of'em but I'm not so sure I know how to do that.. And I might be a little

compost bin

I've been making bread with them. I'm still doing extract batches, so I don't have much grain. Also, so far lighter grains (from Pale Ale) have done better than grain from making Stout. I really like it, but I like multigrain bread.

My basic recipe is:
what was 1/2 lb grain before it got used
about 6oz water + 1tbsp sugar + bread yeast (starter)
about 1/2 tsp salt
about 2 tbsp honey
enough wheat flour to make it into dough (approx 3 1/2 cups)

Activate the yeast. Grind the spent grains in a food processor (not necessary, just improves texture). Mix everything except the flour together. Slowly add flour until you've got bread dough. Knead for a while, adding flour as needed. Put it in a loaf pan with some oil (coat all sides) and let rise for about an hour. Bake for 35 minutes at 375F. Eat.

I may have to try making some of that bread!

Seattle just started putting out food waste pick up bins. I made some dog treats out of the last batch and the rest now goes into the bin.

mnm129 said:

just have not done so because I don't know if it makes good composte. I would assume it would..... right?

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It makes GREAT compost...breaks down very quickly, into rich black soil. We throw all of our kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, etc. in there too, as well as some leaves and finely shredded paper. Even the corn starch packing peanuts that NorthernBrewer uses go into the pile!

Other spent grains uses commonly cited on this site include:

Baking into bread. (I replace a cup of wheat flour with a cup of spent grain.)

Baking into dog biscuits, there are a few recipes on the site.

EdWort feeds it to his neighborhood deer, and has photographic evidence of it!

I compost them.

+1 for compost. Why waste what can otherwise be used?

I toss them out in the back yard. I usually walk out past the "lawn ornaments" you see in the picture.

Feed them to my buddy goats..they love me.

Compost pile out by the garden.

chickens, compost, dogs. Throw 1/2 cup into any breadmachine standard 2lb white bread recipe.

Echo2112 said:

I may have to try making some of that bread!

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Just be sure not to use any rice hulls in the batch you plan to make bread with. They add a texture which is not desired...

the last 2 batches I let sit in buckets under the canoe in the back yard till the wife took care of them.

this was the wife.

mmb said:

I toss them out in the back yard. I usually walk out past the "lawn ornaments" you see in the picture.

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That's your backyard!? Nice!

Excellent compost. If you don't compost, there may be a gardener you know who may like it. Very rich in nitrogen and cellulose (great for loosening soil)

I feed 'em to the cows. They eat the crap out of them, once they cool down of course.

I make these cookies, and they are delicious, everybody loves them

Like boodlemania, I feed them to cattle. My tax guy says they then qualify as livestock feed and can be deducted, but I haven't gone that far. (And if I had I wouldn't admit it here).

roylee said:

Like boodlemania, I feed them to cattle. My tax guy says they then qualify as livestock feed and can be deducted, but I haven't gone that far. (And if I had I wouldn't admit it here).

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Then the obvious solution is to feed the hop leaves to the livestock too and write the cost of whole brew day off!

I like the way you guys are thinking. Tax deductible beer ingredients - I mean livestock feed rules.

bigzippo said:

I make these cookies, and they are delicious, everybody loves them

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Wow so do you make the vegan burgers too or just the cookies? I am a bad person, I eat meat, drink whole fat dairy & use white bleached flower. I am planning on buying some chickens to eat my spent grain & so I can have free range eggs. but wait, that's eating baby chickens right? so still my bad.

I was feeding them to our sheep, but the Great Pyrenese dogs kept eating them. Now I am planning on trying the dog treats or composting.

What about trub? How's that in a compost pile? I had a second generation cake I threw in there, but not sure if it was the best idea

I compost the dregs, if you will

I guess I'm lucky.
I walk out 30 ft from my brewing area and dump them. Sometimes the deer eat it and sometimes they don't Either way it's out of sight and out of mind.

alee said:

I was feeding them to our sheep, but the Great Pyrenese dogs kept eating them.

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Your dogs kept eating your sheep?

This thread is timely. I brewed on Sunday and was thinking as I dumped the spent grain in the trash, "what a waste".

Our chickens can tell when it is brewing day and they pace back and forth until they get their share of the spent grains.

GT

I'd dump mine out past the back yard for the deer, but I'd probably break an ankle carrying them up the steep rocky hill.

Used to give them to a neighbor for compost but he moved away. Wish we had a food waste pickup.

Hmm.. I've been meaning to build a catapult. I could then launch them over the house and up the hill! (perhaps at an ocassional annoying neighbor)

I could then launch them over the house and up the hill! (perhaps at an ocassional annoying neighbor)

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Let them age a few days first. They can get really bad smelling!!

I compost them. I agree they make beautiful compost.

I make treats for my pooch. She loves them and the beer they've made!

Quote:
Originally Posted by alee
I was feeding them to our sheep, but the Great Pyrenese dogs kept eating them.

Your dogs kept eating your sheep

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Ha Ha! That did sound a little funny. The dogs ate all the grain. I had the misfortune of kneeling in a pile of grain poo last weekend. Talk about smelling sour, especially when it finds the one hole in the knee of your jeans and makes skin contact! I suppose I could have recycled them again!

schweaty said:

I make treats for my pooch. She loves them and the beer they've made!

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Can you share how you make the dog treats... my boxer would love this...

I bake bread with the grains, I'll even stockpile several packs of grains for future baking. The different styles of beer result in very different styles of breads. The grains from a porter vs. the grains from a pale ale make for two very different loaves.

3 cups grains
~5 cups flour (depends on the day)
1.5 cups warm water with yeast and ~1/2 cup brown sugar
couple pinches of salt
~1 tbsp oil

Bake and enjoy!

sometimes I let my daughter make dog-cookies out of them, most of the time I dump them out in the bare spots of the lawn and rake them in, it helps the grass fill in the bare spots