How many pounds of spent grain do you produce every year? How do you dispose of it?

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fbaillargeon

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I usually brew 10-15 times a year averaging 144 pounds of spent grains per year. I tried making muffins and usually end up composting the rest.

If I was a rural dweller I'd raise chickens with it I guess.

How about you guys? :rockin:
 
A lot. I rake it into the weak spots in my lawn. The grains decompose quickly, feeding the soil, and the husks stay intact longer, acting as minimulch to help the soil retain moisture. Florida lawns are TOUGH. The grains help a lot.
 
I think about 400 lbs per for me since I brew 5 gallons at least twice each month (more if possible) using about 15 lbs per batch. I compost it ....
 
Apartment dweller. Garbage. From the earth you came, to the earth you shall return. Hey, landfills need all the help they can get.
 
At work I produce (guessing) about 2000 pounds a month or so, and we have a lady who comes and gets it to feed her poultry with it and mixes it into the hogs food as well.
 
At work I produce (guessing) about 2000 pounds a month or so, and we have a lady who comes and gets it to feed her poultry with it and mixes it into the hogs food as well.

One of our local breweries dumps its spent grains in the parking lot; it gets picked up for cattle feed.

My homebrewing grains get dumped on the garden. Once in awhile into the storm sewer drain out front.
 
Feed for my chickens, compost.

hmm, let's see, 15-20 batches a year, let's say 10-15 pounds per, between 150 and 300 pounds of grain a year. It's a great system - I buy grain and get eggs, veggies and beer as an end product.
 
Mine goes in the trash, but I might start using it on the bare spots in the lawn now that I know about that.
 
Quantity: unsure. Disposal: posted an add on craigslist saying something like "will trade spent brewing grains for farm fresh chicken or turkey eggs"

Had a couple people call and now I just call them a couple days in advance to give them a heads up.
 
During non-gardening months, 13 pounds a month (roughly) goes into the garden. The garden this year and last was fantastic, it holds so much more water now, the grains really do help with soil texture. My chickens don't seem to care too much for the spent grains. I wonder why?
 
Mostly the compost. :(

They gave great texture to home-made pizza crust; I added half a cup to a three-cups-of-flour recipe, plus a couple tablespoons dried out to sprinkle on the bottom instead of cornmeal to help prevent sticking.

Tried the dog biscuits, but, alas, they gave the dog horrible gas. :cross:

I'll definitely have to try the barter-on-Craigslist option; "local" and backyard farming is big here in San Francisco.
 
During non-gardening months, 13 pounds a month (roughly) goes into the garden. The garden this year and last was fantastic, it holds so much more water now, the grains really do help with soil texture. My chickens don't seem to care too much for the spent grains. I wonder why?

I tried to mix it in the garden but it ended up attracting ants. It just goes in the trash now.
 
I leave it in the wheelbarrow overnight, along with all the warm water output from the wort chiller. The smell is a real crowd-pleaser.

But seriously, it's fantastic compost. If you don't compost, just spread it lightly around the garden. If it's not in clumps, it dries out before it can begin to smell. I've also done the "bare spot in lawn" thing too and it works great.
 
I freeze the spent grain from specialty malt-heavy batches and anything with dark grains to make bread. Anything else goes in the trash. I tried adding some to the yard but it just attracted a huge amount of wasps. No thank you.

There's a small farm a few blocks away that raises goats and chickens. I might offer it to them.
 
So far a friends garden and the yard waste bin. It will go into my garden next year and into the hop beds if i can ever get around to putting them together.
 
TyTanium said:
I leave it in the wheelbarrow overnight, along with all the warm water output from the wort chiller. The smell is a real crowd-pleaser.

I almost puked just reading that.
 
I put it in the dumpster. It keeps all, but the most determined, pickers out of my garbage.

I'd like to throw it directly in my neighbor's pool. Someday...
 
I put it in a brown paper bag, leave it on my neighbors doorstep, light the bag on fire, ring the door bell and RUN!!

He falls for it everytime...!!

You asked about MY spent grain right? Not my beers?
 
I just put mine into my green waste bin and the trash company picks it up. I should give to anyone who has chickens...but I don't want to deliver or store it.
 
I just listed my spent grains on craiglist for free for a brew I'm doing tomorrow, already got a hit. Will be much happier if someone can actually use them vs just garbaging them like I usually do.
 
city apartment dweller, i feed as much as i can to my wormery, they Love it, and i disappointingly dump a lot in the trash. still trying to find some local gardens with compost piles (just saw a hop trellis at a nearby allotment...). i am looking into the feasibility of using some as a substrate to grow oyster or nameko mushrooms, everything i have read so far says they would need to be heavily diluted out with sawdust, straw, wood chips, etc. i am thinking shredded lhbs boxes and spent grain 50/50? might try it, might not
 
. . . . . . My chickens don't seem to care too much for the spent grains. I wonder why?

Thats wierd, I wonder why as well, our chickens devour them.

I use them for chickens, cows, bread, garden, lawn, you name it, . . . . .but mostly chickens is where I get the biggest bang for the saved buck.:mug:
 
I worked at a pizza shop where the owner makes bread for the farmers market. I give it all to him for free pizza. Cant beat it. Look for an artisan baker.
 
170# +. I put mine in compost. A very little amount has been used in bread. I see stories of animals eating it up. Not in my case. I have never seen anything in it except weeks later - worms. Not even a paw print around it.

I put some under my bird feeders once. There are usually birds down there eating dropped seed. When the spent grains were there the birds would not go after the dropped seeds.
 
A friend of mine has chickens, and he says they love my spent grain. I'll get back eggs in the future, and he's going to start growing hops--so I imagine a nice exchange will be occurring. :)
 
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