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

[m00ps]

crap...i did the math and im probably a bit over 1000lbs of grain.

Ive started giving mine to a local farm for composting. They come and pick it up every other week or so. I'll also usually leave them a few beers with it and in return I get a fresh box of whatever veggies they got in season.

Ive tried making dog biscuits and giving them out at the brewery near me, but its too much extra time I could be spending doing brewing chores

 

[PADave]

I dump mine in the tree line at the edge of the yard.

 

[weatherman]

About 200 lbs per year. My city has a green bin pickup (organic recycling) which converts it to compost.

 

[Calder]

Mine mostly go in the compost, except in mid Winter as it is too cold to compost.

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.

The birds ate the spent grains then?

 

[hawaiibrewer]

My 200 lb/year goes to my compost pile but a neighbor recently showed interest in using some for baking. The local brew pub indeed uses some of their spent grain in their pizza dough so I may look around for a local commercial bakery that wants it.

 

[BowAholic]

maybe 350 pounds a year are fed to my happy cattle...

 

[bboyeruga]

I bag it, freeze it and my girlfriend has worked it into her horse's diet.

 

[passedpawn]

Here in florida we have sinkholes. Sometimes they swallow houses and people, but they're great for dumping your grains. Best keep an eye on Fido though.

What I really want is a subduction fault that would pull my trash, grains, nuclear materials to the earth's mantle and return it to it's elements, but Florida isn't know for plate tectonics. That's one of the natural resources that the west has.

In all seriousness, I dump mine in the woods behind my house.

 

[Devon]

I dump mine in the garden, around the bases of our fruit trees, hop plants etc. Basically compost it.

I've made a few batches of dog cookies as well.

 

[dwrusso]

Sometimes I'll use it in bread, but that accounts for a tiny amount of the grains. For the past couple years I've been giving them to a friend to feed to his chickens, they gobble it right up.

 

[brewbama]

In 2015 I produced 219 lbs of spent grain. I used to dump it in the tree line for deer but lately I've been taking it down to a lady who raises chickens. She brings eggs on occasion but that's not why I do it. I just want the grain to be put to good use.

 

[CGVT]

Compost bin.

 

[kh54s10]

Mine mostly go in the compost, except in mid Winter as it is too cold to compost.



The birds ate the spent grains then?

No they never went near the spent grains........ They wouldn't even eat the seeds that fell on top.

 

[thenugsmoustache]

I probably produce around 300lbs a year. It has become brew day tradition to make up a batch of dog treats. The grain that's left I dump in the upper part of my yard. I've seen deer and various birds munching on it.

 

[MaryB]

So far composting, I may have to find a local chicken grower and see if I can trade for eggs. Otherwise maybe the neighbors across the street with horses...

 

[Jaybird]

I have a green belt behind the house now with about 20+ turkeys that come and go. I toss it out there (not in piles as it will rot) and they come eat it.

This year I am only at about 70# or so. But I am ramping up now that I am all settled in to the new brewery.

I like the Craigslist barter for eggs thing! What a killer idea!

Cheers
Jay

 

[Oginme]

In the last year, I produced 180 lbs of spent grains. I recycle them through a machine which converts them into delicious milk...

 

[beernutz]

The 250 or so pounds I produce go into my composting bins but I think its high acidity runs off the red wigglers so all I end up with are white potworms. I have tried adding chalk to raise the pH but that so far has not helped.

 

[thunderwagn]

I've produced roughly 110 lbs of grains in 2016 so far. Most of my grains are fed to our chickens. Sometimes the goats when we feel like giving them a little treat. Spent grains are like cRacK to our animals!

 

[urg8rb8]

Roughly 50lbs went into the lake in the back. The fish eat it up very quickly.

 

[Pyg]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464609447.676999.jpg
Spent grain dog biscuits, only 4 ingredients.
Keeps me from having to buy them at the store!
What I don't use I compost.
I would be lucky to generate 30# a year

 

[jcav]

I give the grains to my chickens. It's funny they know now what's in the bucket. When they see me coming with it through the screen door in the barn, they pace back and forth until I open the door. They usually get several 5 gallons buckets full per batch, depending on the recipe (I make 11 gallon batches). Yesterday they got 3 buckets and they went crazy!

John

 

[fun4stuff]

Makes excellent compost.

 

[IslandLizard]

I generate about 150-200# a year. When we have time, we take it to a small local farm the next day, feeding it to the goats and a pot belly pig. If it's over 2 days old and gets smelly it goes into compost pile. But it creates a swarm of hundreds of little flying insects, I hate that. You can also smell it for a few days.

I save some in the fridge for bread, and use about 65-75% of spent grains in it. Pretty good and yummy!

Now when there are rice hulls mixed in I would not deem it consumable for anyone, not even the animals, so it gets composted. Those hulls are like little razor blades.

 

[TurnipGreen]

me too. my grill ashes go in the holes too. dog is kicking my ass.

Ha!!! I like to drop a fresh dog turd I the bottom of holes our lab digs. That way if he tried to dig there again he gets a snout full of poo. I don't know if that just makes him dig elsewhere or what. But I like messing with them.

Both our dogs are good boys. Me and my kids will be making them bannana-peanut butter dog treats out of spend grains this morning.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

How much? IDK. I bake spent grain bread and give the rest to family for their chickens and they sometimes make dog treats (no hops of course)!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Across the street from my house is the back of a very large cemetery. I dump it right over the fence.

Seriously? No wonder your borough is plagued with wild turkeys there!

 

[GABrewer1426]

How do you cool the grains?
I have access to a couple cows in my vicinity. And would love to dump the spent grains over the fence, but as it's 160F+/- isn't that harmful? Shouldn't I wait for them to cool down?
The cow caretaker has been hesitant on receiving the grain, so I want to do everything possible to mitigate any possible concerns.

Otherwise it gets dumped in a ditch on the property.
I do have a neighbor with chickens, so I would be happy to give/trade away.

 

[NatureOfTheYeast]

225.77 lbs so far this year, all scattered into the front yard.

Not sure if it's due to the grains, but I haven't had to apply fertilizer at all this year. The yard greened up early while everyone's was still yellow and is thicker and fuller than my immediate neighbors.

It's a little bit ghetto, but it works for me. Leads to some funny questions and conversations on brew day, and dogs/cats like to eat the grains that overshoot the lawn and hit the driveway or sidewalk.

 

[muels]

I dump them on our food plot for the deer. The deer love it, but in the end I get the best part of that deal.