What do you do with your spent grain

[Jeremy_84]

I was wondering what everyone does with there spent beer grain. I personally just toss mine out in the back yard and watch the local wildlife feast on it or put it in my compost. Recently I've started thinking of other ideas to get a second use of it. I was thinking of making a mold and pressing the grain with some junk mail to make a fire log out of it.

 

[Yoseff]

Most of mine goes into the compost pile, but I'll usually keep a couple cups and throw it in a low oven to dry it out, then use it to make bread.

 

[msbrewblog]

Compost pile and occasionally just dump in the back yard for the critters.

 

[HomeDrewBrew]

Compost pile and backyard chickens pick threw it!

 

[kh54s10]

I put some under the bird feeder. No animals at all would touch it. Not even squirrels. I have never seen any wildlife in the compost pile either.

 

[seagondollar]

Post it on craigslist in exchange for eggs. Within 12 hours my phone rings off the hook.

 

[Remmy]

Right into the woods.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

Compost pile. Its pretty amazing how fast a good healthy compost can chow through spent grains.

 

[dscott]

Our chickens and ducks love spent grain... Our oldest St. Bernard will also eat it if I turn my back.

 

[smokinop]

compost pile

 

[JonM]

it now gets double bagged in garbage bags, each of which is tied shut, and into the garbage can it goes. ( I double bag it because a single bag leaked one summer day, which caused a stinky mess in the garbage can, and a nasty smell in the alley.)

 

[Roadliner]

My wife makes dog treats out of some of it, but I really like this trade for eggs idea. I'm going to have to try that some time.

 

[eadavis80]

My brew buddy's wife made dog treats and chocolate chip cookies for us. The cookies were decent, but high in fiber, if you know what I mean.

 

[coug51]

I "trade" for eggs also. I dump it in the chicken run. They chow through it in a day or two, and egg production nearly doubles for a few days!

 

[Chadwick]

My father-in-law has chickens. I will save some for him and see how egg production is influenced.

 

[Mongster]

Found these recipes at Brooklyn Brewshop:
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/9-spent-grain-cookie-recipes/
Looking pretty tasty..

 

[Psylocide]

Corner of the garden. Winter stuff will get tilled under, spring/summer/fall stuff will pile up in the corner until I till in the fall.

Trading for eggs would be cool though, might have to try that out.

 

[jason1973]

no clue i leave in bag in a bucket on kitchen floor, when ever wife walks past it vanishes

 

[Thanks_Yeasties]

Give some to the neighbors for their chickens.
Make dog biscuits with some.
Dry it out in the oven for bread.
Dry it out in the oven then mill it with a flour mill, spent grain flour in pizza dough is delicious!

 

[Jeremy_84]

The egg thing sounds great and I might have to try the pizza idea as well.

 

[RhodySeth]

I usually just compost it.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Never notice any difference in production numbers because most of our hens lay an egg a day. I do notice that the high dollar feed lasts longer. Ten gallons a week gives an average of 20 lbs of extra feed. Just shy of a half sack or about 10 ot 12 dollars. We have 11 hens and a rooster and they do like the water softened grain.

 

[jpb2716]

I make dog treats out of it. My dog loves them.

 

[Blue_State]

Compost pile. Nothing new to the thread here.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I take a bag of it down to the park and throw handfuls of it at people as they ride by on their bicycles.

I make the rest of it into dog biscuits. Then take the biscuits to the park and throw them at people walking their dogs.

 

[TrickyDick]

22# of spent grain drying in an oven sounds like no fun.
I give my grains to local pig farmers when possible, otherwise double bag and into a homer bucket until trash night. I also have a friend who has a compost pile I'll sometimes donate.
I have to drive it out to the pigs. Need to find a closer solution, as that's an hour long round trip drive and two gallons of gasoline....

TD

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

22# of spent grain drying in an oven sounds like no fun.
I give my grains to local pig farmers when possible, otherwise double bag and into a homer bucket until trash night. I also have a friend who has a compost pile I'll sometimes donate.
I have to drive it out to the pigs. Need to find a closer solution, as that's an hour long round trip drive and two gallons of gasoline....

TD

Why dry? Feed them wet.

 

[TrickyDick]

Why dry? Feed them wet.

I don't dry at all - It's too much grain to try and wrangle. I put it into buckets from the mash tun if feeding to pigs, or bags inside buckets if going to trash.

 

[mcanty]

Tricky Dick,
Hmmm. I'd trade it for some pork...

 

[mb82]

Trash can at my apartment complex. I wonder what people think when they go to throw their trash away and there is a bit old steaming pile of spent grains in there.

 

[SnakeRidge]

I compost most of it, but in the summer a lot of it goes into neighbors' mailboxes along with the shrimp peels and fish heads. You should always do this on a Saturday night. Sometimes I feel bad for the mailperson, but not usually.

 

[Blue_State]

We are talking about after secondary right?

 

[Thanks_Yeasties]

The egg thing sounds great and I might have to try the pizza idea as well.

If you do make it into flour for pizza dough, never use more than 20% spent grain flour in any recipe. Makes a heavy, hard bread ball not fit for human consumption, so basically you spent a lot of extra time making a dog treat.

 

[Nomofett]

I just tried experimenting this last batch, just took some, mixed it up with a banana, and cooked it for a little while and got a pretty good granola style bar. Next time I'll probably mix some coconut or chocolate powder in but it was good how it was and really easy.
I'm also gonna try more experimentation; toss some in a food dehydrator then blend it to make flour and a whole new world opens up. Or just toss some in my granola in the morning. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425647671.048842.jpg

 

[msbrewblog]

Post it on craigslist in exchange for eggs. Within 12 hours my phone rings off the hook.

Very interesting. Might have to try that.

 

[burninator]

no clue i leave in bag in a bucket on kitchen floor, when ever wife walks past it vanishes

You keep that up, and one day you might get to see where it goes.

 

[BR_]

Teenager said this was a gross idea .. then said it was the best crust EVER!

Recipe makes a thin crust perfect for a 18X13 inch half-size sheet pan.



What You Need
•1 package active dry yeast for bread (sorry, not ale yeast)
•1/2 cup warm water (around 110 degrees F)
•1 1/2 cup flour
•3/4 cup spent grain, wet
•1 1/2 teaspoon salt
•olive oil


What You Do

1.In the bowl of a standing mixer, gently mix yeast into water just to combine. Let sit for five minutes and it should start to bubble.


2.Add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl and knead with a dough hook for 8-10 minutes. (Alternatively, you can use a regular medium sized bowl, simply mix the dough by hand in the bowl, and transfer it to a clean, floured work surface for kneading.)


3.Remove the dough from the bowl and add a small splash of olive oil to your bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl and turn to coat in olive oil.


4.Cover with a towel and let rest in a warm spot for 2 hours.


5.Punch down dough and let rise again for 30 minutes. In the meantime preheat your oven to 475 degrees F (or as high as it will go).


6.Remove dough from bowl and place it on to a half-sized sheet pan. Using your hands, manipulate the dough to stretch it evenly over the sheet pan surface. Then, finish with sauce, cheese, and other desired toppings.


7.Bake for 20 minutes, or until crust is evenly browned on the bottom. (Use a spatula to lift up edges of the dough to check.)

 

[fivepointslow]

Dog treats and the squirrels don't seem to mind it.

 

[brewbama]

I dump mine in the tree line for the deer. They're awfully cool to watch sitting on the deck drinking a home brew.

 

[TonyG]

Being that I normally brew at night and don't finish up until late, I usually just dump it into the kitchen trash can. If I am lucky, I will remember to take it out the next morning and if I don't, well my nose usually tells me about it around 2 days later when I get home from work.