What do you do with your spent grains?

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theowlman16

theowlman16

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I just did my first all grain last week, and tossed my spent grains in the woods - assuming the squirrels, raccoons, and other woodland creatures might like a warm meal. What do you guys do with yours? Can it be fed to dogs? Tossed in the vegetable garden? (I searched for a previous thread about this but didn't see one).
 
I've made dog treats, mixed it in pizza dough, even did up a bit of flour (makes a nice addition to a regular loaf of bread). There are lots of other uses - I gather that a lot of commercial breweries send theirs to farms as feed for pigs. I generally compost mine, because I'm usually pressed for time when it comes to brew days.
 
Dogs love it; just don't give them anything with hops in it.

I make dog biscuits with some of mine, dump some in the worm bin (if I give the worms too much, it sours and stinks to high heaven), and the rest goes on the compost pile. You can also add some to homemade bread if it doesn't have rice hulls added (I suppose you could put it in bread even if it does have rice hulls :p
 
I put it in the composter. Once I thought it would be great to use as mulch, but that was a big mistake. There are still a reasonable amount of sugars left in the spent grains, so shortly after mulching the garden with the grains, I had a mass of assorted flying insects swarming the area.
Flies, wasps, yellow jackets. IT was not a good thing. So now I just put them in the compost bin and give it a tumble.
 
We started making dog treats recently, but if you give the dogs too much, you'll know from their poop. They won't come anywhere near going through all or even most of it.

if you have neighbors that have chickens, they might appreciate the grains. I started giving mine to the neighbors a month or so ago and it's working out well so far.
 
Horse treats. My wife is coach for the high school equestrian team so spent grains can go fast unless I make many brews. I'll soon have my 1 BBL working so we'll see how that works. I'm betting we'll see some tipsy horses.
 
I have a dozen quarter cup tupperwares that I fill with spent grain and keep in the freezer for when I make bread. I dump the rest around my orange tree. It works like a mulch, reducing weeds and holding in moisture, but I wouldn't recommend using it like that in a wet climate or close to the house.

Lots of people use it as an ingredient for dog snacks. There are recipes all over the place here.

It is great in compost, but I wouldn't dump it straight into my garden unless I spread it pretty thin. Some people report good success broadcasting it across their lawn but it can get slimy/moldy if it is too thick. I am planning on redoing one of my raised planters and will probably mix a few buckets of spent grain in with the soil to help with moisture retention.
 
My wife tried to make some cookies with them when I first started brewing...would attest that, while edible, they were more suited as dog treats :)

I just toss them now.
 
Mine go in the compost. If you dump them somewhere on your property, make sure it's either downwind, or far enough away from your living quarters. Once they start to decompose, the smell is pretty awful.
 
I sprinkle mine over various places where I plant veggies. It's winter here and I've seen many rabbits coming over and chowing down.

I also give them to my buddy who gives them to one of his two buddies who have chickens.

Seems like we have a lot of spent grain lately.
 
I really hated throwing pounds of grain away in the garbage can. I put a post on craigslist about free grains and someone who lives near me and owns chickens responded. I just let them know the day before brew day and they come by and get them.
 
kombat said:
Mine go in the compost. If you dump them somewhere on your property, make sure it's either downwind, or far enough away from your living quarters. Once they start to decompose, the smell is pretty awful.
Click to expand...

This. I used to compost spent grains. Not anymore.

In the summer I give mine to a pig farmer. In the winter I throw them out.
 
I compost mine and never really noticed a overly strong smell, at least nothing worse than whatever else ends up in the composter. We compost just about everything that can be composted, so i dont know if that helps or maybe because i turn it every so often?
 
  • Dog Treats (mix with peanut butter and some flour and bake at 200 for 2 hours)
  • Add straight to dog food - the bulk is actually good for their digestive system, especially if they tend to have anal gland issues like my pitbull (if they are dragging their butt it's probably because their glands aren't expressing properly and are causing irritation) the added bulk helps force the glands to work properly
  • veggie burgers - my GF is a vegetarian, so I make her veggie burgers with spent grains, black beans, onion, etc.
  • Give them to a friend who has chickens in exchange for eggs
  • compost pile
  • I'd like to get a good spent grain pizza crust recipe

My dogs (a pitbull and a Shih Tzu) both LOVE the grains. I keep them in the fridge for up to a week and just spoon some into their food (a couple heaping tablespoons for the big dog, one for the little dog.
 
I place them in a plastic grocery bag to make a meatloaf size chunk, then freeze. I trade 2 loafs for a dozen eggs.

If short on time, I dump into the compost bin.
 
ButteryJones said:
Do you have to dry them or anything? I don't currently have chickens but maybe someday...
Click to expand...

No, I just empty the mash tun into five gallon buckets and then dump the grains on the ground in the barn where I keep them. The chickens go nuts when they see me coming with the buckets as they know by now what is inside. They are pigs, and eat them all by the next day! The fresh eggs are the best!

John
 
Dog treats.

After my last brew day I dumped the grain from my BIAB into a homer bucket and once they cooled I made a large batch right in the bucket. I made it into balls slightly larger than a softball, vacuum sealed each "ball" and froze. Now when I want to make treats I just thaw, roll into sheets, use a (bone shaped) cookie cutter and bake. Very easy!

I want to say I got about 10 servings, or "balls" from the grain. We have a lot of dogs so they don't last long!
 
Sillybilly said:
I compost mine and never really noticed a overly strong smell, at least nothing worse than whatever else ends up in the composter. We compost just about everything that can be composted, so i dont know if that helps or maybe because i turn it every so often?
Click to expand...

I didn't start noticing the smell until the pile got pretty large. With the volume of beer I make, I was adding grain to the pile faster than it could decompose. It got to the point where guests at a BBQ or around the fire pit would ask what smells like vomit. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I don't know.
 
Cavpilot2000 said:
  • Dog Treats (mix with peanut butter and some flour and bake at 200 for 2 hours)
  • Add straight to dog food - the bulk is actually good for their digestive system, especially if they tend to have anal gland issues like my pitbull (if they are dragging their butt it's probably because their glands aren't expressing properly and are causing irritation) the added bulk helps force the glands to work properly
  • veggie burgers - my GF is a vegetarian, so I make her veggie burgers with spent grains, black beans, onion, etc.
  • Give them to a friend who has chickens in exchange for eggs
  • compost pile
  • I'd like to get a good spent grain pizza crust recipe

My dogs (a pitbull and a Shih Tzu) both LOVE the grains. I keep them in the fridge for up to a week and just spoon some into their food (a couple heaping tablespoons for the big dog, one for the little dog.
Click to expand...

I wonder if there is any nutritional value left, or if it is just bulk/fiber?
 
Cavpilot2000 said:
  • I'd like to get a good spent grain pizza crust recipe
Click to expand...

Here you go.
http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/recipe-spent-grain-pizza-dough/

Just made this again yesterday. I make a 14" round with it though. Put it on parchment paper and use an airbake pan as a peel and it fits right on my stone.

I've also made a whole bunch of these, gotten through the first rise, then frozen them.
Want to make pizza some night? Pop one in the fridge in the morning. Want to make pizza in an hour or two? Put it on the counter.


Otherwise, compost.
Have never had an issue with smell if I mix it up.
 
Friend's chickens think this stuff is crack! He says they follow him around as soon as they -"smell?" it! He's not even sure how they know but says they don't go crazy for their regular mash...
 
Tiber_Brew said:
I didn't start noticing the smell until the pile got pretty large. With the volume of beer I make, I was adding grain to the pile faster than it could decompose. It got to the point where guests at a BBQ or around the fire pit would ask what smells like vomit. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Just curious, do you just have a spot you pile it up or is it in a compost bin? Also, is it mixed with other stuff or just grains.

For me, (with very limited researched to back up my process), I compost in black 60 gallon plastic bin, along with food scraps, some yard scraps, cardboard, sometimes add soil and use a shovel to "stir" it... ill say weekly but more like whatever i get around to it. I am just bored and curious as to how others do it.
 
Dump in the woods,Be carefull with the dog. My dog eats so much grain she pukes..in the house. Now I kick leaves over the top to stop her from eating it
 
I also dump in the woods behind me. nothing has even attempted to eat them??

deer tracks in them, that's about it.
 
JONNYROTTEN said:
Dump in the woods,Be carefull with the dog. My dog eats so much grain she pukes..in the house. Now I kick leaves over the top to stop her from eating it
Click to expand...

I'm sure mine would if I gave her that much. Then again, she is a bottomless pit for food, so I have to restrict her intake on all food or she would overeat EVERYTHING.
 
Made dog biscuits again yesterday. A small percentage of total grain, but the dogs seem to like it. Just need to find a recipe that binds well. The past few batches have not stuck together properly. They tend to flake apart. maybe needs to cook lower and slower and longer.
 
The deer love them. I've seen 4 of them share a 14 lb pile and other times I've watched them fight over it. Its hilarious to see them headbutting and kicking each other. They don't care what kind of grain either. Stout or pale ale grains, doesn't matter which.
 

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