Minimum waste brewing

[dcp27]

so i recently found out about re-using spent grain in baking, as compost, or stock feed. I just ordered a few hop rhizomes so I plan on starting to make some compost with my spent grains to feed those and I convinced SWMBO to use some of the spent grains in making beer bread, cookies, and dog treats. I already reuse my bottles and will be starting to wash my yeast as well. so eventually I'll have a mostly recyclable process.

However, unless I get a bigger yard, eat nothing but beer bread and cookies, and feed all the neighborhoods pets, this only works for like bimonthly brewing. I'm in the city so theres no local farms to donate extra grains to. Any other uses for spent grain? What about spent yeast since I'd run out of room for that eventually too?

 

[withak]

Look into your water usage too. Using water just once for rinsing/sanitizing/cooling is probably the most wasteful thing you do.

 

[phatuna]

start a community garden http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/child/com/commun.htm
You can be in charge of composting.

Or, find an elementary school near you that has a garden, they typically also have a compost bin that you can donate to.

 

[dcp27]

Look into your water usage too. Using water just once for rinsing/sanitizing/cooling is probably the most wasteful thing you do.

If recirculation chillers weren't so expensive I'd use one of those to hook up to my immersion chiller and remove all the cooling water waste.

start a community garden http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/child/com/commun.htm
You can be in charge of composting.

Or, find an elementary school near you that has a garden, they typically also have a compost bin that you can donate to.

hmm, there is a few parks and a school nearby. actually, tufts university is right down the street, maybe they could use it

 

[phatuna]

If recirculation chillers weren't so expensive I'd use one of those to hook up to my immersion chiller and remove all the cooling water waste.

Think about getting a water pump. The kind that pumps water to a fountain. You can find them at Lowes or whatever.

(this works for those of us who live in warmer climates w/ warm tap water) Use your garden hose to get your wort to about 110F w/ your IC. Then fill a cooler w/ water and ice, put the pump into the cooler and affix your inflow hose to the pump. Pump iced water through your IC to cool faster.

Collect all outflow (hot) water into a trash can. Once your brew day is complete, use your aquarium pump to pump the hot water into your washing machine.

Also, there is a growing community of folks who no longer bother cooling their wort using an IC. They just syphon the hot wort into their primary and leave it in a cool place for a day. When the wort has cooled to pitching temps, they pitch.

 

[hoppymonkey]

Did a no chill yesterday and pitched yeast this morning. That will be the 8th batch no chill with no issues related to chilling.

 

[ezboarderz]

Did a no chill yesterday and pitched yeast this morning. That will be the 8th batch no chill with no issues related to chilling.

interesting. do you use glass carboys?

I would want to try this but im afraid that I would crack my carboys with the hot wort

 

[dcp27]

Also, there is a growing community of folks who no longer bother cooling their wort using an IC. They just syphon the hot wort into their primary and leave it in a cool place for a day. When the wort has cooled to pitching temps, they pitch.

Ya, I've heard about no chill, I just don't get the point in it if you have an IC.

 

[bja]

interesting. do you use glass carboys?

I would want to try this but im afraid that I would crack my carboys with the hot wort

Don't try it, they will break.

 

[Edcculus]

interesting. do you use glass carboys?

I would want to try this but im afraid that I would crack my carboys with the hot wort

NO! absolutely not!!!

People are buying the Winpacks from US Plastics. You can transfer hot wort into the container, which will heat sanitize it.


As far as not wasting water, go buy a cheap submersible pump. You can get really cheap ones at Harbor Freight. I get my temp below ~120 using tap water, then switch to the submersible pump to recirculate ice water.

 

[hal2814]

Ya, I've heard about no chill, I just don't get the point in it if you have an IC.

My primary motivation to using no chill is laziness. But right behind that is that I hate using all that water just to cool the wort. I have an IC and it's been sitting unused in my basement since 2004 or so. Even if I got a recirculating pump, I'd be blowing through at least 5 gallons per batch of cooling water/ice. I try to keep my water usage to a minimum when cleaning and sanitizing my equipment and I just can't justify doing all of that and then using so much water just to cool off the wort.

 

[dcp27]

ok, i assumed it was a waste/laziness thing, but wasn't sure if there was something I was over looking.

 

[EricCSU]

I try to time laundry with brewday and use the water to fill the washer. I have 10 homer buckets to keep the water in so I collect it all. I was gonna dothe laundry anyway, so no water wasted

Eric

 

[hoppymonkey]

No carboy. I personally pour it into an Ale pail and the next morning siphon into a carboy and pitch the yeast.

 

[MonkeyWrench]

+1 on finding a local school or organization that composts. We have lots of hippies up here, finding a place to compost is not an issue for me.

For water, I run my IC water into 2 Culligan bottles and use it for cleanup or save it for the next brew.

Also, since you probably get a decent amount of rain in spring and fall, have you considered collecting rain water from your downspout in a 55g drum and use that for chilling?

 

[KingBrianI]

You really don't need a huge yard to be able to compost all your grains. They seriously decompose to less than half their original volume in a couple weeks. If you have a compost bin, that would work great, otherwise, just dumping them into flowerbeds, veggy gardens or whatever works too. They really don't go very far and will mix in quickly. Just be careful it doesn't clump together too much wherever you put it, because if the inside of the clump goes anaerobic, your yard will take on a particularly vile aroma.

 

[dcp27]

You really don't need a huge yard to be able to compost all your grains. They seriously decompose to less than half their original volume in a couple weeks. If you have a compost bin, that would work great, otherwise, just dumping them into flowerbeds, veggy gardens or whatever works too. They really don't go very far and will mix in quickly. Just be careful it doesn't clump together too much wherever you put it, because if the inside of the clump goes anaerobic, your yard will take on a particularly vile aroma.

i know it doesn't need to be huge, but im talking like 10'x10' here. if I got lazy, can I just use the spent grain as mulch instead of composting it?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

so i recently found out about re-using spent grain in baking, as compost, or stock feed. I just ordered a few hop rhizomes so I plan on starting to make some compost with my spent grains to feed those and I convinced SWMBO to use some of the spent grains in making beer bread, cookies, and dog treats. I already reuse my bottles and will be starting to wash my yeast as well. so eventually I'll have a mostly recyclable process.

However, unless I get a bigger yard, eat nothing but beer bread and cookies, and feed all the neighborhoods pets, this only works for like bimonthly brewing. I'm in the city so theres no local farms to donate extra grains to. Any other uses for spent grain? What about spent yeast since I'd run out of room for that eventually too?

I live in city and keep two 5x5x6 foot compost piles going throughout the year. All my draff, hops, and yeast goes into compost to feed the hop yard and the rest of my gardens.

I work the heaps through the year and top dress everything in the spring. It goes fast. You can also use the draff as a mulch but, I find it crusts too easily as a top dressing to the gardens.

 

[dcp27]

I live in city and keep two 5x5x6 foot compost piles going throughout the year. All my draff, hops, and yeast goes into compost to feed the hop yard and the rest of my gardens.

I work the heaps through the year and top dress everything in the spring. It goes fast. You can also use the draff as a mulch but, I find it crusts too easily as a top dressing to the gardens.

ok, maybe I've just been overestimating my grains/underestimating my yard. what about in the winter when there's no longer a need for compost?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

ok, maybe I've just been overestimating my grains/underestimating my yard. what about in the winter when there's no longer a need for compost?

You just let it sit. My compost still works in the very center of the pile throughout winter. In fact, the heat generated inside the compost usually keeps the snow from accumulating on the mound.

There are two ways to keep a compost heap. A slow method and a fast method.

the fast method will produce usuable compost within a few months but requires frequent attention to moisture and turning to aerate.

the slow method consist of layering and can take 6 months to a year to fully decompose the heap depending on the composition of the heap.

I do a bit of both. I turn my piles from one side to the other to mix them continuously throughout the spring and summer months. In winter I do nothing but add to a selected pile (kitchen wastes). I also include layers of twigs which are a PITA to remove when it comes time to spread out the compost but, they also create pockets within the heaps to improve aeration and give the insect colonies homes to nestle in.

 

[wetherel]

I do worm composting. Mine (~5 sq ft) eat through about ~4 lbs of spent grain/week during warm weather. They will eat any plant based products: newspaper, coffee grinds, etc. Some people even worm compost inside their house.