Now this will be a really stupid beginner question

[Braumeise]

... can I feed the remains of my mash to my horse?

We do feed something called Mash to horses (it is basically crushed grains soaked in warm water) so since I am not adding hop or anything to the grain mash, whats left over after lautering shouldn't be so much different from what I buy from the tack shop, Except that all the good sugars are gone and he would get more like a fiber-kind of feed from it, right?

Thoughts or any experience with that? Horse owning friends anyone?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Well, the carbs are kind of used up, so not as nutritious I would guess. I know a local craft brew place that uses it for compost and people take it to mix into animal feed...

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Don't see why not. That's what commercial breweries do...sell it to farms for feed.

 

[Braumeise]

Cool... one more benefit from my new endeavour and hopefully a occasionally happy horse

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Here are some uses and including animal feed... Turns out it is fairly nutritious. :smack: http://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/sustainable-uses-of-spent-grain

 

[Braumeise]

OMG! my chicken and horse owing friends will love me even more than they already do

Thanks for the link!

 

[GQT]

Make sure you give it to the horse before it ferments... wild yeast might be flying around just waiting to make your horse high and happy

 

[theseeker4]

Make sure you give it to the horse before it ferments... wild yeast might be flying around just waiting to make your horse high and happy

Yeah, I have had a mass of mashed grain left outside a day or two, and the smell it produces is nauseating. I would only feed spent grains fresh, or dry it out somehow.

 

[Homercidal]

From what I understand, some animals can get more from it than we do because they can process the cellulose and other things that we cannot. That's why they eat a lot of grass and we don't.

 

[DevilNuts]

Both Stone andFort Collins breweries make dog treats out of spent grains.

 

[TheCADJockey]

That's why they eat a lot of grass and we don't.

Speak for yourself. I love a good Kentucky Bluegrass.
I also love making dog treats out of spent grains.
Its easy. Dogs love them. I love them.
When I brewed at my parents house, I dumped the spent grain in the yard.
It was gone in seconds as the chickens swarmed the pile.

 

[hunter_le five]

I also love making dog treats out of spent grains.
Its easy. Dogs love them. I love them.

I would make fun of you for eating dog treats, but I've seen some of those spent-grain doggie treat recipes. Some of them actually don't sound too bad.

I'm thinking about making some next brew day.

I don't even own a dog.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I don't even own a dog.

Which is sad.. I said I'd return your dog if you gave me $20 and a six pack.

The dog treats I made were just spent grain/egg/peanut butter. Better than a lot of store bought, wallet gouging granola.

 

[hunter_le five]

Which is sad.. I said I'd return your dog if you gave me $20 and a six pack.

I'd rather keep the six pack. That dog was an *******. Wouldn't even chip in towards rent.

 

[UndeadFred]

I used to make dog treats out of spent grains and peanut butter.. Dog loved them.

I then got chickens.. all I can say is that after doing research on it, what you leave behind is a pretty high protein feed...

My chickens get pi$$ed at me when I don't brew for awhile. It's chicken crack. I would say, even for horses as long as it's not a significant percentage of what you feed them (same for chickens) then.. yeah.. great treat for them.

Seeing that horses are more intelligent than chickens.. they will probably remind you to brew once in awhile too..

Fred

 

[Braumeise]

I'd rather keep the six pack. That dog was an *******. Wouldn't even chip in towards rent.

haha! This thread is going in a very nice direction!

I thought that I either dry the stuff in the oven on low temp or drive it to the barn right away to prevent it from going bad.

I'll let you know what my horse said

 

[msayler]

Yeah, I have had a mass of mashed grain left outside a day or two, and the smell it produces is nauseating. I would only feed spent grains fresh, or dry it out somehow.

I took all of the spent grain from my first brew and piled it on top of my compost heap. The center of the pile stayed very damp, and made an unbelievable stench.

Next time I do that, I'll spread it out in a thin layer to try to keep that from occurring. The heap is behind my shop, and I spent DAYS looking around inside for the dead animal until I figured out where it was actually coming from.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I know of a couple who had a few pigs and one of the local microbrewers gave them the spent grains - he doesn't have to pay to dispose of them and they get free pig food. And with how much pigs can eat it is easy to consume 50lb of grain before they start to funk.
I used to portion out spent grains in 4 cup portions and toss it in ziplocs and freeze it to make dog treats later. Too many hobbies and not enough time so the dog's been getting store bought lately, I actually pitched a bunch of bags recently because I knew I'd brew again before I had time to bake dog treats.

 

[UndeadFred]

My chickens like the mash even better after it sours a bit... Probiotics and all... But seeing that they are the closest living relatives to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.. No accounting for taste is there? Don't worry if the mash sours a little (or even a lot) it is good for livestock.. Probably even better than fresh...

 

[frydaddy81]

Why not? I've made dog treats out of mine and they love them.

 

[RobbyComstock]

I was going to give my spent grains to a friend that has chickens, but since all the grains were not organic they did not want it. We sometimes make dog treats from the spent grain.