What do you do with your spent grains?

[MaddBaggins]

I feed them to my chickens. They can devour 15# spent grain pretty quick. I pour in to a pile and they scratch it out and pick thru it.

 

[wapitiscat]

I dump mine in the yard for the deer. Sometimes my dogs go out and eat them.

That must suck for the deer. Wait ... what?

 

[rxpx40]

Yep, Central Texas deer are small. Plus, it keeps them from getting hit by cars. Seriously- my dogs are miniature schnauzers. *sometimes my dogs go out and eat the grains, instead of the deer.*

 

[MaddBaggins]

The last flock of chickens had finally stopped laying so they're all in the freezer now. The new flock is getting their first taste of brew grains today.
They're about 3 months old right now.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418496042.456108.jpg

 

[buzzerj]

What are you guys talking about. I eat my spent grain! It's delicious! My wife is extremely resourceful.

Spent Grain Granola (low fat version)
158 calories per 1/2 cup
Tasty and chewy

3 cups of spent grain from brewing beer (i.e., used malted barley)
2 cups of dry oatmeal (not quick cooking kind, just regular oats)
1/2 cup of wheat germ
1 oz. chopped walnuts
1 1/2 oz. sliced almonds
1/2 cup sucanat
2/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of applesauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
salt to taste
1/2 cup raisins
24 dried apricots (cut into small pieces)

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.
2) Mix the following: (spent grain, dry oatmeal, wheat germ, chopped walnuts, sliced almonds)
3) In a sauce pan, heat the sucanat, honey, vanilla extract, applesauce, olive oil, molasses until it's all well combined and the sucanat is melted.
4) Add the sugar mixture from step 3 to the dry ingedients.
5) Spread into a thin layer onto two large cookie sheets.
6) Apply a sprinkle of salt over the ingredients on the cookie sheets.
7) Place coookie sheets on racks in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
8) Remove the cookie sheets and stir the granola on the sheets.
9) Place back in oven on reversed oven racks (the sheet that was on the bottom rack place on the top rack).
10) Bake for another 20 minutes.
11) Remove the cookie sheets and stir the granola on the cookie sheets again as in step 8.
12) Place back in oven on reversed oven racks and bake for another 10 minutes (for a total baking time of 50 minutes) Note: if you want the granola more crunchy bake longer.
13) Remove sheets from oven and cool to room temperature.
14) In bowl, mix granola with raisin and apricots (or any other fruit of your choosing).
15) Store the granola in an airtight container.

Add other fruits and nuts that you might like. Can be made crunchy by baking it longer but I like it chewy. Try it!

 

[uncleleon]

+1 chickens
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418497431.573895.jpg

They know and love that cooler mash tun! 😁

 

[astrolic]

The last flock of chickens had finally stopped laying so they're all in the freezer now. The new flock is getting their first taste of brew grains today.
They're about 3 months old right now.

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Curious...what do you mean by 'in the freezer now?'

Do you kill your chickens and freeze them once they stop laying eggs and get a new batch? I ask because I intend on getting chickens one day.

 

[Blueflint]

Local brewery puts theirs in a dump type trailer and the day of brewing the spent grains are hauled 2 counties away to a farm and used as cattle feed, still protein in the spent grains. No more than I use, mine are dumped in the garden. Ever wonder where the big breweries dispose of theirs? Look at ingredient labels on both livestock feed labels and dog food labels, listed as "brewers dried grain". There are companies that haul grains off and dry them, they are then packed and shipped (usually by rail car) to the end user.

Tony

 

[MaddBaggins]

Curious...what do you mean by 'in the freezer now?'

Do you kill your chickens and freeze them once they stop laying eggs and get a new batch? I ask because I intend on getting chickens one day.

Eggsactly.

They aren't as large (3 to 3-1/2#) and tender as store bought, but at least I know what they ate and how they lived. I just brine them overnight and grill them usually. My wife and I just processed 8 of them a couple weeks ago.

 

[bford]

They are fine to just spread out in the grass.... I generally dump them around the base of my trees....

I've made dog biscuits before... but sometimes I don't have time or it is more work than I want to do.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Turn them into big brown eggs with the help of the feathered disposals.

 

[troy2000]

I've done my best to give mine away to people with kids who are raising 4H animals, and no one will take them. I guess people figure if it doesn't come in a sack from a feed store, it can't be trusted....

The usual excuse is, "well, we don't want to mess with their normal feeding routine; it might upset their digestion."

No one feels that way about my beer, though; they line up for a shot at it.

 

[Rusty2089]

Then end up somewhere in the yard... maybe under a tree... maybe up against the fence.

Unfortunately they've never grown into a beer tree.

 

[hopkincr]

I use mine and make energy bars. Mix with equal parts oats and add craisins, nuts, chocolate and then PB, honey and butter as the binder. Really good and the different grains make for interesting tastes.

 

[Simps]

Dog Treats! Really simple recipe:

2C Flour
1C Spent Grain
2 L eggs
1C pumpkin or peanut butter

Bake em at 325 for 30 min, then down to 225 for about an hour to dry out completely

Thanks for this recipe. We made them for our dachshund and he loves them...although he recently ate a couple of his own turds so I can't really rely on his palate.

 

[drainbamage]

I make dog treats as well.

I may have tried a couple myself...

 

[mcartt11]

For those of you that are making bread, are you drying the grains, milling it to flour and then using the flour mixed with other flours or are you using the wet grain like you would other whole grains in a bread recipe?

 

[Brettomomyces]

I make dog treats as well.

I may have tried a couple myself...

I think next time im going to split the batch and put some salt and brown sugar for the people batch

 

[Brettomomyces]

For those of you that are making bread, are you drying the grains, milling it to flour and then using the flour mixed with other flours or are you using the wet grain like you would other whole grains in a bread recipe?

I just use them whole and wet, I would start with 4 parts flour 1 part spent grain, and reduce the water you would add by maybe 1/2 to 1/3c, YMMV. You have to resist the urge to use much more than that, there's so much extra fiber that it can upset your stomach if you go a little too heavy.

 

[unionrdr]

When I mix spent grains & flour for biscuits, pizza crust, rolls & the like, I dry them in the oven for storage. I then grind what I need into flour in my Mr Coffee burr grinder on the finest espresso setting.

 

[Gavin C]

Into the flower beds or around a tree in the yard. I'm not much of a baker and no dog for treats.

 

[trussell]

Spread them on planting beds. I got a 100' x 10' ground cover bed at the back is where most of it goes. What the animals, birds and insects don't eat seems to break down over time.

 

[Tinpanharry]

I give them to a relative to feed chickens.

 

[Matt3424]

I used to live in a neighborhood with a pond. So, I would just feed it to the ducks that lived there.

 

[DrummoRC]

I have made dog treats but I do all grain and can only make so many Biscuits for the boys! I compost most of the grain.

They are really good for Blueberry and Azalea bushes both like acidic soil which make spent grain a great mulch for them but would not use it directly on anything else.

 

[brewcat]

I should try the granola recipe and make some flour. That sounds like a good use for them. I'll also compost with them.

 

[unionrdr]

Dry them in a 200F oven, turning every 30 minutes until dry & fluffy. Cool, then store in 1 gallon zip lock freezer bags. I label'em for what beer they were used for.
i have a Mr Coffee burr grinder I use on the finest espresso setting to get a nice flour out of them. This site has a lot of recipes for spent grains/flour; http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/category/spentgrainchef/

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Here (Tucson), it's quail. Pitch the grains over the wall (no one behind me), usually the quail are there the next day. Grains gone in three days.

Kangaroos and possums eat most of mine. Last batch went sour though, then the dog rolled in it.

 

[bobeer]

Dry them in a 200F oven, turning every 30 minutes until dry & fluffy. Cool, then store in 1 gallon zip lock freezer bags. I label'em for what beer they were used for.
i have a Mr Coffee burr grinder I use on the finest espresso setting to get a nice flour out of them. This site has a lot of recipes for spent grains/flour; http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/category/spentgrainchef/

I usually just make dog treats for my lab and my friends dogs. They're quick and easy. However, this brooklybrewshop site has awesome recipes for pretty much anything. Once you make flour out of the grain you can make anything from scratch pretty much. Great site!
I'm assuming I can use my mill on a fine setting to make flour? I have a coffee grinder but I'd rather not crush lb's and lb's of grain at a time in it.

 

[CUrchin]

Most often compost, sometimes I make spent grain bread. Occasionally dog biscuits.

I don't really care much to spend the time to dry them which is why they usually get composted.