What to do with the grains after brewing?

[rod]

just a note dOGHAIR - this thread is from last january - you may not get an answer

 

[EdWort]

I spread mine over some rocks in the front yard.

Here's what happened the first time.

Here's what happened the next time. I guess they emailed each other.

My spent grains don't last overnight.

 

[dOGHAIR]

1111111111

 

[wild]

How long do they live?

7-8 years.

Can they coexist with cats?

Yes. I raised a Siamese ferret with a Siamese cat. The cat grew up thinking he was a ferret and both were the best of buds.

Do they have to be contained or is it possible to have them come and go like a dog would?

Ferrets can be house trained with litter boxes but they'll need more than one. When they gotta go, they gotta go. Do not give them access to the outdoors unless you are certain that they cannot get out of the yard.
Be sure to check out your local laws because some states do not allow ferrets. Be sure to spay or neuter your pet. The female will die if not spayed or bread.

Good luck,
Wild

 

[Evan!]

hey ed...I'm going to pick up my seasonal license tonight...mind if I camp out on your porch? Good god...I could fill up my freezer 4 times over. Seen any bucks?

 

[uwmgdman]

so everyone has said I'm going to make the spent grain bread..........has anyone actually done it and how did it taste?

 

[dOGHAIR]

1111111111

 

[Onescalerguy]

SWMBO made the dog biscuits from the recipe posted above.She used some garlic,venison bits and fine chopped mushrooms(leftovers,scraps).Those things are good!For people I mean!Tasted like seasoned rye-crisp.We froze a dozen bags of the stuff so we'll try some other things too.Poor Pearly(our golden retriever),now she has to share her treats with me .
Cheers

 

[EdWort]

hey ed...I'm going to pick up my seasonal license tonight...mind if I camp out on your porch? Good god...I could fill up my freezer 4 times over. Seen any bucks?

Sounds good to me, but SWMBO is a mean shot with my XD-9, so you would have to be stealthy. :cross: She's a Bambi lover.

I almost hit a 10 pointer on the way to work today. If you look close up at the top of the second pic, you can see a young buck.

 

[dougjones31]

I cannot believe nobody reuses their grains.

At 70-75% efficiency, you do not convert all the starches to sugar. There is still 25%-30% starch left in the grain. I re-mash the grain( might as well since everything is already dirty) and save the wort and freeze it in gallon jugs. Then I save up 10 or 15 gallons and boil it down to 5 and end up with a ful strength wort to make a batch of darker beer so that I add fresh specialty grains and make up for the reduced flavor in the seconds.

Waste not....want not.

 

[Beermaker]

I usually just dump them in the rose beds. Then mix them in in a few weeks. Farm animals love them. If you know a farmer, ask him if he wants them. I usually brew 10-15 gallons 2x a month, so i need to get rid of mine to farmers.

 

[gonzoflick]

If my dog hasnt eaten for the night I feed a bowl to her. She loves them....english bulldogs are amazing BTW.

 

[dOGHAIR]

11111111111

 

[the_bird]

I cannot believe nobody reuses their grains.

At 70-75% efficiency, you do not convert all the starches to sugar. There is still 25%-30% starch left in the grain. I re-mash the grain( might as well since everything is already dirty) and save the wort and freeze it in gallon jugs. Then I save up 10 or 15 gallons and boil it down to 5 and end up with a ful strength wort to make a batch of darker beer so that I add fresh specialty grains and make up for the reduced flavor in the seconds.

Waste not....want not.

Just seems like you'd spend as much in propane to boil 15 gallons down to 5 as you'd save by not buying fresh grain for the batch. Net-net, I'm wondering how big the savings actually are.

 

[Genghis77]

Brewing grains should be good to feed dogs and wildlife. Hops, however are toxic to dogs and should be kept away from them. My experience is that dogs don't like hops though. I had a 15 year old collie that was arthritic. I used to give him a beer from time to time and he would become energetic and playful. He died at age 18.

:I have a silver fox that feeds on my spent grains. Other than that, the blue jays like it.

I've made some pretty good breads from spent brewing grains.

 

[dougjones31]

Just seems like you'd spend as much in propane to boil 15 gallons down to 5 as you'd save by not buying fresh grain for the batch. Net-net, I'm wondering how big the savings actually are.

I use wood to boil that. Just to be a penny pincher....and use up the stack of wood that friends keep bringing me. The wood costs me nothing(not even time and effort since it is given to me)....and this time of year, a fire is wonderful to sit around while you drink a few beers and shoot the **** with friends.

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

I will tell you what is not delicious... a "beer breakfast".

I did an early-morning brew of my sweet potato ale, and was left with the used-up grains: some specialty grains, 6-row, and the sweet potato pieces.

I heated them up again in the micro, tried to eat them: Bad Idea. Gross.

I added some Malt Extract to try to sweeten it: Bad Idea. Grosser.

I added some Brown Sugar to mask the taste of everything else:... Not Too Bad an Idea. Still Gross... But Palatable.

It sure cleaned my insides out, as you might imagine. Just a touch of fiber in there...