Disposing of spent grains after the mash...

[lexuschris]

Hi all,

Just about to try my 1st all-grain batch, and was wondering what everyone does with the spent grain after the mash?

Having been extract brewer only, I would just toss any specialty grains into the trash still in their cheesecloth sack. Now, I imagine that 10-14 lbs of ground wet grain doesn't poor easily into a kitchen trash can, and it can't go down the garbage disposal... Do you just scoup it out by hand to throw in the trash, or do you poor it out in the gutter and impress your neighbors?


("Morning Clark! ... Mash-tun's full!")



Thoughts & suggestions are appreciated...
--LexusChris

[brahn]

I scoop it out into a big plastic trash bag and throw it in the dumpster at my condo complex. Some of the guys here compost it, I think. I don't have the space for that...

[backyard brewer]

I double bag it in lawn/garden bags and put it in the green waste can. 20-40 pounds of spent grain will smell like a corpse in about 3 days!! Made that mistake of not bagging it only once!

[bwarbiany]

Used to give it to the neighbor, whose aunt had livestock and could feed it to them. When I lived in Georgia it went into the compost pile.

Now it goes in the trash. Bagged in big trash bags, but it goes in the trash.

[jward]

Tippy dump right into the green bin. Spent hops go there too. It's all good if I keep the lid closed.

[dhempy]

I try to compost it.

Dan

[BrewMasterBrad]

I compost mine. Scooping is for sissies. I pick up the mash tun and dump it into my compost bin. If my compost bin is getting too full, I dump it in the green waste can.

[maltbarley]

I dump it straight in the dumpster. Anaheim Disposal can worry about what happens next.

[lexuschris]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Without any composting needs, I think I'll just bag it and put it in the outside trashcan. Good thing trash collection is Monday morning...

--LexusChris

[JonGoku]

Here's some more food for thought (pun intended). These are a couple recipes I have found online after a quick Google search for "spent grain".

Steve Morrisey’s Spent Grain Bread
When you make all grain beer save the grain. Use sandwich size zip lock bags.
Fill up 3 or 4 bags. Then freeze them until you bake bread.

2 cups Spent Grain (put the grain in a coffee grinder or food processor and grind them up)
4 cups Bread Flour
1 cup Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup of Sugar
1/2 Stick of Butter
1 Egg (Beaten)
2 cup of Warm Water
1 TBS. of Olive Oil
1/2 cup of warm water & 2 1/4 tsp. Bread yeast

Mix together and knead with 1 more cup of flour.
Let rise and flatten down divide into 2 or 4 pc. Depends on how big you want your bread loafs or roll little balls to make rolls. Freeze the rest and take out when you want more bread.
Let it rise again and bake.

Bake at 350F for 35 min. for loafs or 10-12 min. for rolls.
Use corn meal on cookie sheet so loaf does not stick to pan.
1 tsp. Olive Oil to brush the top of the bread when it comes out of the oven.

Spent Grain Dog Biscuits
4 cups spent grain
4 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Press down into a dense layer on a large cookie sheet. Score almost all the way through into the shapes you want. Bake for about half an hour at 350 F to solidify them. Loosen them from the sheet, break the biscuits apart and return them, loosely spread out on the cookie sheet, to the oven at 225 F for 8 to 10 hours to dry them very thoroughly to prevent mold growth. Store in an airtight container to keep them dry and mold-free.

WARNING: Hops can be toxic to dogs. Do not use grains that have seen hops.

Alewife's Spent Grain Pizza Dough
It makes a great dough for thin crust pizzas baked in the oven or on the grill (rather similar to the pizza crust at 21st Amendment in San Francisco), as well as a decent focaccia if you just want to use half the recipe for pizzas. This makes eight 9" thin crust pizzas or four 9" thin crust pizzas and one 9-10" pan of focaccia-- or whatever other sizes you want! This recipe presumes you have made pizza before. If you haven't, let me know of any questions you may have.

1 pkg. dry bread yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 cup olive oil
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 cup spent grains
1/2 cup water

3 cups additional flour

olive oil for bowl

flour to sprinkle bread board

Proof yeast by mixing with 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar. Let sit 5-10 minutes--a nice layer of foam should prove that the yeast is alive and well.

In large mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, sugar, and salt. Blend in yeast mixture. Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended. Set aside while you prepare the grains.

Add 1 cup spent grains (drained well, but still wet) and 1/2 cup water to bowl of food processor. Process until you have a semi smooth mixture. It doesn't ever get really smooth, but you don't want it too chunky either.

Add grain mixture to yeast slurry and mix together well. Add remaining 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each addition. I do this by hand with a wooden spoon. It goes quickly, but you could do it in a mixer with a dough hook if you wanted. The last cup of flour will make the dough seem pretty stiff if you are mixing by hand, but it's ok! Don't worry. It's still a bit sticky, but will clean the side of the bowl. I just use my hands at the end and knead it together right in the bowl.

When you have a rough lump of dough together and the sides of the bowl are clean, push the dough ball to one side and add a bit of olive oil to the bottom of the bowl. Push the dough into the oil and flip it over, smoothing the oil over the top of the dough. Reshape the dough into an even round. Cover lightly and place in a warm place to rise for about an hour.

When ready to use, push dough down, deflating it. Bring sides in to center and flip dough over. Put dough out onto floured board and pat out evenly. Cut dough into equal sized pieces for each pizza you will make. If making all pizzas, you should have 8 equal sized pieces of dough. Shape each piece into an evenly round ball and place on a cookie sheet. Cover lightly and let sit 20-30 minutes. When ready to bake, take each little round of dough and pat it out on the floured board into an evenly round shape. You can use a rolling pin if you want to speed the process up a bit. I like them about 9" around for a thin crust pizza. Obviously, a thicker pizza would need to be pushed or rolled out to a smaller round. Once they are rolled out, top with what you like and bake as you usually would.

This works better with a thin to medium crust pizza -- not so great in a Chicago or deep dish style. The grains add a nice crispiness to a thinner crust. It works well on a BBQ grill, too!

Alewife

P.S. If you use half the recipe for a focaccia, I just bake it for about 25-30 minutes at 350 deg. depending on the size of pan you use. Just top with your favorite focaccia ingredients.

[lexuschris]

That is just awesome! Never would of thought of baking up the grains in dough! Brilliant!

Cheers!
--LexusChris

[brahn]

I've made those dog biscuits before and they were a huge hit. I've also made bread with the spent grain a few times, but I think it was a different recipe than the one you posted. The bread came out good, but a bit husk-y. I kind of wonder about making bread with the grain that's already given up it's best bits to the beer though.

[JonGoku]

I've made those dog biscuits before and they were a huge hit. I've also made bread with the spent grain a few times, but I think it was a different recipe than the one you posted. The bread came out good, but a bit husk-y. I kind of wonder about making bread with the grain that's already given up it's best bits to the beer though.

Do you suppose all your adding is some texture then? I have yet to make any of those, but I'll seriously look at it next time I have some grain to use.