I have some leftover grains from some NB kits and have wanted to know what I can use them for instead of just throwing them away. I know some people put them in their compost but wanted to ask people what they do with their grains after they are done using them?
Compost, Dog Biscuits, Lawn Fertilizer…
I was thinking of spreading them around in our garden but was not sure if they would be a bad idea. It sure would smell nice having chocolate malt spread around in the garden.
You could add a small amount to homemade bread.
Do you know any farmers? Hogs will eat the grain and hops with no ill effects. Not sure with cattle, for the hops.
Remember, hops and dogs is a deadly combination.
Been meaning to make some bread with some, but have not got around to it. Fall, winter, early spring, I throw them in the garden and then till them in. When the garden is growing, I throw them under and around some bushes, or other mulch areas we have as a “woodchip” substitute.
They are a very good fertilizer for flowers, veggies, herbs, etc. The residual sugars seem to help out young plants. But if you decide to spread them around in the yard, be warned that they need to be spread thin and possibly turned over occasionally. If it’s in a big clump in the sun, that stuff stinks to the heavens and I know from experience. So now I just fling it into the neighbor’s yard. JK, I actually bag it up and throw it in the trash. Sorry composters.
Compost.
After hunting season is over and into December and January I will throw them out for the deer near my trail cams.
+1 to spreading them thin. They do STINK if left in a big pile.
I usually just toss it in the woods. The squirrels love it.
Every now and again I’ll make peanut butter dog biscuits with it. It’s pretty easy and it makes a lot of them… unfortunately I don’t have a dog. My four year old has befriended all the neighborhood dogs and she’ll run to the door with a biscuit whenever she sees one walking by. I found the recipe here, originally posted by Rakes.
4 cups grains
2 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
Mix thoroughly. Press into a layer on a large cookie sheet, use a rolling pin if necessary. Score almost all the way through, into the shapes or a grid. Bake for 60 mins at 300F. Break them apart along the scoring and return to the oven at 225 F for 3 hours. or put in the hot oven while it cools (or until they are really dry). Alternatively, after initial cooking, put them into a food dehydrator until dry. Wrap tight or vacuum pack for storage.
I occasionally make bread… but most recipes only call for somewhere between 1-3 cups of grain, which of course is nothing from a total of 10-15lbs.
Spread the spent grains under my apple trees. Deer, wild Turkeys, and Squirrels clean mine up in a day or three.
I give mine to a friend of ours, who feeds them to her chickens and cows. In exchange, I get free eggs. Not a bad trade off.
OK, I know “hops is bad for dogs” but I think that is more along “straight” hops. In other words if your dog eats some hops pellets or cones or leaves - Bad news. On the other hand there really is very little hops in most beer/waste grain. My dog loves the stuff. Now I don’t give it to her all the time but while it is still warm I mix some in with her food and she is face in. Never any ill response at all (admittedly she is a huge type dog but). I really don’t think it a problem as a treat.
Barry
[quote=“Vulkin’”]OK, I know “hops is bad for dogs” but I think that is more along “straight” hops. In other words if your dog eats some hops pellets or cones or leaves - Bad news. On the other hand there really is very little hops in most beer/waste grain. My dog loves the stuff. Now I don’t give it to her all the time but while it is still warm I mix some in with her food and she is face in. Never any ill response at all (admittedly she is a huge type dog but). I really don’t think it a problem as a treat.
Barry[/quote]
You put hops in your mash?
I’ve got friends who have a few chickens… I’ll have to remember to save some for them. Does she dry out the grains first?
My wife makes some awesome bread with it. You don’t need much of the spent grains at all, just a cup or so but it tastes very good. A friend even asked for the recipe but it’s very easy to make especially if you have a bread machine and you let it do the dough part. Take it out then bake it.
Beerlord, care to share the recipe? I have been thinking about this as I do the dog treat thing and the compost thing but would like something else in my routine.
I dump most of mine in the woods and some gets eaten by deer but my experience with that is they only eat it if there is not much else they like.
I do 20 gal batches so 50 lbs of spent malt barley + the water it retains is not uncommon. If I break it up into two or three heavy duty plastic bags the trash pick up guys will take it.
Cow food. They love it!
There are a few spent grain recipes here… along with a bunch of hop and/or beer related recipes.
http://www.hopsdirect.com/info/recipes.html