Discarding Spent Grain & Fermentation Trub In The Garden - Acidity

[RobH]

I have been wondering what effects in terms of acidity the discarded grain & the trub from the bottom of the fermenter is having on my garden. If it increases acidity levels, then I will throw it towards my citrus & azaleas and avoid chucking it in the rest of the garden.

I once chucked a bunch of spent grin in my worm farm (2.5kg dry ... goodnes knows wht it was wet) and the worms appeared to shy away from it ... so I scraped most of it out and left only a little bit which the seemed to be ok with ... wondered if it was too acidc for them.

 

[super_simian]

I've had the same issue in my wormfarm.

 

[keifer33]

I only put around a decent handful in for the worms weekly and have to scrap the rest as it just ends up smelling like sweaty socks after a few days.

 

[gone_fishing]

Spread it thinly on the garden and it works fantastic. Big lumps tend to go skanky very quickly. If you are looking to grow wild maggots, just leave it in a big pile and wait a week (neighbours wont be amused). Worms in the garden love it so long as it is spread thinly.
gf

 

[GrumpyPaul]

I always get in trouble from the missus when I throw the trub on the garden.

She reckons it smells like someone got really drunk and threw up in the garden. ha ha ha

 

[Steve@PMF82]

Mixed through existing compost heap works great.

Although most of the time i chuck it in the paddock and the horses go nuts on it!

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

I chuck it to the chooks - they love it and are still alive.
Cheers
BBB

 

[dougsbrew]

ive occasionally chuck around 3 kg of spent grain on top of my worm farm. they dont go for it straight away
and it can get quite smelly, however theyre lovin it after a couple of weeks.

 

[pdilley]

In my worm farm I get Black Soldier Fly hitting it first which is great as they make great chook food. Then after the Soldier fly hit it once or twice the worms move in and its gone very quickly.

I also feed mine to the chooks at times, but was warned not to as it may block their cloaca. Again I never had it happen yet but be aware that it may be an issue.

Barley is used in balancing pH and nutrition nutters drink the juice of barley grass to neutralise acidity in the body. I have no idea what the pH of barley grains are (wheat flours are between 6.12 and 5.29) but I would not assume them to be acidic.

In fact most farmers have no idea that soil acidity is caused from nutrient depleted soils (bad land management practices) as the plants are forced to secret more organic acids from their roots to dissolve the minerals in rocks in the soils to get at nutrients that have been leached out of their soils.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[Hogan]

Just dump it in the garden and your dog will have a field day. A great disgestive tract cleaner. Just have a look at the land mines they leave.


Cheers, Hoges.

 

[Pennywise]

I've found trub to kill the worms in my garden, pretty damn quickly to. Spent grain I don know as I make doggie biscuits out of it most of the time, and he one time I did mix it into the garden, I busted some mice from next door scratching through the soil to get at it. So I don't do it

 

[Nodrog]

does anyone have any experience of using the spent grains in compost?
5kgs at a time, when it was dry....

Bit worried it would be a mice + rate nirvana?

 

[dcx3]

I dumped mine in the garden and it brought mice and of course snakes love to eat mice so we had a brown snake in the backyard for a while.
Im just ditching mine in the green bin now.

 

[enoch]

does anyone have any experience of using the spent grains in compost?
5kgs at a time, when it was dry....

Bit worried it would be a mice + rate nirvana?

I chuck it in the compost with a shovel or two of dynamic lifter.
Steaming in a day or two.

 

[bignath]

Im just ditching mine in the green bin now.

Yeah that's where mine goes too.

I've busted a few mice in my shed, and don't want to make it easier for them to populate by providing a food source. I don't actually know if they eat spent grain, but i'm damn sure they are in my shed because they can smell the grain that is safely stored in empty fermenters, off the ground, in my brewstand....

 

[Charst]

i got a compost bin from the big green shed for like $30 an now add all my grain to it along with garden scraps and grass clippings. makes great compost!

 

[Jazzafish]

I also add it to a compost bin... 5 to 8 KG at a time with all other food scraps, clippings, trub, old yeast cakes that have had their time and basically anything that is organic waste. Breaks down well and feeds the garden.

 

[Harry Volting]

I think timing/pH? is the key.
I dump my spent grain in the back yard as soon as run-off is complete.
Chooks (Gang of Four) can't get enough of it and covet the pile until the steam has finished.
Mice and Bush Bandicoots feed overnight which keeps the Powerful Owls in business and the Flying Foxes away from the fruit trees.
Chooks lay the next morning which keeps McDonalds out of business.
I find if the mash is left overnight to sour the animals (including the worms) don't want a bar of it and the only thing that prospers is the flies.
Everybody's happy. I love a Green beer.

 

[Golani51]

I give it to the Guinea Pigs and they are buried in it up to their necks. They love the stuff and don't move from it all day. 3 piggies devoured 5kg post brewday.
R

 

[RobH]

Thanks guys, I hadn't considered the mouse/rat issue, but I am sure that would be an issue around my place - have seen several varieties of the rodent nature around here - ranging from the "quiet as a mouse" tiny brown mouse which darts from cover to cover on the kitchen floor at speeds that must be approaching the speed of light - to the fist-sized dirty bush rats that probbly come up from the creek.

I have a "tumbleweed" composter, so I might chuck a load in there and see how it goes ... it is always steaming when I open it up, so I rekon the microbes are very alive and well in there.

We are also considering getting around four chooks - but that's a way off at least until I fence off some of the yard ... didn't know a chooks (and a range of other animals) bum was called a cloaca until I read the replies here and googled the word