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From The Age.
Beer byproducts create a surprising range of useful goods for people and animals, reports Willie Simpson.
WHAT do a slice of toast smeared with Vegemite, a slab of prime Gippsland beef and a bottle of sparkling fruit juice have in common?
They are all delicious, highly nutritious and are connected to the beer production chain, or, more correctly, each contains a byproduct from the brewing process.
Vegemite, the famous Australian spread, is made from leftover brewer's yeast; countless cattle in the Gippsland region are fed "spent grain" from the country's largest brewery, and Hobart's Cascade Brewery uses carbon dioxide collected during fermentation to carbonate its fruit juice and soft drink brands.
At Carlton & United Beverage's Abbotsford brewery, yeast sediment left at the bottom of fermentation vessels is pumped into tankers and taken to the Kraft Foods factory at Port Melbourne.
Foster's Australia beverage ambassador Dermot O'Donnell says about nine tankers, each holding about 18 tonnes, go daily to Vegemite's HQ.
"Our yeast has a particular structure that is amenable to the (smooth) texture of Vegemite," O'Donnell says.
Apparently, the relatively high gum content of the yeast strain adds to Vegemite's spreadability.
Vegemite was developed in 1922 by a young chemist working for the Fred Walker Company. Dr Cyril Callister spent many months refining a tasty, spreadable paste made from brewer's yeast.
But it was only in the late 1930s that Australians took to the local version over the imported English spread, Marmite.
It is now difficult to imagine an Australian household without Vegemite in the cupboard. And most of us know the thick, black stuff is full of Vitamin B which, oddly enough, is something alcohol leaches from the body. No wonder you tend to crave Vegemite and toast after a hard night.
Some people suggest, tongue-in-cheek, the same combo, washed down with a stubby of beer, represents the perfectly balanced meal.
Dried brewer's yeast is also available from health-food shops as a diet supplement, but Vegemite is apparently four or five times more concentrated. O'Donnell calls brewer's yeast sediment and spent grain "co-products", rather than byproducts, of brewing.
Spent grain is what remains after the mashing/lautering has extracted the liquid fermentable sugars from the malted barley.
The Abbotsford plant's nutritious spent grain is sold through an agent to cattle and dairy farms, mainly in Gippsland, where it's consumed by the cattle within days.
Grand Ridge Brewery owner Eric Walters has embraced the "co-product" cycle more closely than others. When he took over the restaurant near his Mirboo North brewery in December, he also invested in a 40-hectare cattle property at Boolarra with two partners.
The 75-odd head of cattle on the property are fed spent grain from his brewery (in addition to grass), and end up on the menu as "beer grain-fed beef".
"It's a good talking point," Walters says. "People ask whether the cattle are fed on beer."
The grain-fed beef is served as char-grilled T-bones, porterhouse and carpetbag steaks (filled with oysters), and in stout-and-beef pies.
Previously, the microbrewery's spent grain went to local organic goat farmers, but now Walters says he likes the "holistic approach" to rearing his beef and there is no waste.
He also reckons "there is a certain synergy to ageing our beef and ageing our natural beers".
He loves the idea of showcasing the best of the region's food and drink in his restaurant.
"Gippsland has fantastic produce, but there's not many places that do it well," he says.
Most craft breweries are happy to pass on their spent grain to anyone prepared to pick it up. At the Mountain Goat Brewery in Richmond, a farmer from a property near Heathcote collects about a tonne of spent grain every week for his Murray grey and Angus cattle.
In Sydney, the tiny Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel has a relationship with a vet who is developing a vitamin-enriched feed supplement (based on grain) for thoroughbred racehorses. Previously, its modest amount of spent grain went to a worm farm.
It's not just grain and yeast that are recycled from brewing. In larger breweries, the carbon dioxide given off during fermentation is collected, filtered through activated carbon and later used to carbonate the beer.
The Cascade Brewery in Hobart also runs a fruit juice and cider plant in conjunction with the historic brewery.
Excess carbon dioxide from beer fermentation is piped underground across the road to provide the bubbles in such drinks as sparkling apple and blackcurrant juice.
So the next time you're having a beer, consider all the other food, drinks and beings that benefit from the brewing process.
If nothing else, you are helping to keep cows content, kids healthy and all sorts of beverages full of bubbles.
Cheers!
MOST home brewers are born recyclers who hate to throw anything out. My shed-brewed beers are bottled in used sparkling wine long-necks and, although I've built up a bank over the years, any new bottles of bubbly are duly rinsed (after being emptied, of course) and added to the collection.
Recently I have only managed three or four brews a year, when I hand-grind five kilograms or so of malted barley in an old polenta mill. In years gone by, living in the city, I'd simply throw the "mash" (spent grain) on the garden, where it would be feasted upon by pigeons or furry little rodents. These days the mash gets fed to our chooks.
The leftover yeast sludge is dumped on the compost pile, where I reckon the worms might appreciate vitamin B. While boiling wort, I use hop flowers and pellets stuffed into muslin bags and recycle them as mulch around the rose bushes.
The bitter resins in hops make them virtually inedible; even the snails reject them. Speaking of which, any stale or undrinkable beer that I reject is used to bait snail and slug traps around the vegie garden. I bury jars at a 30-degree angle and partly fill them with the flat beer. The slimy critters practically queue up to drink themselves silly before drowning in it. I reckon it's a far better way to go than being blasted by some shop-bought poison.
Drinkable leftover beer doesn't get turfed out at my place either; I use it in carbonades, sauces, marinades and beer batter, or to knock out the occasional batch of beer damper. We home brewers don't like to waste anything.
Beer byproducts create a surprising range of useful goods for people and animals, reports Willie Simpson.
WHAT do a slice of toast smeared with Vegemite, a slab of prime Gippsland beef and a bottle of sparkling fruit juice have in common?
They are all delicious, highly nutritious and are connected to the beer production chain, or, more correctly, each contains a byproduct from the brewing process.
Vegemite, the famous Australian spread, is made from leftover brewer's yeast; countless cattle in the Gippsland region are fed "spent grain" from the country's largest brewery, and Hobart's Cascade Brewery uses carbon dioxide collected during fermentation to carbonate its fruit juice and soft drink brands.
At Carlton & United Beverage's Abbotsford brewery, yeast sediment left at the bottom of fermentation vessels is pumped into tankers and taken to the Kraft Foods factory at Port Melbourne.
Foster's Australia beverage ambassador Dermot O'Donnell says about nine tankers, each holding about 18 tonnes, go daily to Vegemite's HQ.
"Our yeast has a particular structure that is amenable to the (smooth) texture of Vegemite," O'Donnell says.
Apparently, the relatively high gum content of the yeast strain adds to Vegemite's spreadability.
Vegemite was developed in 1922 by a young chemist working for the Fred Walker Company. Dr Cyril Callister spent many months refining a tasty, spreadable paste made from brewer's yeast.
But it was only in the late 1930s that Australians took to the local version over the imported English spread, Marmite.
It is now difficult to imagine an Australian household without Vegemite in the cupboard. And most of us know the thick, black stuff is full of Vitamin B which, oddly enough, is something alcohol leaches from the body. No wonder you tend to crave Vegemite and toast after a hard night.
Some people suggest, tongue-in-cheek, the same combo, washed down with a stubby of beer, represents the perfectly balanced meal.
Dried brewer's yeast is also available from health-food shops as a diet supplement, but Vegemite is apparently four or five times more concentrated. O'Donnell calls brewer's yeast sediment and spent grain "co-products", rather than byproducts, of brewing.
Spent grain is what remains after the mashing/lautering has extracted the liquid fermentable sugars from the malted barley.
The Abbotsford plant's nutritious spent grain is sold through an agent to cattle and dairy farms, mainly in Gippsland, where it's consumed by the cattle within days.
Grand Ridge Brewery owner Eric Walters has embraced the "co-product" cycle more closely than others. When he took over the restaurant near his Mirboo North brewery in December, he also invested in a 40-hectare cattle property at Boolarra with two partners.
The 75-odd head of cattle on the property are fed spent grain from his brewery (in addition to grass), and end up on the menu as "beer grain-fed beef".
"It's a good talking point," Walters says. "People ask whether the cattle are fed on beer."
The grain-fed beef is served as char-grilled T-bones, porterhouse and carpetbag steaks (filled with oysters), and in stout-and-beef pies.
Previously, the microbrewery's spent grain went to local organic goat farmers, but now Walters says he likes the "holistic approach" to rearing his beef and there is no waste.
He also reckons "there is a certain synergy to ageing our beef and ageing our natural beers".
He loves the idea of showcasing the best of the region's food and drink in his restaurant.
"Gippsland has fantastic produce, but there's not many places that do it well," he says.
Most craft breweries are happy to pass on their spent grain to anyone prepared to pick it up. At the Mountain Goat Brewery in Richmond, a farmer from a property near Heathcote collects about a tonne of spent grain every week for his Murray grey and Angus cattle.
In Sydney, the tiny Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel has a relationship with a vet who is developing a vitamin-enriched feed supplement (based on grain) for thoroughbred racehorses. Previously, its modest amount of spent grain went to a worm farm.
It's not just grain and yeast that are recycled from brewing. In larger breweries, the carbon dioxide given off during fermentation is collected, filtered through activated carbon and later used to carbonate the beer.
The Cascade Brewery in Hobart also runs a fruit juice and cider plant in conjunction with the historic brewery.
Excess carbon dioxide from beer fermentation is piped underground across the road to provide the bubbles in such drinks as sparkling apple and blackcurrant juice.
So the next time you're having a beer, consider all the other food, drinks and beings that benefit from the brewing process.
If nothing else, you are helping to keep cows content, kids healthy and all sorts of beverages full of bubbles.
Cheers!
MOST home brewers are born recyclers who hate to throw anything out. My shed-brewed beers are bottled in used sparkling wine long-necks and, although I've built up a bank over the years, any new bottles of bubbly are duly rinsed (after being emptied, of course) and added to the collection.
Recently I have only managed three or four brews a year, when I hand-grind five kilograms or so of malted barley in an old polenta mill. In years gone by, living in the city, I'd simply throw the "mash" (spent grain) on the garden, where it would be feasted upon by pigeons or furry little rodents. These days the mash gets fed to our chooks.
The leftover yeast sludge is dumped on the compost pile, where I reckon the worms might appreciate vitamin B. While boiling wort, I use hop flowers and pellets stuffed into muslin bags and recycle them as mulch around the rose bushes.
The bitter resins in hops make them virtually inedible; even the snails reject them. Speaking of which, any stale or undrinkable beer that I reject is used to bait snail and slug traps around the vegie garden. I bury jars at a 30-degree angle and partly fill them with the flat beer. The slimy critters practically queue up to drink themselves silly before drowning in it. I reckon it's a far better way to go than being blasted by some shop-bought poison.
Drinkable leftover beer doesn't get turfed out at my place either; I use it in carbonades, sauces, marinades and beer batter, or to knock out the occasional batch of beer damper. We home brewers don't like to waste anything.