Trub And Compost/worms...

[Lecterfan]

Just a quick question that seems ridiculous:

I dump all my spent grain and hops from the boil into my compost. No worries.

But when I wash out the trub from a fermenter after racking I do it standing over my vegie patch so the water is reused. I just noticed then that in the main cloudy puddle that was left behind about 20 worms have come out of the ground (or are floundering in the puddle) and they seem to be moving away from it.

Now I know that worms will move away from excessive moisture and we all see them on the move after a heavy shower etc., but would the trub from primary be adversely affecting the soil or be too caustic for the worms?

The worms are of great instrumental worth to me both for the vegies and as a handy source of bait and I would rather tip the trub elsewhere and let the vegies just get the rinsing water.

Yes, it is a silly post, but if I ask it on a gardening site they wouldn't have any of the chemical knowledge of beer making by products that I know a lot of you folks have (specifically in regards to all the yeast cells etc etc).

Thanks in advance.

 

[tavas]

Beer is acidic, but I wouldn't have thought that would be the problem. My guess is the alcohol content doesn't agree with them. I wouldn't stop what you're doing, the worms will move back when the alcohol dilutes with water or evaporates away. If they don't come back, something else will break down the trub. Its good for gardens. Dead yeast = compost!!

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

I only ever put a tiny bit of my grain in to my worm farm - too much seems to go slimy and the little wormies tend not to like it too much. I has always assumed it was the acidity.

 

[Pennywise]

In my experiences the trub will kill the worms eventually. Never found an issue with spent grain, just the trub. I would keep it away from the veggie patch, I know I'd prefer the worms

 

[tavas]

Hmm, I better keep an eye out. Never noticed dead worms but never really looked either.

 

[Bribie G]

They were probably Seventh Day Adventists or Shiite / Sunni Muslims in their last lives

 

[pk.sax]

I'd noticed a few chewed up leaves o nmy hop vines and I poured some trub and dumped used grain there. The bugs that were doing it either fled in disgust or were eaten by the birds attracted to the grain.

No more problem with eaten up leaves

 

[proudscum]

Get some chooks to eat the grain.

If you are composting your grain i would and have in the past added some lime to the spent grist and hops.You should also mix it in to the other compost as you will get fruit fly and vinegar fly buzzing the compost.No amount should go to worms because it is to acidic and for some reason you shouldn't give bread to worms either.Grain=Bread.

Go back to first point spent grain = golden eggs

 

[sim]

I can remember tipping beer out on the lawn and noticed lots of poor wormys stressing out and nicking off. at the time i thought it was an alcohol thing, but in the case of washing out the trub i would have thought it would be pretty watered down. id say more of an acidity thing. worms have really thin skin. if it was a really hoppy beer it could even be the resins causing an irritation perhaps.

 

[Lecterfan]

Thanks guys.

I've never had too much problem with grains in the compost (as they are mixed in with heaps of other organic matter as per proudscum's suggestion...only a small %age of my compost "grist" so to speak) but it is interesting to hear suggestions.

If the trub is much more acidic than the soil then the acid factor of the trub could be the problem. 90mins later it looked like the scene of a horrendous worm crime has taken place next to my strawberries.

I shall continue with the grain compost and maybe chuck in some lime (thanks again proudscum), as the texture of the grain seems to add to the general tilth of the vegie patches (having parents with 30 acres and heaps of horses and cows wandering around doesn't hurt either) and so far my zucchinis and spinach seem to agree.

But no more trub will be added to compost/vegies...

Cheers all. :icon_cheers:

 

[big78sam]

if it was a really hoppy beer it could even be the resins causing an irritation perhaps.

My Yates Garden Guide recommends spent hops as compost so this would surprise me...

 

[proudscum]

My Yates Garden Guide recommends spent hops as compost so this would surprise me...

Good for compost just add a little lime to sweeten the compost.you may not want to use this compost on some natives as they hate lime.To the point where the new concrete drive you have layed killed the Acacias...hmmm sounds expensive. :icon_chickcheers:

 

[jlm]

I recall a thread a while back where a member (Guest Lurker perhaps?) claimed he produced prize winning tomotoes that got the fermenter trub. FWIW I dilute the trub down and spread it out pretty thinly around the vegie garden and have no ill effects.

 

[Lecterfan]

Interesting jlm. Anecdotally, for anyone holding onto this type of useless info, even though in my utilitarian guilt I watered down the spot where the worm atrocity of 2010 occurred, this morning there are still at least 20 dead worms of various sizes on the top soil. Now some people might say my beer making is a bit primitive, but I don't think it'd kill that many invertebrates!!!

Anyway, I am providing the info in case others want it.

Cheers to all for the intersting chat. :icon_chickcheers: