Used grain

[manticle]

Hop free wort presumably?

When I lived next door to a bloke with chickens and my garden was mostly concrete, I left it on his front doorstep. Chooks loved it.

Now it gets dug into my compost which gets everything else (chook bones, prawn shells, veg scraps, plain cardboard, etc).

Cat litter and grass clippings are the only things that don't go in.

Everything gets moved around regularly and whatever is in there (including about 8 billion fat worms) breaks it all down very rapidly.

 

[Benn]

Just out of interest, why no grass clippings?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Grass clippings if not spread and layered with dry straw will turn to mush.

 

[Benn]

Ah ok, fair enough. I'd been cramming as much grass clippings in the compost as possible. Recently I've resorted to emptying them in "that corner" now I only use the catcher out the front and just mow the backyard with no catcher otherwise I'd have mountains of clippings. I'm getting pissed off just thinking about it.

 

[manticle]

Mostly because my lawn is full of weeds

 

[Gelding]

chook bones and prawn scraps ?

I'd have thought animal waste might attract vermin of the rodent kind ?

 

[manticle]

I know a lot don't recommend it but there's so many good nutrients and the cats reduce the number of potential rodents. Let the rats come and meet feline justice.

I can't bear to waste my own home made blood and bone.

 

[Mardoo]

Neighbours don't last long round your parts, do they?

 

[manticle]

Neighbours?

Never seen one, constable.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YOtpgz4L5d8

 

[Matplat]

What's a good recipe for dog biscuits? We had chooks for a while and they didn't eat the grain I put out for them, so now it all goes in the green bin. If I could divert some to the dog it would be a good thing....

 

[cliffo]

I made a batch for my boy yesterday.

4 cups grain
2 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs

Mix together, roll out flat and bake at 180° for 30 mins then lower temp to 110° for 2 hours.

Louie goes nuts for them.

 

[Mantis]

Some to the chooks, and the rest dug into a spare garden bed, the worms love the stuff as it breaks down

 

[Moad]

Put it up on gumtree and someone always gets it for chooks or pigs etc. helps having larger volumes

 

[capsicum]

Yeah goes great in bread, but I get much improved results if I dry the grain on an oven tray first to avoid stodginess in the middle of the loaf

 

[thylacine]

Google search terms: " anzac biscuits spent grains


eg. past AHB threads re using spent grain

 

[GABBA110360]

straight in the chook pen with mine even with a double day of 20 kilo grain 12 chooks !

 

[fdsaasdf]

As others have mentioned the spent grain goes well in bread, sourdough and anzac biscuits - especially if there is plenty of chocolate or caramel malts.

Unfortunately this still leaves me with 20L+ of grain left over after each brew day. My compost usually can't take more than 5L and I'm not going to dump it in the garden as it attracts possums and rats. I've given some pails away to friends with chickens or hobby stock but unable to get a regular arrangement (I'm an opportunistic brewer).

It pains me a little to chuck the grain in the bin... however there are many larger scale breweries who just dump theirs to waste so my personal irritation is tempered when I relax and have a home brew...