us who frequent the brew house to brew have a small problem. we have no idea what to do with all the spent grain from so many batches.
we cant throw it in the city trash due to weight restrictions. i have already put too much in the compost, in the worm bin, and i really dont feel like spending all my free time baking dog treats.
so, i ask the community - do we have any alternatives? any ideas? anything that can move this grain along?
i am already working with a chicken feed company, and a large scale compost organization, but neither are definites just yet. i am also looking to gain contact with someone at The Plant - a vertical farm and brewery on the southside.
let us know your thoughts!
I'll remember never to take you up on a dinner invite. ;-)
I will have to check with the garden to see if this is something that they are interested in. I do know that spent grain has an allelopathic quality to it (similar to Corn) that prevents seeds from sprouting. The stuff will work great for plants transplanted to a raised bed but if we have gardeners doing seed to harvest I'm not sure if it will work well.
Jim, I you think that is weird when I guests over I make them clean my bathroom.
Andrew James Tomka
515-988-3260
andy.tomka@gmail.com
People at Growing Power Chicago seem really willing to help us out (although they are really slow at communication). I told her 20-75 lbs. of grain per week and she seemed okay with that; I asked if we could have once per week pick-up for $50/month (instead of twice-per week for $100/month) and she was cool with that; I believe they even provide the bins for the grain. Because they're not accepting new pick-up sites, she's just checking with the truck coordinator to see if a truck perhaps already passes by the brew house.
Even if they can't work us into their existing schedules/routes, she said that they would gladly take any/all grain we have as long as we get it down there. Maybe we could coordinate a weekly or bi-weekly trip to the south side.
Personally, I'm extraordinarily vexed that we provide a brew space for our brewers and then expect people to take their spent grain with them. What a great situation we had for our brewers: just show up with ingredients and carboy. Who wants to lug 20+ lbs. of wet grain with them when they're done? To me it's as weird as inviting people over for a BBQ and then expecting them to take whatever refuse they create with them when they're done. Weird.
this stuff is great for composting, but the key is the ratio of carbon to nitrogen. most composts are short on nitrogen so its usually good to take, but you know what they say about too much of a good thing. the summer hasnt produced too much beer, so we dont have too much grain we are sitting on, plus people have been taking it home with them and disposing it by other means. if ya planned weekend pick ups, im sure we would be free and clear of spent grain at the brew house.
...igz...
Iggy,
I am starting a three bin composting system at the newly formed Met West Garden on 1718 W. Ohio. Its pretty sweet and you should all stop by for our July 21st open house at 11 am. Anyways I reading about compost and came across the following article by some people in Alaska.
http://www.uaf.edu/files/ces/publications-db/catalog/anr/HGA-01026.pdf
I would not be able to take the spent grain in the volume that we produce but I think that the garden would be able to take some of it. I will also mention this idea to the Chicago community garden round table that I am on.
Thoughts?
Andy
Andrew James Tomka
515-988-3260
andy.tomka@gmail.com
Short answer - no.
Long answer - not really
...igz...
Why not horses:
noblehorsechicago.com
chicagocarriage.com
http://www.ptialaska.net/~gbrady/pages/spentgrain.html
spent grain bread recipe
...igz...
Love the contest idea. And the grand prize...you get the rest of the grain!
...igz...
Can we enjoy some of Niilo's special beers before hand?
can we have a spent grain eating contest at the open house?
well, im sure they couldnt burn it, it would mess with their recipe.
but - what do they do with their spent coal? maybe there is an opportunity there?
...igz...