as we brew much more prolifically now that we are largely set up, we have a small issue. we dont know what to do with all the spent grain. there will be a lot of grain to move quite regularly.
over the summer, there was talk of a lady at one of many farmers markets that would trade grain as pig feed for bacon. does anyone know the butcher, farmer? i would like to reach out to her.
if not the pig farmer, anyone know of any other options, have any good ideas?, know other farms?
composting here is not an option as we don't have enough of other raw materials to cut the large amount of nitrates.
i got nothing on pig lady so far
Bill said:
...igz...
chicken man came early this morning and picked up all the grain from yesterday. he is going to see how he can incorporate it into his feed. hopefully, this can become a regular thing.
...igz...
Now we have Pig Lady and Chicken Man.
We're always at the Logan Square farmers' market; I'll ask around and see if anyone can use it (better yet, if anyone is willing to trade anything for it).
I'm still going to push for either (1) burning it in the yet-to-be-purchased wood-burning stove; or (2) dog biscuits (or something similar) that will get us a few bucks back for the grain we used to brew.
If you just want to get rid of it, I can dump it in my field. No bacon, but I'm sure the deer, turkeys, rabbits, mice and skunks will all appreciate it just as much or more than the hogs. Probably not a permanent solution since I don't get down there that much, though.
i just sent an email to Rob of Butcher & Larder and sent a message on the chicago chicken enthusiast listserv.
i cant find a contact for anyone at the plant.
...igz...
There is a shop on Milwaukee Ave called the Butcher & Larder (they might know your pig lady or can hook you up with other pig ladies.)
Also, The Plant (home of New Chicago Brewing) would most likely be able to process spent grain.
I don't know if this is too greedy/capitalistic of me but is there something we can do with it that would get us something in return; preferably cold, hard cash we can put back into the brew house? Someone mentioned the dog biscuits but I was also told it takes only a small amount of spent grain and an insanely long time at high temps in the oven to do. But, perhaps something along those lines.
I was thinking about this the other day. Who mentioned her?