Brewers Yeast: A Chicken Conundrum

[jeepgirl13]

So my hubby has a hobby, he brews wine and beer. We were having a discussion just now on the way into town to the fermentation store about the yeast he uses in his beer, and how it is expensive.

I remembered people on here adding brewers yeast to their feed for nutritional boosts, and assumed brewers yeast was for brewing beers and such. Well, this lead into some googling, and after finding such a drastic price difference between brewers yeast and the yeast he uses to make his beer, I started reading, and realized my assumption, might have been totally incorrect. (You know what they say when you assume things)

My understanding, (from about 20 minutes of googling, I'm sure my understanding is not so, lol), is brewers yeast is the leftover goop in the bottom of the carboy that remains after the beer has been bottled. This goop is then taken and dried to kill of any remaining enzymes and to prevent further fermentation, but leaves a nutritionally rich product that can be used for a huge variety of things.

IF, this is what brewers yeast is, the leftover product from the fermenting process, can I take this stuff my hubby just throws out, bake it in the oven, and preserve it for use with my chickens? What about my dogs, can they benefit/get sick from it?

Does anyone have any knowledge on this? Or could point me in the direction of some knowledge? Thanks a ton in advance!! And sorry for the long winded-ness, I'm suddenly fixated on this like a dog with a bone. I just GOTTA know Lol

 

[azygous]

Very good question! I've often wondered about this myself. Hopefully, some others will have more knowledge and can set us both straight.

 

[jeepgirl13]

Very good question! I've often wondered about this myself. Hopefully, some others will have more knowledge and can set us both straight.

I wasnt sure about where to put this either. Feeding and watering your flock, or down somewhere in other hobbies and such.

My thoughts are, IF this is what brewers yeast is, and people are supplementing their birds with it, perhaps I can sell some to the local chickeners around me. I call them chickeners, cuz chicken tenders just makes me think of crispy golden fried deliciousness dipped in bbq sauce, and that definitely does not describe my neighbors

 

[jeepgirl13]

The man at the fermentation store did tell me the dogs shouldnt have it because of the hops in it. He said hops causes dogs internal body temp to rise so quickly, they are unable to cool themselves and can overheat. I do not know how true this is, and haven't had time to look into it yet.

I told hubby that might not be a bad thing when weve got 6ft of snow and negative temps with the windchill. I've got 2 dane mixes whom are not fur-netically equipped for that kind of weather.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Can’t speak to how good it is for chickens (my guess is it’s fine, probably healthy) but my understanding from my brewering days is that the stuff you buy and add to the brew is live yeast, which consumes the sugars multiply. The bi-products of this are CO2 and alcohol (yay!)

The sludge at the bottom of the carboy are all the dead yeast, which die when the alcohol level gets to a certain point.

 

[sorce]

A brewery might understand the question better than I.

But there are 2 general things to apply to your research.

1. "Expensive" doesn't usually need to be, but is, when folks don't know about the alternative. For example, adding "Brewers" to yeast could raise the price for no reason other than profit.

2. Give it to the chickens. If they need it they'll eat it, if it's bad for them, they won't. If this goes bad, read the article here on butchering your bird!

Sorce

 

[jeepgirl13]

A brewery might understand the question better than I.

But there are 2 general things to apply to your research.

1. "Expensive" doesn't usually need to be, but is, when folks don't know about the alternative. For example, adding "Brewers" to yeast could raise the price for no reason other than profit.

2. Give it to the chickens. If they need it they'll eat it, if it's bad for them, they won't. If this goes bad, read the article here on butchering your bird!

Sorce

The "expensive"(10 to 15$) part, is the live yeast my husband buys to use for brewing his beer. I am not wondering if I can feed the pre-used yeast for the birds and such, but the gunk left over in the bottom of the jug. I'm looking to recycle the gunk leftover. I hate wasting anything, especially something I could be feeding to my animals or putting in my garden for soil enrichment for next growing season.

Hence my wondering, if the brewers yeast I've heard mentioned before, is actually the gunk leftover from the beer. I read its rich in vitamins and other things, and is a good nutritional supplement, but there is information like that out there on a lot of things. (DE, Gwyneth Paltrows feminine products )

 

[jeepgirl13]

Also, my chickens like to tear up my husband's archery targets to try and get the styrofoam if he leaves it in the yard, and paint chips off the shed, so idk about them not eating stuff that's not good for them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can buy a product called brewer's yeart, or nutritional yeast, at the health food store. I think they are the same thing (as each other). Some purists don't want to eat anything that sounds like it came from a brewery, hence the name "nutritional" yeast. It comes powdered or flaked. IMO the powdered tastes better. We sprinkle it on popcorn and toast and add it to smoothies. It's very high in B vitamins. It should be fine for your chickens, dogs, kids, whatever. It is a by-product of brewing beer, I believe (beer, that is and not wine, but don't quote me).

Now, having said all that, I don't know if the sludge at the bottom of your beer barrel is EXACTLY the same thing, or if you need to bake (as you said), dry, centrifuge or otherwise somehow further process your sludge to make it the same as this commercially available brewer's yeast. It would be way cool if it is the same! Go buy some and compare. If it is, let us know. I'll go find a brewer and swap eggs for spent yeast!

 

[123RedBeard]

https://modernfarmer.com/2015/08/recycled-brewery-waste/

Or just drink enough beer so you don't care about the "left-over's"?