ok to feed spent grain from brewing beer

[gabrielle1976]

Do the hops come mixed in with the other grains or seprate?

 

[stackinriches]

I have unlimited access to steeped grains from a local brewery near me. The grains are available to me in bulk and are wet. Is there any way to dry them or give them any kind of shelf life?

 

[freeflyin]

It looks like from what others have said drying or freezing works

 

[oldrooster]

Quote: I would think they would have stems and skins/pulp that could be useful for at least a snack for the chickens, but I don't know how nutritious it would be. Edited to say I have forgotten to say that wineries now use lots of fruits to make cherry apple and other such flavored wines so they may have pressed fruit that chickens could eat as food...

 

[wakulla bill]

Took me a while to go through this topic. And maybe I missed a couple things said, but don't give your chickens spent hops. And if for some reason you are adding hops to your mash, don't feed them that grain. Rarely do any recipes call for hops before the mash, so usually no worries. Many vets will say hops are bad for pets. So many varieties of hops to know which might be harmful, no need to risk it.

But the spent grain, oh yeah! And I just freeze it in grocery bags after the mash has cooled, in plastic grocery bags or something. Give them the whole frozen grain ball on a hot summer day, grab a beer and watch some chicken soccer. They will peck at the frozen grain ball, roll it around, chase it around, bits flying off as they peck and the less aggressive chickens will follow and pick up the bits. Takes them a while to work a good sized frozen grain ball. Fun to watch.
~Bobbi(the other half of Bill)

 

[Jermz]

Most breweries "donate" their grain to farmers who inturn use it for feed. I read of a brew pub who exchanges it for beef that they serve in their restaurant. The hops on the other hand i am unsure of, i want to say i have read it is a no go. I can't seem to find where i read it so im not going to risk it.

 

[Jermz]

To dry the grains, you spread them out in a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 200 °F for 7the hrs ir use a food dehydrator.

 

[mmmooretx]

Good answers from the members that understand beer brewing. I have been a home brewer for 22 years, all grain for 21 years, and now have found a great grain disposal/recycling system. I will probably use the grocery bag freezing system as an easier system, plus the "soccer" game will be fun to watch. I will probably size the balls as an appropriate amount for 8 RIR hens (my planned coop size).
Mike

 

[RichnSteph]

It's funny to me that we're just about to get our first chickens, on our first piece of land out behind our first house and while looking for ways to cut our feed costs we came across this site. The only place I can find that has brewers wet grain will only get rid of 500lbs at a time. I mean it's cheap at $50 a load but what in the heck am I going to do with 500lbs of wet grain? *laugh*

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

This thread is going be very handy to me this summer!

"Honey, I NEED to brew another batch of beer...it's for the chickens!"