Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Hey Guys,

Rogers, Joseph and myself did our first batch of all grain brewing today. It was exhilarating to create our own beer from scratch and we are totally hooked. Being a conservative eco minded bunch we would like to get the most mileage out of our spent grain. We brewed a 15 gallon batch and we have a mash tun filled with 50 some odd pounds of grain. I am about to plant my salsa garden and I am reading a bit of mixed info on the interwebs about using the spent grain as fertilizer. I have read a bunch of people saying it is good for compost but I don't currently do that. What about throwing it directly on the dirt for fertilizer does that work ok? If not what else can we do with our spent grain to <hippietreehugger>benefit someone it would seem like a huge waste to pitch it </hippietreehuuger>. Thanks for any input!

I've used it for mulch around different trees and shrubs. The biggest problem with using it on a garden is that it will attract deer and rabbits. If you have any friends that have stock animals, it makes great feed.

I have heard bugs are an issue if you throw it directly on the garden too. The sweet barley attracts all kinds of critters. I use to do a half assed compost pile and mix it in. Seemed to work well. These days I just feed it to my chickens.

Another half-assed compost approach is to bury it in your garden. Basically just let it compost there. Just putting it around stuff, in addition to the bug/critter issue, also stinks. It can get pretty ripe. If you're in town, you can also "donate" it to the city's compost via your yardy.

I put some on the garden last fall. Even after 3 good tillings you can see it there. I recommend the compost or yardy routes as well.

chickens love the stuff

Thanks guys for all the info. I ended up taking your advice and not throwing it on the garden. I have to a friend that raises chickens so she could use for feed. Needless to say there are going to be some well fed urban chickens.