Sometimes mine goes onto the compost heap, sometimes onto the “lawn”, sometimes into the septic tank depending on which fermentor I’m using. If it’s buckets it goes in the septic tank, carboys onto the lawn and the conical gets drained into buckets for the compost pile
gotta say this argument doesn’t hold water. it’s not just 1 qt of yeast. it’s 1 quart of yeast * 500K homebrewers in america (okay not all of them are dumping yeast in the storm drain, and not all of them that do live in the same place, but you get the idea)
the spitting in the ocean argument is exactly the same that leads to dumping radioactive waste in the ocean because hey what’s a few thousand barrells of toxic gunk in the whole ocean?
Not saying there is an issue with disposing of the yeast cake in the storm drain but…
I get what you’re saying, but there is a huge difference between dumping something that is food and will degrade quickly, and something that is toxic and has a half-life of 24,000 years. Huge difference. And I know you know that.
Yes, the “spitting in the ocean” argument is a bad one in a lot of instances. I don’t think it is in this one, considering the volume of yeast on a homebrew scale, number of homebrewers who dump yeast outside, how frequently they dump yeast, geographic distances between them, and the fact that it will readily be healthy food for other organisms. Crank up any of those factors and it might be bad.
If I have told myself once, I have told myself a million times. ‘Don’t be hyperbolic’
point taken and fully conceded. I dump my yeast in the compost or on the lawn and it I am sure washed into local water ways and/or sewers. but mostly eaten by other life forms
And I’ve told you a billion times, stop exaggerating. ;D
We keep fogetting that besides coming in neat little packages, yeast exist in nature. There is probably more yeast washed down a storm drain naturally in a day during a rain storm than all of us could dump in a year.
Following is a quote from Septic - Brewery Wastewater 101
(keeping in mind this is written for breweries, but i suppose some homebrewers rival nano breweries)
"Some of the issues of a brewery on septic are:
First there is the pleasant mental image of the septic tank turning into a fermenter. It will create foam, fill with spent yeast, and pH will drop. There is potential for back pressure issues due to CO2 generation, and due to the low pH and lack of oxygen the proper bacteria will not grow well so there will very little actual treatment going on in that tank. The tank will have to pumped quite often to remove the spent yeast, and this gets expensive.
Suspended solids (yeast, grain, hops) and dissolved solids (sugar) will pass through the septic tank and will plug the drain field over time. The solution here is usually to dig up the drain field and start over, probably on a new patch of ground. It takes time for this to happen, probably years, but it has happened over and over again and it’s expensive. Several projects have had to replace their drain field in under 2 years!"
I live on a septic and I suggest one word:
Compost.
Both the yeast and the spent grains. The bacteria have no problem eating up all of it in my experience. And a couple times a year, I have a big burn pile on top of my compost pile to get rid of shrub and branch trimmings and re-start the process.
It is interesting to see the old names in the thread, though. Last I heard, Tom Schmidling got his PhD and is running a brewery…Cheers.
I am careful about what I put down the drain. I never considered yeast would be a problem source for my septic but I can now see how it could. I feed the spent grain to the wildlife in the corner of the yard next to the tree line. I may end up dumping yeast outside as well now.
I’ve been putting yeast in the septic for years. Considering how little I put in and the size of the septic systemll I can’t see what it would be an issue. Im not dumping huge amounts daily as a brewery would.
Our septic system consists of one 500 gal holding tank, and then spills over into a 500 gallon dosing tank.
Both tanks are pumped every fall, and then Amazon.com is added to each tank.
This gives the leach fields a break, septic system is 24 years old, no issues.
I was a little concerned at first with the yeast being washed down the drain, but I think I’m ok.
Grain is thrown out with the trash. Live on edge of a national forest and have enough critters.
“Been a hoot-owl howling by my window now”, 4 am this morning.
Regarding the yeast, it depends on size of tank, load on tank (people), and how often it’s pumped.
A poorly maintained and/or highly stressed septic system is looking for a reason to fail.
In the yard, but not on the Japanese Maple. Got in trouble doing that.
Compost
Also compost. Depending upon where you live, there are probably neighbors who would be happy to add it to their gardens or compost.
I dump yeast in the compost or the yard. I used to dump old yeast in jars down the septic until I had a problem. We have an old house that has been added on to several times and has two septic system tanks. One for the main bath that is vented and one for the kitchen, laundry and 1/2 bath that was added on later. The second tank is not vented.
One night after doing this for awhile I got up to use the second bath in the middle of the night. I didn’t turn on the lights so as not to wake my Wife. I set down on the seat and was shocked to feel water on it. The yeast produced co2 enough to vent up through the toilet and wet the seat, gross.
I had the tank pumped and now the yeast goes to the compost. I don’t know if it was a problem to the vented tank but I had it pumped too.
I guess most people who don’t garden also don’t compost. I compost every thing from egg shells to apple cores to veggies that go bad before they are eaten. Definitely any brewers waste goes into compost. The big issue with grain is it can definitely pile up quickly depending how much you brew and create a pretty terrible aroma. It’s best i recon to either have acreage or to hate your neighbors.
We have 5 composers and compost pretty much everything. There’s no need to compost the yeast when it’s much easier to just toss it.
Convenience for me. It all gets tossed into a bin and walked down to the garden. So why not? Easier than flushing it down the drain since i do all that work outdoors.