What do you all do with your spent grain?
Into the compost pile it goes! Make sure it’s mixed in well or there will be flies!
+1 same here. If you leave it sit on top of the compost pile it will get quite smelly after a couple of days too.
I always fill a gallon zip lock which goes in the freezer for using in bread, the rest I either feed to the neighborhood chickens (well my friends neighborhood chickens) or compost. and Yes stir that compost
There’s a dude down the street who has a traveling petting zoo… so my grain feeds llamas, goats, a few ponies and an ass.
I’ve made bread with mine that was pretty good. This month in" Brew Your Own" magazine has some recipes for pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, and dog treats. I have a recipe somewhere for energy bars as well, just haven’t tried to make them yet. Hope to do the pizza dough and cinnamon rolls with my next batch.
Onto the compost pile here
+1 on the compost
Before and after the growing season i just spread it really thin on the garden soil and let it dry. Then i mix it into the soil every so often. Great for the ground.
Also, if you grow beer related stuff in the garden (corriander, hops, herbs and spices) you have a complete beer cycle going on! 
I have a local farmer who feeds it to their chickens. They come pick it up and all I have to do is leave it out by my garage. One less thing to deal with on brew day ;D
I compost the spent grain and the hops. Next year maybe I’ll have some chickens to feed some to. Someone nearby has goats, they might take some but I don’t know them and have never asked.
+1 for composting, and echoing “euge” and “chezteth” reminding you to mix it well and somewhat often to avoid flies and RANK smells. i didn’t know any better last year. this year my compost smells really good… err… for a compost.
when my compst gets too full i have others who take it for their compost or to feed goats
brew day dinner bread!
Is there a preferred style for bread?
We’ve used it for in wheat, honey wheat and French. Adds nice texture and aroma. I’d say my favorite was the honey wheat. I took some into work and folks scarfed it down happily.
It’s in Zymurgy, actually. This being the AHA forum and all.
I make bread with it, but that only takes up about 2 cups per brewday. The rest gets thrown away or (now) composted.
With regards to the bread. Do you just add the spent grains “as is” or do you have to mash or grind them more?
Also, does the flavor of the grain come through in the bread? If so maybe a pumpernickel with special b would be awesome.
We just add them “as is”. I would say the flavor is subtle and more noticeable with specialty grains. Don’t go overboard as the hulls can get to be a bit prickly.
Don’t be so hard on yourself Oscar. It’s not your fault, pilots are just that way. It’s all the responsibility. Like surgeons.
Haa! Thanks for correcting me! It was my first issue of Zymurgy, and I have had a subscription to BYO for awhile. I am a moron!!!
If you put an add on Craigslist, folks would be happy to take it away for you. I have buckets from three different local farmers and I rotate who gets the grain. And, I get free eggs from two of them…
They tell me that you shouldn’t feed chickens more than 25% spent grain though. I don’t know why or even if that’s true.