Spent
My niece and her husband own a brewery–just a little microbrew outfit, called the Brickside. There’s little in it for me, beer is not gluten free. But my sister and her husband get a serious side benefit…spent grain.
Spent grain is a by-product of beer production. It is rich in nutrients and fiber. Some people dry it and bake with it. A lot of small farmers use it to augment the diets of their livestock. And gardeners use it for compost, and for direct amendment of their soils. My brother-in-law’s garden is lush and productive, in large part because of spent grain. It’s too bad that they’re 450 miles away.
2020 was supposed to be the year that we went in big with spent grain for our garden. We have friends, here in town, who have a brew-pub. Or, had. Just as we were gearing up for the great spent grain experiment, Covid-19 hit. And our friends had to make the difficult decision to close their establishment. Restaurants run on slim margins–doubly so for seasonal restaurants. That’s true, even if you can offer delicious artisan crafted beer on your menu. Our friends are one of the many who do not anticipate re-opening. So much for our foray into spent grain. It’s hard to complain about the loss of a perk, when our friends have lost their way of life.
There are other micro-breweries in the area. Rick decided to do a mass email to see if any of them were looking for folks to take their spent grains. Most locals already have farmers lined up to take them. But one answered in the affirmative. Sometimes he does “short runs” and his farmer can’t make the small batch stuff work for him. So this week, we received our first run of spent grain.
It was three huge bins of steaming, aromatic, wet grain. Each of the bins weighed in at well over 200 pounds. With it being mid-winter, we weren’t exactly geared up for this, so we decided to use the first load to top-dress our raised beds. We dumped the bins directly from the bed of the pick-up truck into our winter sled–five full sled loads, which we hauled down to the garden. We gave some to the chickens–but mostly, we loaded up the gardens. We finished, just as we lost daylight, happy and satisfied that our soil amendment experiment had begun.
The next morning I returned the bins. That afternoon, we walked down past the garden to scope out where we’d put our spent grain composting operation, when the next load was ready. We were shocked by what we saw. Deer in the garden!
Apparently, spent grain is heady, tempting stuff. Because those deer had come through that garden fence like it wasn’t even there. Over, through, (between the wires), however they could do it to get to that delicious all-you-can-eat buffet of sweet spent grain. All around the perimeter, and all over the garden, the snow was trampled with their hoof prints. I don’t think we’ve ever seen so much deer activity. Of course, once inside the fence, they weren’t limiting themselves to the grain smorgasbord–they were nibbling on the orchard trees, too!
Quickly, we set up barriers around the most vulnerable baby trees. But we knew that we had to deal with the grain–because it had created an irresistible invitation into a previously deer-free zone.
So, today, we went out to cover all the amended beds with heavy black plastic, weighed down with concrete blocks. We had to cover, or remove, all of the spent grain we’d spent half a day spreading. Rick is convinced that, come Spring, a new, taller, stronger fence will be installed. But just now we have to make it through the rest of the winter. A couple of hours later, we were cold and filthy, but it was done. The grain is fully covered–and we are spent.
Tonight Rick’s been checking the garden every hour or so. He stands on the front porch and shines a high beam flashlight into the garden. The light catches their eyes, in a strange ghostly way. So far, so good. Only one made its way into the garden. But we can see them, standing around the outside of the fenceline…wondering what happened to that great feast.
I should imagine that the chickens are the winners here for the moment. If the weather is not freezing the smell must attract animals from quite a distance. I wonder if you will attract more birds too. Amelia
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Chickens, winners, definitely. I’m hoping to be a little less attractive for now.
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Word got out quickly didn’t it. Any chance the spent grain gives them (the deer) a little buzz? I can just see a bunch of drunken deer milling around 🙂 Makes me sad to hear about your friends having to walk away from their dreams of a micro brewery. A lot of planning and investing to get to the point where you’re comfortable taking it to that level initially. Interesting post AV!~ DM
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It sure did. Amazing how quickly they knew. It’s unlikely that there’s a buzz. The grain is the first step in beer making–cooked up with the water to make the “wort,” that lovely liquid part that goes on to be brew, and then immediately removed. Nutrient rich, it spoils quickly–and then the deer/chickens/livestock won’t eat it anymore.
I’m hoping our friends will find a way to do the beermaking part, without the whole responsibility of a restaurant–perhaps partner with someone. But for now, restaurants and bars are closed–so she’s teaching and he’s working construction.
As for me, I’m mixing up super potent deer repellent and heady out to spray the whole mess down.
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This is the kind of thing I think would eliminate the need for gyms. 😳
I do love this story.
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Yeah, I let my membership to the Y lapse. Between our lifestyle, and the fact that I couldn’t justify all the driving, I decided to stay fit at home. So far, it’s working.
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And I’d say At this point, a lot safer as well; )
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Well, I can’t get credit for pandemic clairvoyance. I live 15 miles from the gym–a benefit and cost of rural living. Swimming three or four times a week? Do the math. It made sense during the build phase, when the crew had me running into town regularly for materials. But after that, I could not justify that carbon footprint–so that I would swim.
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Too bad there’s not a swimming hole of some sort nearby…
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Yeah, my occasional lottery fantasy is that I win, and then put the proceeds into a pool/gym complex for this town (or even into our local high school). The area could sure use it. Imagine a peninsula surrounded on three sides by Great Lakes waters, and peppered with numerous inland lakes–and there’s nowhere in the county to go to learn to swim! No water safety–nada. If I were rich and famous…….
Of course, in summer, there’s Lake Michigan and any one of the inland lakes for swimming, kayaking and whatnot.
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In my previous life, I always made regular use of my gym membership. But my ex was one of those guys who’d drive to the gym, and circle the parking lot like a vulture, waiting for a good, close-in parking spot. Sheesh.
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LOL, so what, does working out only count if someone else is watching then?; )
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I certainly never understood. After all, I was watching.
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I just bet those deer were saying, “Oh such nice people to offer us a Christmas feast!” Sorry! –Curt
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I didn’t know that spent grain made good soil dressing. I am married to a brewer, so I will look into it for gardening purposes. That is quite a story . . . would it be not a good thing to spread out the spent grain outside the garden areas to help the deer through the winter, and other creatures as well?
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At this particular juncture, that’s more charitable towards them than I can muster. The only downside that I’ve read so far to top-dressing fresh, is that it is very high nitrogen–hot–and thus not a good thing for germinating seeds. (but it might be a good weed seed suppressant, for the same reasons.)
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So, will it be ‘cooled’ enough by Spring, after spending the winter under the snow?
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Not likely. It’ll be frozen for most of the winter. In spring, as soon as the ground freezes, we’ll deep dig it in. And we’ll plant starts, instead of in-ground seeds. Assuming our source continues to be viable, the best use will be composted grain (mixed with wood chips, leaves and other high carbon materials.) But our soils are so bad, so completely barren of nutrients and organic material, that this is a good bet in any case. And–spent grains are acidic–yet another source of relief from our alkaline dune sands.
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Maybe it was Rudolph, feasting before the long drive ahead!
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