Spent Grains Increase Sustainability
From left: Jay Knox, farmer; Harrison Holder, Assistant Brewer; DG Gonzalez, Director of Brewing and Head Brewer at Lost Worlds.
After the mash on a collaboration day with Mad Mole Brewing (Wilmington, NC)
We keep a busy brew house at Lost Worlds, where on any given week the tanks are typically full. Pallets of malt, barley and other key ingredients are stored and stacked to fuel the production schedule that supports the taproom and wholesale accounts.
An average week of brewing can produce up to 700 pounds of spent grain, the leftover malt and adjuncts after the mash has extracted most of the sugars, proteins and nutrients.
According to Director of Brewing and Head Brewer, David Gonzalez, if there wasn’t a plan in place, these grains would go straight to a landfill. Instead, Gonzalez chooses a sustainable approach.
“After we’re done with the grain, there’s still about 26 to 30 percent protein left in it which is rich in lipids and fiber,” says Gonzalez. “Spent grain can be used in cooking, baking and for farm feed, where farmers will mix it with their normal feed as the spent brewer’s grain is highly palatable.”
On average, 700 lbs. of spent grains are placed into containers to be picked up by local farmer, Jay Knox.
The cows at the farm on Black Farm Road enjoy Lost’ Worlds’ spent grain enriched with bran from Jay Knox’s farm.
Jay Knox, who raises cattle on his farm on Black Farm Road in Huntersville, is a Lost Worlds partner whose cows benefit from the nutritional byproduct. He adds bran to the spent grains to help feed thirty-five cows and calves. “We stop by Lost Worlds usually one or twice a week to pick up the grains, then take it back to the farm and add bran to it – the cows love it.”
Knox isn’t the only beneficiary, Gonzalez also gives the grains to Corinne Brandhorst of Ladybug Farms Bakery in Bessemer City, NC. She sells her "Spent Grain" breads, and other products, mostly at farmers markets throughout Gaston County.
“I met her a number of years ago at a farm event in Gastonia. I asked her if she had ever used spent brewing grains in any of her bread, and she had not, but was very interested. So, I started to give her grain occasionally, which she turned into baked goods. Corinne tells me that usually this is the first bread of hers to sell out each time she offers it.”
“Honestly, it's the right thing to do. We dispose of a byproduct in our brewery by helping a local farmer and baker and being a little more sustainable too. It's a win win-win.”