Opinions and experiences on high quality brewery bi-products wanted

[AlaskanShepherdess]

It seems like everyone that I have read who gives the grain/yeast by-product leftover from making beer, has absolutely loved it. I haven't seen anything negative about it yet. Everyone raves over their goats shiny coats, great health and high milk production with it.

If you have used it please give me your story, and if you no longer do please tell me why. Also I am specifically talking about high quality products here, not anything cheap or yucky.

 

[Ariel301]

I get brewer's grain mash from a beer brewery near where I live. The downsides are that it has to be picked up frequently, whenever they call, or my neighbor and I lose the deal with them...so it's sort of a last minute "we have to drive an hour and go get it today" thing. Also, it spoils fast, especially in hot weather. It smells and attracts flies, which can get into it and lay eggs, and it ends up full of maggots--great chicken feed but not so much for the goats. I haven't found a container yet that keeps the things out. Also, our brewery cuts back on production in winter time and lately has cut back because of low sales, so it's sort of feast or famine with it, some weeks I have more than I can ever use and other times I have none for weeks at all. It does compost really well once it starts to go bad though, it gets really hot as it breaks down so it speeds up the process when you mix it with manure/straw/food scraps.

The good points are that it is free (Just have to pay for the gas to go get it), and I can feed it to all kinds of livestock. It is high protein (about 20%) and low in carbohydrates, so goats can eat a large amount (I let mine eat all they like, I just keep shoveling it into a trough for them) without getting sick like they would from regular grain. You do have to gradually increase the amount they are fed, of course, you can't just give them a trough of it and let them stuff themselves the first day, like any new feed. It is a nice feed to help cut down on the hay and grain bill, when I can get it, I can feed less grain and the goats eat less hay also. My milking does eat about 2 gallons apiece every day when it is plentiful. (full size does)

 

[helga-the-peasant]

We used to have a large goat herd we raised and trained as packstock. We had to give it up when hay prices got beyond our means. We also fed our herd a large amount of Spent grain from a local high-end brewery.
We still use the spent grain for all the other livestock on our farm.
With goats we did notice that there was a calcium deficiency showing up in the herd when we had to use this as our main feed source one really bad winter. This is also appearant in the other livestock too. Live and learn. We now balance out the dietary needs of the critters...So just be aware that spent grain is not a complete form of feed.
The spent grain did seem to help lactation. It helped the hay supply go farther.
It keeps well in the winter, but spoils in the hot summer (it makes excellent compost!). Depending on where you live, in the winter it can feeze into a solid block of ice in the bins you bring the spent grain home in, making feeding it out a real chore.We have had to bring bins in to thaw by the fire (oh,and you'll soon know if the bins leak). Goats really love the stuff, so you should not have any trouble introducing this as feed. We also found out that the local herd of elk REALlY like the stuff, so much so that they actually broke into our barns in the winter for the bins of spent grain we'd bring home. 32 elk in a barn can do a LOT of damage. ANd they will clean up the grain pretty quickly, leaving nothing else to feed the farm critters. Deer like it too. So do raccoons, etc...In other words you need to keep the stuff where wildlife will not get it...
Yes, you will be at the mercy of the brewery's schedule, which can be variable. There are many other willing people who will be reliable about picking up the load of grain from breweries, so you need to be sure you are the reliable one so you keep your arrangement with your local spent grain source.( sorth of a run-on sentence )
If your source of spent grain ever mixes hops in with the mash, be sure to keep it away from our farm/family dogs. Hops can kill a dog. Not all spent grain from the brewing process contains hops. Be sure you know what you are getting.

At this point in the economy, you need to balance out if the price of the gas to pick up the spent grain is worth it, as opposed to buying feed (or growing /havesting your own). ANd your time is a factor here. Moving over a ton of spent grain a week has been a huge phyical fitness program for our sons...especially when we have to haul it down the driveway pulling a sled when we get snowed in during the winter. You will need to be sure you can handle the weight of the bins you collect the spent grain in. An 18 gallon bin full of spent grain can weigh any where from 50-80+ pounds depending on how wet it is.

We have been feeding spent grain from the local brewery for over 8 years, so I guess I'd say we give it a "thumbs up".
All in all, having spent grain available to your livestock is a blessing.