spent grains

[mick3b1g]

during my search here I read about reusing a portion of spent grains and even backset on a new ferment adding more sugar and fresh grain. I saved a small portion from my last distill and wanted to give it a go. Question is When do I incorporate this spent grain? When I pitch the yeast? or do I recook it with the fresh grain? Or do I add it when I add the malt? Thanks for any advice

Mick

[condo33]

Hi Mike, give the UJSSM recipe in the tried and true section a read. The spent grains (corn) are the grey/white pieces you find on top of yhe barm. They are obviously more pale than the brite yellow corn below. Those pale pieces are removed and replaced by fresh. The backset of your distill is used to melt the sugar of the next ferment, and when cooled to 90 degrees or so, added to your next ferment in a 25% volume to the total wash volume. UJSSM thread is a great read from beginning to end.

[mick3b1g]

yea thats exactly where I read that and it seems like a great idea I will do exactly that Thanks I just wasn't sure about when to incorporate back in and what temp but I will re read

Mick

[condo33]

Sorry Mick,, not Mike. And that recipe improves each generation. My 4th gen was so much better than the earlier ones. It's a favorite.

[Prairiepiss]

during my search here I read about reusing a portion of spent grains and even backset on a new ferment adding more sugar and fresh grain. I saved a small portion from my last distill and wanted to give it a go. Question is When do I incorporate this spent grain? When I pitch the yeast? or do I recook it with the fresh grain? Or do I add it when I add the malt? Thanks for any advice

Mick

What are you making to begin with? Are you doing an AG? Or a sugarhead? You talk about adding malt? The spent grain won't have anything for the malt to convert. So basically it will only be good for a sugarhead. For flavor.

If you are doing a sugarhead to start with. You don't really ever remove the spent grain. Well you don't remove the whole grain bed from the fermenter. You scoop some of the depleted grains out and add some back in to replace it. Then you add backset sugar and water back into the fermenter on top of the grain/yeast bed.

If you are starting with an AG. And not fermenting on the grain. You would take the grains from the sparge add them to the fermenter. And add backset water and sugar on top of the grains. Then pitch yeast.

If you are doing AG and fermenting on the grains? Rack the cleared beer of the top of the grain/yeast bed. Like you would for a sugarhead. And basically follow the same steps as used with sugarheads above.

NC hooch has a good thread on piggybacking a sugarhead off an AG beer.

[mick3b1g]

Im basically doing Corn with a barley malt, sugar, and yeast. I was going to add a small portion of backset and spent grain back into the mix to help with the enzymes. Don't know if its worth it or not. I figure its going to be thrown in the backyard garden so why not try and reuse some of it I wasn't going to change anything in my recipe except adding this spent grain/backset.

Mick