Spent Mash

[hotmaildotcom1]

Hey there guys and gals,

I have a question I'm having a hard time finding a topic for, so I hope that this is an acceptable location to try and start it. I have all of this spent corn and other organic waste that I have no where to put in my current housing situation. While it seemed like an insignificant issue upon starting up the practice, I am now a couple months into it and have built up what I (and I'm sure my landlord) would call a considerably sized pile of organic waste.

Having already tried disposing of it in the city trash I know that is not an answer. I was lucky enough to witness the garbage truck pour the slop over the front of the truck and my whole street, in what I would call a feat of piss poor engineering or operation. I was fined only 5 dollars but it is an escalating fine and I do not wish to give them anymore money for only infrequently emptying my garbage.

Anyways back on topic. I was wondering if anyone had any experience taking the spent nutrient sources from their mash and burying it under 6-10 inches of dirt as a way to compost the stuff. I would assume that it would be a simple yes, but I have a dead spot in my yard that I am quite certain can be attributed to my washing my fermenter out there one day. I would hate to bury an alcoholic mess in my yard that would prevent anything from growing there in the years to come. Even more so I would hate to bury an alcoholic mess in my landlords yard that would not decompose and aid in the growing of plant life over the now turned up soil lol.

Please take into consideration that my comments in no way imply my disrespecting property that is not mine, it was just for humor. I have just been taking the slop out to a location for dumping that I have permission to dump on and the elements and wildlife there have been taking care of it just fine. It's just a long drive and I am trying to seek an alternative that might in some way even help fill in the dead spots in my yard.

Thanks everyone!

[skow69]

I turn all my spent grains under in the garden. It makes great soil conditioner. But get some lime to mix in with it to counteract the acidity. A soil pH tester is cheap. Try to keep it between 6 and 7.

[NZChris]

Put it out for the birds.

I'm sure your neighbors won't mind the few lbs of guano they drop on their roofs and fences while they wait for their daily ration.

[StillLearning1]

In your welcome thread you said you are making UJ. Are you re using any of the spent corn? If you have only been at it a few months making small batches I can't see how you have such a large amount of waste?

[moosemilk]

Put it out for the birds.

I'm sure your neighbors won't mind the few lbs of guano they drop on their roofs and fences while they wait for their daily ration.

Done this. They make quick work of it. Also compost it in my garden. But as skow mentioned, you want to watch acidity. I also throw all my eggshells (at least a dozen a week in my household) so it helps counter acidity. If you don't want to add lime, grab oyster shells from feed store. Cheap, use them to raise your soil pH from the acidic spent grains, and use them if you need in your mash to raise pH (when you get further on in generations of UJ, or using dunder in rums, they come in handy...thanks btw to T-pee for a post that turned me on to these).

Also some recipes around for organic dog treats. Spend some time at parks with a bag and the ducks and pigeons will love you. If you have a place with deer near bye, they love it also. Get creative!

[hotmaildotcom1]

First off thank you everyone. I will be doing this probably as soon as it starts to warm up tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't mind much but I haven't had too much luck with the birds actually getting the product. It tends to just look and smell like someone got a little too boozy in my backyard lol.

Also..

In your welcome thread you said you are making UJ. Are you re using any of the spent corn? If you have only been at it a few months making small batches I can't see how you have such a large amount of waste?

I've indeed been going at it a couple months but I have generated what I would consider I large amount of waste. Probably nothing compared to the more conditioned brewers out here though. I've been doing two to three fermenters at a time, each 7 pounds of corn respectively as per the recipe. You did hit the nail on the head though, as for the first two rotations of stock the only thing I put back in was my backset. I threw the corn out, something I haven't done for a while but I still have been doing batch to batch trying to get the method of this madness down lol. Since I started using the corn for more than one batch, I still probably only get about 3 or 4 rotations out of it before it severely starts to impact fermentation time. I've had it stall once, and I attributed it to this malnutrition.

I do note for sure though that because of the small neck on the container I cannot replace the spent corn and scoop off the bad stuff like recommended by Uncle Jesse. I'm sure this is what is causing me to get 3 to 4 rotations out of the corn instead of the 6-8 that he said he was getting. I'm using food grade ten gallon plastic water bottles, that I very much know are looked down upon but it is all that I currently have access to.

Thanks again everyone!

[moosemilk]

Most likely reason for a stall with UJ tends to be pH, but could see it being nutes in your case

Ask around at local restaurants if they have any extra plastic buckets. Most cooking oil bought in bulk comes in 5 gallon HDPE pails. May have to clean them up, or dispose (properly) of the old oil if there is any in there, but they work great.

[hotmaildotcom1]

Will do, thank you. What are you using for a fermenter? I'm just trying to get a feel for what I should be trying to work towards.

[moosemilk]

Will do, thank you. What are you using for a fermenter? I'm just trying to get a feel for what I should be trying to work towards.

I have a whack of 5 gallon pails, I glass carboy, 2 HDPE carboys, 20 gallon brute trash can and 55 gallon rain barrel.

Edit** if I knew when I got into this what I do now, I would have started with the brute.

[hotmaildotcom1]

Sorry for the delayed response, it has been a busy couple months to say the least.

I have a whack of 5 gallon pails, I glass carboy, 2 HDPE carboys, 20 gallon brute trash can and 55 gallon rain barrel.

When you are using your 20 gallon garbage can, do you bother using a bubbler of any sort?

I have been using a 55 gallon drum for the last couple months that was formerly used to contain hop seed oil from a local brewery (I don't ever recommend this as it's a bi-otch to clean out of there, though it smells amazing). I have read in a couple places, though they cannot be recollected, that a simple screen could be used to just simply keep bugs out. This is what I did and achieved some mediocre results.

While at this point I could change my handle to "mediocre results" a am trying to improve and was wondering if an airlock might be a quick and easy way to do so. An attempt was made to seal the removable top by making a silicone O-Ring under the top lid, but my homemade bubbler is not showing a single bubble. I attribute this to a poor seal above all else but I think it could also be a lack of pressure as I also only filled the drum in 25 gallon batches since the addition of the bubbler and the lid.

Also to tie up the thread I have been tilling the spent into my roommates garden with some eggshells as was suggested by moosemilk, and it seems to be providing very well for the growth there. He does his own conditioning though with coffee grounds and such though, as gardening is much more his thing. It however certainly does not immediately kill the above growth, which was my concern that I believe started the thread.

The spots that I buried into the dead spots in my yard however yielded different results, with an easy explanation that is once again attributed to moosemilk. The spot that was buried straight, still remains dead and barren. The spot that was pre-mixed to a slightly acid pH before tilling into the spot under the grass, now grows taller than the rest of the surrounding yard and looks equally like crap. The explanation being simply that my yard needs more attention and that proper pH is the key to responsible disposal in this manner.

Just out of curiosity I saved enough to surface fertilize the side lawn on my house (pH adjusted). The place smelled quite strange for about 3 days (so strange the birds wanted absolutely nothing to do with my house), but it grew like hell. Mix in some proper herbicide and I'd bet I could solve yet another household issue using by-products of this hobby. This issue has about turned me into a regular tree hugger from my neighbors' perspective I'm sure.

Last note: All of this random decomposition in my yard I directly attribute to the massive increase in the insect issue I've had at my place. Just trying to be thorough. I've got earwigs everywhere now. A lesson on proper storage and sanitation to other fellow newcomers who might have stumbled to this thread.