Using food waste as ingredients in the brewing process....

[nickw14]

Hey everyone!

I am new to the group and scene of Homebrewing but wanting to get some advice firstly.

I am looking to start brewing in connection with a group of volunteers who collect unwanted/surplus food from companies who would have thrown it out.

They are doing a great job but have to turn down so much food being donated to them as they do not have the room or capacity to take it. Thats where I come in.

I was wondering whether it would be ok to use ingredients, for example fruit, vegetables, herbs that are still edible but not being very visual appealing.

Of course not to use ones that have mould on them.

Do you think this would be ok within the brewing process? Or do you see any issues arising from this?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

You don't say where you are but there's various people who have done this kind of thing. The most obvious people to talk to would be the Toast Ale guys in London who have turned over 12 tonnes of bread into beer that's now available in several British supermarkets and have sister projects internationally.

Grain-based food is best for making beer with - so most people start with waste bread, baked goodsetc. You can use fruit etc as minor components - eg Northern Monk in Leeds made a beer with waste croissants and pears.

 

[IslandLizard]

Props to you and your small army of volunteers! Be creative, finding different ways to use them up before they become compost. A small farm here gets past prime vegetables and fruits donated by some supermarkets, dropped off by volunteers. I occasionally add my spent grain to the mix. The animals truly appreciate that smorgasbord!

Ripe fruits, right on their peak, can be very good in beer, but once they're on the decline, not so. Any off flavors carry forward, unless Brett is present trying to turn them into something more palatable. Those are still 50/50 and take 2-3 years before you know.
Now a few pounds of ripe cherries, peaches, mangos etc. added to the right beer can be delicious, but won't get rid of mega-tons of them. There's a maximum of around 2 pounds of fruit per gallon of beer, and that's mostly for sours that will age for another year, or two.

It's a real shame that so much food is being wasted while people go hungry at the same time...

 

[Yacov327]

I have a Tomato Basil Ale recipe as well as a Carrot Apple Ale.

Don't know what herbs you have but you should look up Gruit Ales.

I also make and can vegetable stock with all my vegetable scraps. Not beer I know but well worth it, so much better than anything you can get at the store.