BENGALURU: Do you know that the pork burger at Xoox Brewmill in Koramangala uses upcycled buns? The brewpub intelligently uses spent malt generated from brewing two kinds of craft beers and bakes buns.
“Spent grain breads have a unique malty texture and flavour which pairs well with beer. They are also 50% higher in nutritive value than refined flour breads due to high fibre content from the malt,” says Nitin Haridas, chef at the brewpub. He will add an assortment of spent grain breads as beer pairings in the next two months.
Riding on the zero-waste wave, brewpubs and craft breweries are putting spent malt to good use. They are baking breads, buns and brownies using beer waste. For the first time, spent grain is being used for human consumption in Bengaluru. Till now, it was donated as cattle feed to nearby farms.
Beer evangelist John Eapen baked a test batch of buns at Brew & Barbeque on Outer Ring Road while brewing a collaboration beer. Besides personal consumption, some of it was served to the public at a brunch.
“Spent grain doesn’t need to only go as cattle feed. It is high in fibre, low in sugar and perfect for breads, cookies and granola bars. It is an untapped market in India,” says Eapen.
Baking breads with spent malt is still in its nascent stage but breweries are aggressively employing R&D to make it a permanent feature on their dining menus.
Geist, a craft beer brewery, has been donating spent grain to farmers for sheep and cattle feed. As part of the ongoing Oktoberfest celebrations, the brewery launched a special fest brew and used the spent grain from the limited edition batch of lager to bake breads and pretzels for their investors.
“About three kilograms of spent grain dished out 50 loaves. We are now working towards making dog biscuits and beer munchies using spent grain,” says director Narayan Manepally. “The craft beer industry is a community that encourages eco-conscious living,” he adds.
Agrees Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, founder of Simba Beer. Spent grain brownies were the giveaways at his recent launch in Bengaluru. He got about 8 lakh kilograms of spent grain a year ago at his Chhattisgarh brewery.