Ten-thousand years worth of cooperation between farmers & beer makers about to get zinged by the FDA
Here's the way things used to be:
-- Brew master makes a batch of beer in his brew house.
-- It requires that he brew a half ton of grain.
-- After he gets his beer, the spent grain is of no more use to him.
-- Local cattle farmer sees the spent grain as an excellent form of cattle feed.
-- Local farmer gladly takes all that spent grain off the brew master's hands.
-- Brew master is glad he doesn't have to deal with the mess and expense of grain disposal.
-- Money rarely changes hands here. It's an even swap.
-- Maybe at Christmas time, brew master sends a giftwrapped case of beer, and farmer sends over a giftwrapped case of sirloin. Other than that, pretty much no monetary exchange happens.
>>> Lovely symbiotic relationship dating back many thousands of years.
Then along comes the FDA.
The FDA has proposed a new ruling whereby the spent grains should be regarded as "animal food" and must therefore be regulated.
Brew masters and cattle farmers across the USA are aghast, insisting these rules will financially break this longstanding symbiotic system, possibly driving many brewers and even farmers out of business.
My feeling is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
http://m.sunjournal.com/news/busine...ding-ties-between-beer-makers-farmers/1508954
Here's the way things used to be:
-- Brew master makes a batch of beer in his brew house.
-- It requires that he brew a half ton of grain.
-- After he gets his beer, the spent grain is of no more use to him.
-- Local cattle farmer sees the spent grain as an excellent form of cattle feed.
-- Local farmer gladly takes all that spent grain off the brew master's hands.
-- Brew master is glad he doesn't have to deal with the mess and expense of grain disposal.
-- Money rarely changes hands here. It's an even swap.
-- Maybe at Christmas time, brew master sends a giftwrapped case of beer, and farmer sends over a giftwrapped case of sirloin. Other than that, pretty much no monetary exchange happens.
>>> Lovely symbiotic relationship dating back many thousands of years.
Then along comes the FDA.
The FDA has proposed a new ruling whereby the spent grains should be regarded as "animal food" and must therefore be regulated.
Brew masters and cattle farmers across the USA are aghast, insisting these rules will financially break this longstanding symbiotic system, possibly driving many brewers and even farmers out of business.
My feeling is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
http://m.sunjournal.com/news/busine...ding-ties-between-beer-makers-farmers/1508954
New FDA rules may cut long-standing ties between beer makers, farmers
by Nick McCrea, Bangor Daily News -- Monday, Mar 24, 2014
BANGOR — America’s booming brewing industry and farmers alike are bothered and befuddled by a proposed U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule change that could alter a partnership that dates back to Neolithic times.
In Maine and across the country, brewers and farmers have formed handshake agreements: Brewers brew beer, producing barrels or truckloads full of heavy, wet spent grains. These grains have been heated up to extract sugars, proteins and other nutrients that go on to make beer. The process is called mashing. The spent grains are a byproduct — with no real usefulness purpose left for the brewer.
To the farmer, spent grains are a valuable dietary supplement for their livestock. It’s common for breweries to reach out to local farms to offer up their spent grains as animal feed. Most often, farmers are happy to oblige, picking up the spent grains themselves a few times per week. Little or no money exchanges hands during these deals. Brewers are glad to get rid of the grain, and farmers are glad to take it off their hands....
Last edited: