They are a green and a powerful one at that!

My DH brews and nothing gets my pile cooking like the spent grains. They are usually pretty wet, too, so you'll need to balance them with lots of dry browns. Then sit back and watch the steam rise.

Yep, malt is a great source of nitrogen (green). I've nothing to add to what karchita said - it's already damp, so cut it with a dry brown and start composting!

One thing I have found interesting, though, is that most C:N charts show spent malt as being low in nitrogen. But I've found that a pile of malt will get as gooey and stinky as a pile of grass clippings if you let it sit in the sun for a while...

Cheers,

Tim

The C:N charts show a ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen of various materials so when the chart shows that sawdust has a C:N ration of 500 to 1 (500:1) that means that sawdust has a large amount of Carbon to Nitrogen while something like manure with a C:N of 20:1 has a very low Carbon to Nitrogen ratio, ie. a lot of Nitrogen in relation to the Carbon, so a material with a C:N ratio similar to that of manure would be a "green", a source of Nitrogen for the compost pile. Malt, Hops, etc. would be a "green" because they have a low C:N ratio, numbers close to each other, and since the numbers are always given as a relation, ie. X parts of Carbon to 1 part Nitrogen that gives you an idea of what the material can contain.

i used to be a brewer in Maryland and I can attest to spent grains rotting and stinking.

they also tend to naturally have a lot of microbiota on them, even after they're used in the brewing process, so that would be a good kickstart to a pile too, I guess.

hops are a natural preservative and antibiotic (one of the main reasons they're used in brewing.) Would this have a negative effect on a compost pile?

Green green green green green. Have a good supply of browns ready.

Any material that had as much moisture as spent brewing waste would go into anaerobic digestion if it was piled up without any high carbon, dry, material and then it wouild smell very offensive. You need to take that wet material and mix it 1 part to 3 parts of a dry, high carbon material, treat it as manure.

"hops are a natural preservative and antibiotic (one of the main reasons they're used in brewing.) Would this have a negative effect on a compost pile?"

Interesting question. I don't compost the hops from my DH's brewing. There are not very many (compared to the spent grain) and DH either spreads them out on an unoccupied bed or puts them in the yard waste bin.

However, we grow hops and I compost the vines when I cut them down in the fall. This generally includes some of the old hop cones as well as the browned vines and leaves. They seem to compost just the same as anything else, but I will pay a bit more attention next fall and see if I can detect any effects when I add the hop vines.

not to get off topic but I just started a hop garden as well and would love ant tips youve got. maybe in another forum?

My only tip is when you stick them in the ground, jump back out of their way really fast. ;-)

They are quick and easy.

Give them a lot of space. They get aphids. They spread by runners, but they are very shallow and easy to pull. I planted mine in a 2-3 gallon plastic pot with the bottom cut off and that seems to be working so far, which is about 4 years. They are good looking; mine are a backdrop in the perennial garden and look great. That's all I can think of. Good luck!

Although what kimmsr said about the carbon nitrogen ratio is true, it cannot be looked at as a set in stone rule for every situation. For example coal is mostly carbon, if you add some nitrogen making a more favorable C:N ratio the coal is not going to compost. Soil humus is another carbon compound that resists breaking down. Conversely, sugar is a carbon compound that microbes can easily utilize with very little available nitrogen. The malting process converts starches to sugars. I donÂt actually know, but it seems feasible that brewers grains would therefore act more like a "green" (low C:N ratio) than the actual C:N ratio would indicate.

I built a 15 foot tripod this spring for my hop plant to grow up. The other day one leg broke and the whole thing came crashing down (into my bed of Peruvian daffodils). So I set it back up and there was a storm the other night and blew it over again (into my historic Italian open pollinated flint corn this time). Yesterday evening I set it back up, and although everything else in the vicinity is looking pretty beat up, the hop plant still looks pretty good. So yeah, they are tough.

What about Japanese beetles? I read somewhere -- you know, somewhere :-) -- that Japanese beetles like hops. And I don't need any more plants that Japanese beetles like.

"The malting process converts starches to sugars. I donÂt actually know, but it seems feasible that brewers grains would therefore act more like a "green" (low C:N ratio) than the actual C:N ratio would indicate."

Interesting. If that is the case, it would explain why they get the pile to heat up so effectively.

alfie,
I don't know about the Japanese beetles and hops because we don't have them in my area, and for that I am truly grateful.

What should i feed them (hops)

All that our established ones get is a topdressing of compost. I don't fertilize much, just mulch with compost like crazy.

To get young ones off to a strong start, you could give them any type of balanced fertilizer I suppose, or a sprinkling of used coffee grounds, but it probably isn't necessary.

karchita,

Just throwing sugar into your compost pile will heat it up quickly, but it does not really accomplish anything composting wise because the sugar is being broken down instead whatever it is you are trying to compost.

Alfie,

I have not had trouble with Japanese beatles on the hops.