All hail to the Brussels Beer Project for stepping into the circular economy. BBP’s first brew in that direction was Babylone, made with unsold bread, thus reducing waste.
We give BPP a rating of 5 Beer Idiots for closing the loop. It is reusing the spent grains of malt from the brew to make bread and other bakery products.
The residual grains of malt after the brew are usually used to augment cattle feed as a protein and fiber booster. For urban micro-breweries the spent grain can be a logistical and costly waste to get remove.
BBP has announced it now drying the spent malt at its Dansaert-based brewery just after each brew. The brewer target is to reuse 80% of its spent grains. It produces about 40 tonnes per year.
“We have a partnership with 2 local bakeries to transform our flour back into bread,” the brewer announced this week. “But the products could be used in many different recipes, such as biscuits, granola or waffles.”
The brewer also seems to be offering the grains at its brewery to anyone who comes along. The price is €5 for 400 g. For the moment the brewer is out of stock but will continue selling them in the last week of October. To help you can find some recipes on the brewer’s site, created by one of BBP’s crowdfunders.
Earlier this year BBP launched a “Call for Architects” for its new, larger brewery in Port Sud, Anderlecht, Brussels. The brewer is “looking for daring designers who can help us build a brewery of the 21st Century that’ll take all our production back to Brussels – a capacity of 10 million bottles/year to brew over 30 different beers – rien que ça!”
The building could reach up to 15 meters high on nearly 1000 sq m with an adjacent beer garden of 900 sq m. The plan is to begin producing beer there at the end of 2020.
“BBP intends to share the progress of this competition with its community,” a press release stated. “Members will be given the choice over the final architectural project in October 2018. The different stages of this project will be shared in real time: obtaining permits, beginning of construction, arrival of the brewing equipment, first brews. The BBP will again appeal to its large community to achieve an even greater crowdfunding for this project.”
