ABSTRACT

Since beer was first produced, the single-minded focus of the brewer has been on the quality, taste, and stability of the beer. The by-products of brewing were of no consequence. However, today 568with the advent of the “super” breweries, in conjunction with reduced availability of certain feed commodities, the economic recognition of value in hitherto labeled waste streams, and an increase in environmental responsibility with those same waste streams, we have seen an explosive technical development in the treatment and application of brewery by-product and effluent streams for use in animal feed products and, more recently, in human foods. Efficiencies in the brewing process have undoubtedly reduced the volumes of by-product produced, but with today’s larger breweries, the need to process and move by-products out of the brewery quickly and for an optimum price have become significant within brewing logistics and financial performance.