Bengaluru Chef Transforms Brewery Leftovers into Delicious Goods.
Bengaluru chef Elizabeth Yorke is making a positive impact by upcycling “spent grain,” a byproduct of the beer brewing process, from the city’s numerous microbreweries. In a city known as India’s beer hub, with over 60 microbreweries, a staggering 12,000 kilograms of wheat and barley byproducts are generated daily, often ending up as cattle feed or in landfills, contributing to food waste and methane emissions.
Elizabeth, a 30-year-old chef and food researcher, recognized the hidden potential in this spent grain and decided to transform it into sustainable goodies. She repurposes the grain into flour, which is then used to create a range of delicious products, including cookies, brownies, bread, chapatis, pizzas, and laddus.
For instance, if a microbrewery produces 1,000 liters of beer a day, it leaves behind about 200 kilograms of grain byproduct. Elizabeth’s innovative initiative, ‘Saving Grains,’ rescued 1,200 kilograms of spent grain from being discarded as waste in the past year.
Elizabeth’s inspiration for this project began during her culinary journey, where she observed the historic relationship between brewers and bakers who shared ingredients and byproducts in a closed-loop system. Her extensive experience in the culinary field, along with her curiosity and passion for sustainability, has led her to upcycle spent grain, reducing waste and creating unique, earth-friendly products.
In essence, Elizabeth Yorke’s ‘Saving Grains’ is addressing the issue of food waste while promoting a circular and sustainable food system by giving new life to this often-overlooked byproduct from the brewing process.
Re-reported from the article originally published in The betterindia
