Brewers’ grains could be the next big thing to fuel athletes around the world. Every year about 9m tonnes of brewers’ grains are produced around the world, about 3m metric tonnes of this are protein.

Teagasc researcher Mark Fenelon is investigating protein extraction from plants and visited the Budweiser plant to see what the drinks company is doing to make its production chain more sustainable.

He explained that the brewers’ grains examined have a protein content of about 32% and this is often used to produce animal feed and added to animal’s diets.

Budweiser has now invested €200m in a plant which will extract protein from plants.

Mark and his colleagues visited the Budweiser plant and explained that the processing technology is similar to dairy, not all of the methods, but some are.

He commented that high-performance sports nutrition powders can now be made from upcycled barley protein contained in these grains.

He added that cheese and whey go together and now it may be possible for beer and protein to be produced together for human consumption and help to make the production chain more sustainable.

Mark’s team are working on extracting protein from Irish products. Protein crops like beans and peas are being examined and at present a beverage has been produced from beans, peas and lupins.