Hoppy is aged in a storage tank, the last step in the liquid production process. After filtration, the sediment in the liquid gently settles over time, and the clear part is bottled to become Hoppy. Most of the sediment is the yeast that has been used to make the Hoppy. This is called excess yeast. Excess yeast is a waste product, but it still contains nutrients. Like malt dregs, it is also a very good food for livestock.

Given its usefulness, the excess yeast is transported to Chiba Prefecture. There, under the concept of food recycling, a company collects food loss and converts it into animal feed. At their factory, food loss such as surplus production and manufacturing by-products from food factories are collected, processed, and converted into a liquid feed for pigs. When we think of food loss, we tend to think of leftover stock or uneaten food, but what is collected here is all things that people normally consume. For example, chocolates, cakes, noodles, raisins, cookies and mille-feuille, so a sweet smell wafts around the area when the ingredients are brought in by large trucks. Pigs love sweet foods, and these are mixed with liquid to make liquid feed. The ingredients are different each time, but they are blended according to a recipe plan that considers the nutritional balance for the pigs, and more than 300 tons of liquid feed is produced each day.

The resulting liquid feed is transported to a nearby group of pig farms where it is mixed with feed rice and other grains, and then fed to the pigs. Liquid feed produces no dust, so there is less risk of bronchitis or pneumonia for people on the farm and for the pigs, and it is also more digestible and absorbable, so they grow faster.

episode 6
Excess Yeast Helps Fatten Pigs