Greek philosopher Plato may have famously said “he was a wise man who invented beer,” but is a man or startup who has found a use for the dregs smarter again?

That’s a question to be asked of 3D printing supply company 3Dom USA, Inc. who have released a new 3D printing filament called “Buzzed” that is made using waste byproducts from the beer making process.

We were unable to obtain data on how much beer dregs may pollute the environment, but certainly the product would appear to be environmentally friendly as well, as it utilizes those beer left-overs to create a special 3D printing material with visibly unique print finishes.

The filament produces what the company describes as products with a rich golden color and a noticeable natural grain, or you could perhaps even go as far as saying that it appears (as per the picture above) to have nearly a light wood grain to it.

Usage

The filament, that retails for $49.95 for 1kg (2.2lbs), can be printed on any machine capable of printing with Polylactic acid (PLA) using standard PLA settings such as those made by MakerBot, LulzBot, FlashForge, and others.

Buzzed is said to print well at 180-210 C, although in general the company recommends that a good starting point is 10 degrees cooler than a user would typically print PLA. A heated bed is not necessary, though if a user has one, it should be set to 45 C.

“Now a stein printed with Buzzed is a true ‘beer stein’ ” the company notes.

Buzzed isn’t the only interesting ingredient 3Dom is selling, with the company also offering a filament called “Wound Up” which replaces the beer in Buzzed with coffee instead.

Like the beer filament, the coffee filament also utilizes waste byproducts, potentially delivering environment benefits, let alone the fact you can now print something from coffee, as well as beer.

Wound Up is a touch cheaper than Buzzed with prices starting at $26.

More information is available on 3Dom’s site here.

Image credit: 3Dom.