Few things beat a cold beer at the end of the day…unless you’re a dog, of course.

In that case, a Brew’ed Biscuit is more like it.

The pet food company, founded about five years ago by two friends from the hospitality industry, upcycles spent grains from their brewery to bake a delicious line of dog biscuits. Spent grains are a byproduct of beer, generated when the oats and barley are steeped to remove sugars. 

Fortunately, baking was almost second nature for Heather, a pastry chef, and her business partner Barb.

“Production was not really an issue since we had access to grains, a kitchen, and space,” Barb tells Replate. “But because time was an issue, and we needed to infiltrate an existing business, both the operation and the product had to be both good and simple. While we have many transferable skills, manufacturing and retail are ones we have been learning, and learning and learning.”

With the support of various entrepreneurial and innovation groups, Heather and Barb were able to quickly bring their plant-based dog biscuits to life. They “taste and smell like Grandma’s Cookies,” and come in three flavors that include Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Sweet Potato, and Apple Cinnamon.

Roughly two cups of grains are extracted for every six-pack of beer. As beer is the fifth most consumed beverage in the world, approximately 39 million tons of those spent grains are available worldwide, every year.

According to Barb, this byproduct typically goes to farms as animal feed, or to landfills as food waste.  

“We collect the grains as soon as the wort is removed, and combine them with local farm flavors to create a dough that we then roll and cut for baking,” she explains. “Once baked, they must air dry for a day before we package and seal. ”

To date, Brew’ed Biscuits has repurposed over two tons of spent grains into dog treats. The reaction has generally been glee, along with a “little slobber.”

Pets were a top priority for the entrepreneurs because they felt pets were often humans’ top priority. 

“We love making people happy,” says Barb. “We have both given out many ‘human treats,’ and while the response is great it doesn't even come close to the warm, fuzzy, infectious way people genuinely light up when they think or talk about their pets.”

In that case, Brew’ed Biscuits are good for people, pets, and the planet.

She adds, “We see purpose in repurpose, we all need to seek out new ways of operations that help not hurt, no matter how small the change.”

To learn more about Brew’ed Biscuits, visit their website.

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