Brewer's Barley Bonz - Making Dog Treats from Beer Grain

Did you know that the barley used to make beer can be recycled to make dog treats? The people at Brewer's Barley Bonz in Washington state have figured it out, and boy do the dogs go crazy for them!

One of the Barley Bone chefs works as an assistant brewer at a microbrewery in their picturesque town on the banks of the Snake River in Eastern Washington State. When beer is made, grain (such as barley) combines with hot water to create the wort. It’s called the “mashing process” but I just think of it as creating a giant batch of barley tea. The liquid is then removed from the “mash tun” and is prepared for fermentation to create the alcohol (the wort contains the sugars that are broken down by the yeast during fermentation).

Anyway, microbreweries end up with a lot of “spent grain” after the mashing process. It’s called “spent grain” because they are done with it…. the brewers have already got what they needed out of it.

 This is the interesting part. As it turns out, spent grain contains a great deal of protein and vitamins that can benefit animals. That’s why a lot of breweries give it to stock yards and feed lots as food for cattle. There’s nothing wrong with it, it was just heated up and soaked in water for awhile. No alcohol, no chemicals - just yummy tasting plant matter that animals seem to love.

When this assistant brewer in Eastern Washington State came across a simple, crude recipe for using spent grain as a main ingredient for dog treats, he thought he’d give it a whirl. What could it hurt? Ladies have been coming into the brewery for years to collect spent grain for their homemade wholegrain bread recipes. If it’s good enough for high-end human food, it’s gotta be good enough for our beloved canine companions too!

The first batch was an experiment, but his dogs gobbled them right up. Even his wife’s picky Yorkshire terrier loved them! After awhile, the brewer-turned-baker developed his own irresistible dog treat recipe using the brewery’s spent grain and all-natural ingredients to create his All-Natural barley dog treats. When his friends started to beg for more and more dog treats because their four-legged friends couldn’t get enough of them, Brewer’s Barley Bonz became a business catering to dogs and dog-lovers of all shapes and sizes – offering mouth-watering All-Natural Brewer’s Barley Bonz Dog Treats.

Homemade and handcrafted right here in the United States, Brewer’s Barley Bonz are a truly unique must-have snack for your dog.

To learn more about Brewer’s Barley Bonz dog treats or to find out where you can purchase them, visit their website at www.brewersbarleybonz.com