Hello!

My name is Hannah, that smiling goofball next to me is Holden.

We are hikers and snuggle-champs but mostly he is my ride-or-die inspiration.

I garden and own a house that is constantly in flux, I’ve worked in a number of different industries, and until recently, I ran the OG taproom for Industrial Arts Brewing Company.

Wait! You promised nerdiness!

Indeed I did.

Let’s start at the beginning.

• What is brewery grain or spent grain?

Spent grain is malt (grain) that is leftover after the mashing process has extracted most of the sugars and proteins. The mash is basically hot cereal that will eventually become beer.

• Wait, hang on, what?

Brewing beer is, in its essence, a process of adding hot liquid to a solid, agitating it and then pulling it apart again. It starts with grinding the grain to open the hulls so that the proteins and sugars can escape. The grain is put into a vessel called a mash tun and hot water is added. The hot water releases enzymes which break down the carbohydrates in the grain into sugars and proteins. That stays in the liquid, now known as hot liquor, and is transferred to a different vessel.

The grain is now known as spent grain.

• Ok, so what do breweries usually do with all this waste?

Good question! We donate it to a local farmer to supplement their feed. And of course, I grab some as well.

• So what do you do with it?

So glad you asked :) I dehydrate the grain, mill it and combine it with flour to make the base of the dog treats. Once all the ingredients are mixed and rolled out, I cut them into the shape of a hop cone to pay homage to where it all started.

*there are no actual hops in the making of this product. Hops are toxic to dogs, please don’t give them beer!