From Eggs to Biscuits -
Your Dog's Own Happy Hour treat!
In the late summer of 2017, we had survived a full season on our new farm.
Fresh Eggs from our Farm
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Chickens on our Farm
Taking a break from hard work, we decided to attend a concert which benefits a local hospice and have a relaxing evening.
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The headliner band that night was Blue Öyster Cult. Funny now to realize that the band’s name came from an anagram of “Cully Stout Beer” after reading that the origins of that name came from a 1960’s poem written by their manager, Sandy Pearlman.
Little did any of us know that evening how much life would change.
We met a friend that evening who would soon be brewing beer in Seymour, Indiana, at a new brewery called The Seymour Brewing Company. The brewer wanted to find a place that would take the spent brewing grain after the mash process and use it for livestock feed. Knowing that this would absolutely help the feed bill for our chickens and also be a pretty cool thing to be a part of, we agreed to work together.
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Two weeks later, the first grain was ready and we traveled to the restaurant/bar to find three 5 gallon buckets that weighed 50/60lbs. each, ready for pickup.
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We took the buckets home and carried them to the chicken coop. Knowing that three buckets would be WAY too much grain for the then 4 birds that were on the farm, one bucket went to the birds who eagerly started gobbling it up and the other two buckets were taken to the garden to start composting into the ground for next year’s veggies.
Spent Brewer's Grain
Chickens Eating the Mash
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A few days later, the brewer contacted the farm again with another three buckets available. At this point, our chickens hadn’t eaten but a portion of what had been offered days earlier. Not wanting to waste, we took the grain and put it on the garden, but somewhere - we knew there had to be another opportunity for the mash.
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One morning, getting ready for work, the idea hit. Hey, can’t spent brewing grains be used for doggy treats? A quick Google search confirmed the thought and there were recipes available that worked the spent grains into treats that dogs loved and that were good for them. A few tweaks to a peanut butter flavor recipe to make it our own, and adding our own farm fresh eggs from the chickens, and the first batch of spent brewing grain dog treats was created.
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The dogs at the farm went crazy for the treats and then a taste test to get friends and coworkers' pooches' approval and I.P.A. Bites were born.
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I.P.A. Bites are now in local stores, have been sold at the Indiana State Fair and even gained fame by being sampled and enjoyed by Indiana State's own First Dog, Henry Holcomb!
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The farm's flock has increased since those early days and now the birds can eat all three buckets of spent brewing grain at one time, several times a week. That being said, we always hold the best mash back to make the delicious I.P.A. Bites treats. It's good for your dog, it's good for the environment and we enjoy making each one.
