CORONADO BREWING COMPANY
REDIFINES TERM, “DOGGY BAG”
By Joe Ditler
CORONADO The Coronado Brewing Company is offering a new food item, and it’s not on the menu. It’s a doggy treat made from brewers’ leftover grain that has been one of CBC’s fastest moving products this month. “Brew Bones” are a healthy snack for the dogs and are the direct result of a unique recycling concept.
The all-natural doggy treats contain no corn, no wheat flour, and no soy. Appropriately, the snack comes in a doggy bag, and is quite literally being gobbled up.
Heloise Love, a North County entrepreneur, created Brew Bones in partnership with her childhood friend, Jennifer McFadden. “Our goal was to re-purpose this spent grain waste that otherwise just gets thrown out or used for chicken feed,” said Love.
Since the dawn of civilization, spent grain has been used by farmers as mulch, and as a feed supplement to fatten their cows and chickens. Mostly, however, it ends up in landfills.
Conscious of the amount of waste that craft brews create, the Chapman family and CBC have been giving most of their spent grain to a Lakeside dairy. Robert Van Ommering picks up grain from CBC twice a week to feed his 400 cattle. He figures he goes through nearly 200 tons of spent grain each year. “You could say it’s always Happy Hour with our cows,” said the rancher.
Grain is the backbone of beer. The grain is rinsed with water to remove the sugar. After the sugar is extracted, disposal of the spent grain becomes a challenge that grows with the quantity of beer you brew. Not so much for home brewers, but when you make beer on the level of the Coronado Brewing Company (they are currently distributing in 12 states and four countries), it can become a logistical challenge of behemoth proportions.
The addition of Brew Bones at CBC has created a wonderfully exciting buzz with clientele. “We’re actually selling way more Brew Bones than we expected,” said Kyle Chapman, manager of CBC. “We keep them displayed in the foyer of our restaurant and the customers have been buying them like crazy.”
Chapman said the product is one of many specialty items they are looking to put in their soon-to-open tasting room and retail area at Knoxville CBC’s new, 20,000-square-foot brewing facility located near Tecolote Canyon in San Diego. Many of their retail items involve the popular CBC mermaid logo.
In addition to spent beer grain, ingredients for the popular Brew Bones include 100% natural peanut butter, brown rice flour, and flaxseed meal. The treats contain no alcohol, chemicals, preservatives or artificial flavors.
Spent grain from certain CBC beers can not be used in the making of Brew Bones because they contain wheat beers like Orange Avenue WIT and some of the CBC specialty brews so brewers carefully monitor what goes into the Brew Bones recipe.
“People eat them too,” said Love. “I sell Brew Bones at the Farmers’ Market, and every Saturday a man comes by and gets a bag for himself. My business partner’s 18-year-old daughter eats them for breakfast with butter spread on them.
“Many folks read what the ingredients are and say, Why not?’ Actually, the ingredients are simpler and more wholesome than many sugared granola bars on the market,” said Love. “Flax has a nutty taste all it’s own. Then, when you add all natural peanut butter to that, you really have something wonderful.”
In fact, chefs around the country are starting to use fresh, spent grains in cooking recipes. It is not uncommon to find spent grain in pizzas, burgers, cookies, muffins and breads, and the list is growing as adventurous chefs around the world seek that something special, and something new. The grains have to be recovered immediately after discarding to maintain their freshness, but some chefs freeze the fresh grains right away, then use them as needed.
Coronado Brewing Company Brew Bones are currently only available at their Coronado restaurant (170 Orange Avenue), but will soon be sold at the Knoxville facility (1205 Knoxville). A bag of 15, 2-inch bones sells for $5.95. For more information visit their website at www.coronadobrewingcompany.com.
Photo Captions:
Coronado Brewing Company’s newest food item is literally for the dogs. Brew Bones are made from recycled, spent brew grain. The all-natural peanut butter treats contain no corn, wheat flour or soy. Photo by Joe Ditler.
Osha, a 12-week old German shepherd, loves Brew Bones. She gets one every day for good behavior. The guilty look is because she would like to have the whole bag. Photo by Joe Ditler.
Rick Chapman, co-founder of the Coronado Brewing Company, pulling grain after a collaboration brew with the Maui Brewing Company. Photo courtesy CBC.
Brewer Peter Falletta unloading spent grain after a brew at the Coronado Brewing Company. Photo courtesy CBC.
A beam of sunlight illuminates the rarely seen inside of a mash tun at the Coronado Brewing Company on a recent morning. Photo courtesy CBC.
This pan of spent grain would be destined for the landfill if not for the creative use being employed by the Coronado Brewing Company. Photo by Joe Ditler.
