Eating Beer: ReGrained granola bars reuse spent brewing grains

Craft brewers love to recycle, reuse and re-purpose. We’ve discussed how spent mash can be used to feed hungry cattle. We’ve talked about capturing methane gas from sewage wastewater systems to create electricity. Now, innovative, non-brewing entrepreneurs Daniel Kurzrock and Jordan Schwartz are capitalizing on craft’s recycling motto, using leftover grains from the brewing process to make craft-flavored granola bars. Their company, ReGrained, can be found monthly at the Treasure Island Flea Market or online on the worldwide web.

“ReGrained targets the urban craft brewer who is interested in something creative with their spent grain,” explained Kurzrock.  “On the product side, granola is just the start for us, and we’ve only scratched the surface on bar flavors. We can add spent grain to all kinds of other baked goods. Imagine grain from an Oatmeal Stout used to make ReGrained Oatmeal Raisin Cookies or a Rye IPA for a bread — the possibilities of what we can do with high-grade spent grain are bountiful. And that doesn’t even consider pairing beers with the products. As we grow, we are interested in establishing formal cross-branding relationships and informal partnerships alike within the craft beer industry. Our motto is ‘Brew Good. Bake Good. Do Good.'”

Only around 10 percent of the ingredients used to brew beer come out as beer — with the vast majority of the leftover volume being malted barley and other grains. Generated in massive quantities with each batch of beer, spent grains build up quickly, so ReGrained has found a solution for maximizing the use of the used grain, developing recipes that highlight this unique ingredient — especially for craft beer lovers.

Honey Almond IPA Bar
ReGrained’s signature and original spent grain granola bars are made from simple ingredients you know and love. There’s nothing to hide here. The company’s IPA bars feature local ingredients including repurposed, spent beer grain from Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. as well as honey and almonds from Fat Uncle Farms. Flavors of honey, almonds and cinnamon combine with the lightly roasted grain of an IPA for a slightly sweet, unique flavor you won’t forget.

Chocolate Coffee Stout Bar
The newest and sweetest edition of spent grain granola bars comes to the tune of Semi-Sweet Ghirardelhi Chocolate and Finely Ground French Roasted Coffee Beans. Featuring a dark grain malt used to brew an Oatmeal Chocolate Stout, the Stout bars offer a sweet yet powerful mocha flavor to go along with the signature notes of honey and cinnamon.

How do we know they’re any good? Well, Kurzrock, Schwartz and CBB have similar tastes: “We support good beer, good food and doing good through promoting sustainable production and consumption of both,” said Kurzrock. Order some right here.