Chris Yurkus shows off a batch of freshly baked Brew Biscuits, hot from the oven at his Holden home.

HOLDEN — Beer drinkers often have dogs. Sometimes the dogs accompany their human companions to venues where they can have a snack, even if they can’t share the local brews.

At some of those brewpubs, and at home, dogs can benefit from their owners’ enjoyment of a locally brewed beverage.

Brew Biscuits turns spent grains from the brewing process into dog treats, the effort of Chris Yurkus, who moved to Holden with his wife, Rebecca, and son Cameron, in 2009. Seven years ago, they added a dog to the family, and he would inspire the biscuits.

Yurkus said his 7-year-old dog, Wilson, had enjoyed spent grain treats but they were often not in stock at breweries.

During COVID, he and some friends brewed a batch of beer, taking sips while pulling down masks.

“I asked my buddy, who is the brewer, what he does with his spent grains. He said a different friend will sometimes grab them for his chickens; beyond that he tosses them behind his shed for the neighborhood woodland creatures to eat,” Yurkus said.

“I asked if I could have some of the spent grains,” he said. And then he researched recipes. “I went home and had the peanut butter, flour and eggs and made my first batch that day.”

From that first experiment, he developed Brew Biscuits, which uses the grain as a key ingredient. He bakes the treats and uses multiple labs in the quality control and analysis of the product.

The process uses what might otherwise be considered waste.

“When the brewery brews, that is the start of my process. The brew team will fill my buckets, which I’ve altered to allow for uniform dough making, and then I go get them. I don’t want the brew team to do any additional work, so they fill my buckets and put them in their walk-in cooler. I will do the rest,” he said.

Yurkus bring the spent grains back to his house, where he has a state-licensed residential kitchen and makes the dough.

“The day after the dough is made, my wife and I start to make and bake the biscuits. After baking, they get dehydrated, which allows for a lengthy shelf life, which is great for wholesaling,” he said.

“Once all of the biscuits in the batch are done dehydrating, a sample goes out to two labs,” he said, emphasizing that “Brew Biscuits are DOUBLE Lab tested.”

“What this means is that Wilson, my Chief Tasting Officer, who is a chocolate Lab, gets a sample first. As does Henry, our Chief Barketing Officer.

“Once Wilson has approved, a sample gets sent off to a real laboratory for nutritional analysis. While that is happening, I work with the brewery to design the label. I strive to help carry the brewery’s brand, so I’ll use their font and colors in designing the label.

Wilson the lab has since crossed the rainbow bridge, but his legacy lives on, with Henry stepping up to fulfill his predecessor’s duties. Once the label is approved and lab results are back, labels are applied to bags by hand, listing batch numbers and “packed on” dates.

“The initial batch for a new partner takes about three weeks from the initial grain pick-up day until the delivery of finished bags,” he said.

“Brew Biscuits is a great addition to our taproom offerings,” Justienne-Lee Fortier said of the Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. in Worcester. “The staff love having a bag open and greeting our four-legged guests with a little treat. Our guests appreciate that the treats are made locally and are all natural. The premium small batch treats go right with all our premium small batch beer.”

The biscuits get good reviews from many of the regulars at the Greater Good taproom.

“We have a lot of doggie regulars that enjoy Brew Biscuits; there are some days I feel like we have more dogs than people here,” Fortier said. “We all like to spoil our dogs, and what better way to do that than by sharing the brewery experience with them. It is cool that the treats are part of the brewing process of our amazing beer.

“Being able to give our grain to Brew Biscuits and getting something that is useful back is great,” Fortier said of Greater Good’s used grain. “None of our grain goes to waste; we have local farmers pick up the spent grain daily.”

Yurkus said developing relationships with the brewers “is one of my favorite parts. I love building the relationship with the brewery. My very first partner was Milk Room Brewing in Rutland. Thankfully a great friend of mine knows the owner there, and after I pitched the idea of Brew Biscuits to him, he went out of his way to introduce me to Kevin (owner of Milk Room) which allowed me to try my first sales pitch.

“Kevin instantly saw the value in upcycling spent grains, as he was already using them to supplement the feed to the livestock he raises onsite and was starting to work with somebody who was upcycling for soaps/candles.

“Greater Good was my next partner, and I walked in off the street the day after they announced on social media a ‘Pup Daddy’ dog treat. I don’t think I got through the entire pitch before Justienne said yes,” Yurkus said.

“I’m not a scientist or anything like that, which is why I get Brew Biscuits lab tested,” which is also required by the state, he said. The state guidelines requires certain items such as crude protein, crude fat and other things. But the treats may not be appropriate for full meals.

“Ultimately Brew Biscuits are a treat and should be used as such,” Yurkus said.

Yurkus added that, “I am consistently getting feedback from folks saying ‘My dog is SO picky, but they LOVE your treats!’ “Truth be told, on the back of the bag it says ‘Not for human consumption,’ but the amount of humans that have taken a sample and munched it in front of me is hilarious. There’s no sugar or chocolate, so it really isn’t my jam, but the feedback from human consumers has been fantastic too. You know even folks that have no dog or are cat people have given me absolutely wonderful feedback when they stop and inquire what Brew Biscuits is.”

In Massachusetts, spent grains cannot just be tossed in the trash, Yurkus said. That leaves breweries paying for waste to be hauled away or coordinating with farmers to pick them up, taking time, money and energy.

“Brew Biscuits are indeed a way for a brewery to create a revenue stream from something they need to get rid of. Adding another ‘win’ to what Brew Biscuits bring to a brewery is, we are brand ambassadors for all of our partners. Whether at a popup event or wholesaling, Brew Biscuits aims to help build awareness of our brand as well as the brewery’s brand,” Yurkus said.

“I delivered my very first order to Milk Room Brewing on May 21 of 2021,” Yurkus said. “I had intended to solely sell back to the breweries I partner with for the first year of business, but by November that all went out the window, and I started to sell retail as well as wholesaling to non-brewery partners.”

Not all breweries go for the idea and sales vary by brewery, but he focuses on the end users.

“The consumers are the best part of this job,” Yurkus said. “We have a mission here at Brew Biscuits: ‘All we want to do is make happy dogs!’ “This idea, this business wouldn’t work if it was a tough sell for a dog. Some dogs have digestive issues and can’t eat grains or even peanut butter. It stinks, but it’s OK. I never want to force one of my treats on a dog.’

When he first started, his intent was to drive traffic to his brewery partners.

“What I found was that even though a lot of people bring their dogs to breweries with them, there was a whole lot more people who want to treat their dog to a Brew Biscuit that aren’t able to get to a brewery.”

But he still suggests going to the brewery.

“Go, bring your pup, meet up with some friends, enjoy the delicious local craft beer scene and while you’re there, grab some Brew Biscuits.”

If they can’t go the brewpub, he directs customers to local places, many in Holden or Worcester, or “pop-up” events listed on the Brew Biscuits Instagram of Facebook pages.

“Lastly, if you can’t get to any of those spots, I ship everywhere in Massachusetts.”

Yurkus has seen his biscuits business grow.

“It’s pretty wild that I’ve been at this for only14 months. What started with a single brewery partner has grown to16. I am closing in on partnering with 10% of the breweries in Massachusetts,” which is home to more than 200 breweries.

“All of this is happening out of my house. I’m fortunate to have an amazing logo as well,” referring to the rendering of Wilson.

He has added merchandise such as T-shirts and sweatshirts, and has already expanded the product line, adding what he said could be a first in Massachusetts: Whiskey Biscuits. Brew Biscuits has branched out into the distillery world by partnering with Short Path Distillery in Everett.

“I’m incredibly proud and excited to be breaking some ground in the biscuit game,” Yurkus said.

Although he is excited by Brew Biscuits, it remains a side business for Yurkus, who is an executive director of product management for a web hosting firm.

“As much as I enjoy my full-time job, I tell people that Brew Biscuits is ‘what I want to do when I grow up.’ It has always been a dream of mine to start a business and grow it to where it can support myself and my family, but others as well. Time will tell,” he said.

Yurkus shares some of the credit for his success with his canine team.

Wilson was the family’s first pup, “an amazing and lovable chocolate Lab. He’s why I made the very first Brew Biscuit and was the clear choice when deciding to work on a logo.” Wilson carried the official title of Chief Tasting Officer and took his role extremely seriously, including catching dropped biscuits.

“I am constantly asked which variety is Wilson’s favorite, and time and time again I go with Drawing Board’s Julka Brew Biscuits. This is the only dark beer spent grains I work with, and the grain mixture must have some extra level of sweetness that comes through in the darkest biscuit I make, but Wilson was drooling when I made these,” Yurkus said.

Like many others, Yurkus got a “pandemic pup,” a mini- dachshund named Henry who has since become the Chief Barketing Officer, who tends to play with his biscuits before actually eating them.

Yurkus said he is not sure if the biscuits reflect the brews from which they originate.

“I have been asked this so many times, and I always respond that ‘I don’t know. I just drink the beers — I don’t eat the biscuits.’ “All of the biscuits are made the same exact way, and the only thing that changes is the grain mixture from the specific brewery’s biscuits,” he said. “Most of the biscuits have the same appearance, save for Wilson’s favorite, Drawing Board Julka Brew Biscuits, but beyond that I’m not sure if the taste changes. We have a cookie jar that is a mixture of many different batches, and my pups have never turned their nose up at any.”

Brew Biscuits is online at brew-biscuits.com.

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