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Choc-PNut-Butter-Oatmeal-Stout

Somewhere I got the idea that it would be a good idea to brew a peanut butter beer. I scoured the web for ideas and most suggested using Bell Plantation PB2 (powdered peanut butter) or drying out all-natural peanut butter. Fast forward a few months. I had the opportunity to taste Terrapin’s Liquid Bliss at the 12 South Winter Warmer and then another peanut butter beer a month or so later at a homebrew club meeting. Both lacked the peanut butter punch that I was hoping to have with my brew.

As I grew closer to brewing the beer, I finally found a good source of feedback on a shared recipe. I used the Chocolate Covered Beavr Nutz recipe as a base. Opinions and amounts of peanut butter powder varied, but 12oz. seemed to be the consensus. So modified the recipe for a few ingredients I had on had and I added flaked oats for a thicker mouth feel.


 Choc-PNut-Butter-Oatmeal-Stout

For the peanut butter, I went with 4oz of plain PB2 suspended in a hop-sack for the last 15-minutes of the boil. After two weeks of fermentation, I added a full 16oz. package of Chocolate PB2 straight into the fermenter and let that soak for 2 weeks. I cold crashed for 72 hours before kegging and I had no issues. All of the PB2 had settled to the bottom of the bucket quite nicely.

As far as taste goes, it was good. I served about 2 gallons at one event while it was still a little young in the keg. You could get a hint of peanut butter on the nose, but the taste was all chocolate. While that wasn’t a bad thing, it wasn’t the peanut butter beer I wanted. I served the remainder of the keg at another event a week later. By this time, the peanut butter was more prominent on the nose and slight on the palate.

Several noted there was a slight fruity after-taste in the beer. Since I used S-05 and fermented in a 66-degree controlled environment, I knew it wasn’t from the yeast. After tasting some of the Chocolate PB2 by itself, I believe this is what contributed that flavor. While not a bad flavor, it most certainly masked some of the other flavors I wanted to come through in the beer.

So, for Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Stout version 2 I think I will make the following adjustments.

  • No PB2 in the boil
  • 16oz of Plain PB2 in the secondary for 7-14 days
  • Cocoa Nibs in the secondary (I’ll have to determine the amount and time for these)

We’ll see how it comes out and I’ll post an update when I finally get to version 2. If you’re interested, my modified recipe is below. If you brew, definitely leave a comment and let me know what you changed and how it comes out.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Stout
American Stout
Type: All Grain Date: 3/25/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal Brewer: Phillip Duncan
Boil Size: 7.76 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
End of Boil Volume 6.76 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal Est Mash Efficiency 78.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:

Ingredients
Ingredients

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs 8.0 oz Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 1 74.7 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.1 %
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.5 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.9 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.2 %
6.4 oz Wheat – White Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM) Grain 6 2.6 %
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 35.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Select Spalt [4.75 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 6.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] – Boil 45.0 min Hop 9 7.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Select Spalt [4.75 %] – Boil 20.0 min Hop 10 4.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 11 –

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.082 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.5 %
Bitterness: 54.0 IBUs Calories: 278.5 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 41.4 SRM

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 6.4 oz
Sparge Water: 4.80 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps

Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 19.25 qt of water at 172.5 F 152.0 F 45 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (0.92gal, 3.88gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Keg Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Storage Temperature: 65.0 F

Notes
Added 4oz of Bell Plantation PB2 in thelast 10 of boil in a hop sack. After 2 weeks of fermentation, I added 16oz Bell Plantation Chocolate Peanut Butter and let it secondary for 2 more weeks.Next batch, I’d probably add the 16oz plain PB2 and cocao nibs, as I think the chocolate PB2 added a somewhat friuty finish that I somewhat did not like.

Bell-Plantation-PB2

 

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So, the very next night after bottling I was telling my wife how the process went. That it was pretty easy and went off without a hitch. Then it hit me – I primed too much sugar. I had just made a case of bottle bombs!

The night before, rather than measuring out my sugar, I grabbed a pre-measured 5 oz. package that was in with my ingredients. I was trying to be quick and didn’t even think about the 2.5 gallon batch I was about to bottle only needing 2.5 oz. of sugar.

I searched over HomeBrewTalk and other sites. I was most definitely going to have bottle bombs. I waited 5 days and then uncapped two, easily and over the sink. A light hiss and nothing more. I quickly recapped them and let the entire lot sit for 3 more days.

A-Z Brown Ale I grabbed a new bottle from the case and popped the top. Again, nothing crazy happened. I poured it to a glass and it looked great. The beer was clear and had a nice, dark amber/brown color. The head was about two-fingers thick, probably from the over-carbonation.

I tasted a sip and it was pretty good. Not the best I’ve had, but way better than I expected for my first batch. It was bubbly, too much so. It had a malty and fruity taste to it, much like Old Speckled Hen. There was a slight hop finish, which could be a little stronger. The alcohol is prevalent in the taste. I should have let it sit longer before bottling and I hoping it will mellow as it ages, which it should. At 7.5% ABV, it’s definitely a sipping beer.

I went about my business and started working on some stuff around the house. Taking a sip now and then. As it sat, the bubbles worked themselves out and it lost most of the carbonation, making it quite a nice beer.

I’ll be trying one again in about a week to see how it’s different. I want it to mellow a bit more before passing a few out to my friends. We’ll see what it tastes like after it sits a bit longer.

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After brewing up my first batch of home brew on January 9, I patiently waited 2 weeks and started checking the carboy. I check the specific gravity and got the same reading over three days – 1.011. It was time to bottle. I had a few hours after the kids went to bed to get it all done and had previously washed some empty bottles a few days before. So I went and gathered up everything I needed and had a setup for bottling all planned out.

I don’t have a bottle tree yet, so I planned on using the dishwasher to drain and hold my bottles—just rinsed with StarSan. I had a bucket of StarSan to hold my other supplies and placed my bottle caps in a small tub of StarSan to keep the sterilized and handy. Over on HomeBrewTalk, I had seen a few brewers mount their bottling wand directly to the bottling bucket and I thought that was a great idea. I sterilized my bottling bucket and was ready to transfer my beer from the carboy to the bucket and bottle.

Transfer to Bottling Bucket Stirring in the Priming Sugar

First off, get an auto-siphon. It’ works great and I was transferring to the bucket in no time. As I transferred, I mixed in my 5 oz. of priming sugar—boiled in 1C of water—with a sterilized mixing spoon. It didn’t take long and the beer was transferred to the bucket and ready to bottle.

Bottling setup

I moved the bucket over the dishwasher, so the door would catch any drips. Which turned out to be a great plan. Since I didn’t have to worry about making a big mess, the actual bottling didn’t take long at all. As a matter of fact, I had everything bottled in about 20-minutes. It took longer to clean everything up than it did to actually bottle everything.

First 6 Ready to Cap

I would bottle six, cap and then repeat the process. I was a little nervous about using the capper, but after the first six, I sped up quite a bit. I stored the bottles in the closet, ready to wait another 10 days before I could try it.

However, that turned out to not be the case…stay tuned