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.
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: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ingredients |
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Beer Profile |
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| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mash Profile |
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Carbonation and Storage |
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes |
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| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Please let me know how batch 2 comes out.
Any updates on version 2?
Thanks for posting the recipe! Been wanted to test out how the PB2 works in the beer since it shouldn’t have the same oil challenges as jar peanut butter. Interested to see how #2 turns out.
Used PB2 16 OZ and 12oz coco nibs in last 10 minutes of boil, and later 16oz of chocolate PB2 in 2nd fermentation for a week. After 2 weeks in a bottle, I really enjoyed my results, but it was after waiting another 2 months, that I was really happy with the chocolate flavor, and a nice creamy mellow flavor of peanut butter. I kept the ABV down to around 8 as to not mess with the flavoring.