Ideas for methods to flavor PB&J Beer

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by JC_in_NC, Apr 26, 2018.

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  1. JC_in_NC

    JC_in_NC Initiate (0) Apr 26, 2018 North Carolina

    I'm new to this... been brewing with extract for a few months. Working my way up to doing more of my own thing. My wife wanted me to brew a peanut butter and jelly beer, so I started looking around for ideas as to how. Found the "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" recipe, and I'm basically following it, after converting all-grain to extract. I used Maris Otter and Rye extract, and steeped 1/2 lb. each of CaraBrown 55L and Briess Aromatic. I only used 0.75 oz. of German Magnum 12.7% aa hops for 60 minutes to bitter. I don't want the beer to have much of a hop character at all, but at the same time I don't want it to be super sweet, so from what I've read, Magnum is a good hop to use. I used Danstar Nottingham dry yeast instead of the White Labs yeast suggested, which was supposed to give the beer a "fruity" character. For one thing, I had plenty of the Nottingham on hand, and also, I wanted to give the beer a distinct fruit flavor. Not sure if this was a mistake...guess I'll find out soon. I'm going to use the powdered PB2 peanut butter for the PB flavor during secondary fermentation, as the recipe suggests, but I'm trying to figure out how to do the fruit thing. Thought about using fruit puree, but don't really want the mess. I'm considering using strawberry extract, or I thought maybe grape juice for bottle conditioning, but then I read that I wouldn't even be able to taste the grape if I only used enough juice for the correct amount of sugar condition. So what about maybe sugar-free grape juice? Or would the strawberry extract be a better option? Anything that I'm not thinking of here? Any thoughts or suggestions from someone who actually knows what they're doing would be appreciated. Thanks!!
     
    #1 JC_in_NC, Apr 26, 2018
  2. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    You have a recipe that you are following, so let's assume that it is a proven recipe and that you should get a good beer if you follow it. Once you deviate, you're into experimental brewing. I have not brewed a similar beer to be able to answer yourquestions, so hopefully you will hear a few others in this forum who have brewed a peanut butter and/or jelly/fruit beer who can help you.

    What I mostly came here to say is that Short's Brewing here in Michigan does occasionally brew a PB&J beer that is pretty good. It is on store shelves now, although I have yet to buy it to try this year. This brewery makes the beer by brewing a peanut beer and a fruit beer and then blending them to get the proper flavor ratio that they want. Your beer is already in the works so you may need to keep going to see what happens, but if you don't get what you want, then the next time, if you try it again, you might want to consider the blending route. I think you'll have more control over the finished flavors.
     
    #2 PapaGoose03, Apr 26, 2018
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  3. JC_in_NC

    JC_in_NC Initiate (0) Apr 26, 2018 North Carolina

    Thanks for the feedback! I heard of Short's beer doing my research. We have a brewery in our town, Catawba, who make one as well, though it is not a blend. They actually secondary ferment on whole roasted peanuts and raspberry puree. Good stuff. That's what gave my wife the idea. It's only available 2 months out if the year.
     
    #3 JC_in_NC, Apr 26, 2018
  4. chavinparty

    chavinparty Zealot (653) Jan 4, 2015 New Hampshire

    Never done it but I’ve thought about it and if I did I would use pb2 grape must hallertau blanc and a very underattenuating yeast. No idea on ratios
     
    #4 chavinparty, Apr 26, 2018
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  5. MostlyNorwegian

    MostlyNorwegian Pooh-Bah (2,236) Feb 5, 2013 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    You could probably also get the fruit thing happening with El Dorado hops. But, I'd look at a fruit extract by someone like Amoretti as well. It won't be as thrilling as using actual fruit or using obscene amounts of one hop. But, the risk factor is reduced to about nil.
     
    #5 MostlyNorwegian, Apr 26, 2018
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  6. Supergenious

    Supergenious Maven (1,273) May 9, 2011 Michigan

    I would recommend frozen fruit or fruit purée in the secondary at this point. And if it’s still not where you want it to be, add a little extract at bottling. I’ve never added juice at bottling, but seems a little risky. Also, strawberries can be tricky to extract much flavor from. I would suggest maybe to use raspberries or at least a mix of berries.
    You’ll be fine with Nottingham, but it has more of a neutral flavor profile.
     
    #6 Supergenious, Apr 26, 2018
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  7. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I would make a decent brown ale, no frills, and drink it with a PB&J sandwich.
     
    #7 jbakajust1, Apr 26, 2018
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  8. gmartinobrew

    gmartinobrew Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2018 New York

    When I was researching for a PB Brown Ale I found a guy who did a PB and J beer by using fruity vodka...not sure exactly how but just an idea
     
    #8 gmartinobrew, Apr 26, 2018
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  9. JC_in_NC

    JC_in_NC Initiate (0) Apr 26, 2018 North Carolina

    Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. I'm thinking at this point I'll probably just use the extract and see how that goes. I've also heard of adding fruit vodka to the PB2 slurry so I may do that as well. Either way it'll be an interesting experiment.
     
    #9 JC_in_NC, Apr 27, 2018
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