Anyone try this kit from Midwest? If so, how was it? Or better yet, since I'm not usually a kit fan, anyone have that recipe? Seems like a fun brew to try.
If you go to their page with the kit there is a link to a pdf that gives some of the ingredients. The peanut butter is from a powdered peanut butter product that you can buy at Amazon.com, I seem to recall.
True, there's that. I forgot about them posting the recipes, since I was using their iPhone app. Now, has anyone actually brewed this, and if so, how did it turn out? I love the "Peanot Butter" that Blue Moon brings to festivals, but it's a blonde and this one is an impy stout, so I'm curious as to how it tastes.
Oddly, it doesn't seem that their description of this one has the recipe, so I wasn't imaging things. Under details where they list ingredients for any other kit, it just talks about the origin. So I guess I'm back to my original questions: Anyone done this, and if so how was it? And does anyone have the recipe?
What it does give you: 5.5 gallons SG 1.068-1.072 FG 1.016-1.02 IBUs ~68 1 oz chinook and 3/4 oz spalt at 60 min 2 6.5 oz jars powdered peanut butter and 1/4 c cocoa powder (2ndary addition, total of 10 days) 4 oz of cocoa nibs (2ndary addition, added on day 3 of secondary). Yeast WLP001 What it does not give you: Grist. The recipe appears to be extract and steeping grains, but your guess is as good as mine. I would use your favorite sweet stout specialty grains and adjust base malt to get to SG. Note that if you buy they kit, they are not actually selling you the peanut butter and cocoa powder
Weird. You get that from the extract version? Because the all-grain version didn't even give that much. I did at least manage to see that they don't give the peanut butter powder with it, as they have a link to the company that sells it. I may have to break down and buy the kit and the powdered peanut butter. It just seems different enough to have some fun with it. Thanks! EDIT: I see that if I blow up the picture of the box, it does give the specialty grains, as well as the size of additions of the nibs and PB powder (the pic in the all-grain version is of the extract box). So I'm set on that end. Now if I could find someone who's brewed the thing and knows how it tastes... Thanks again!
I haven't had it, but this video says it tastes like peanut butter cups. http://www.newbrewthursday.com/?p=878
As a fellow BEAVR.....the recipe is a highly gaurded secret... I have only been a BEAVR about a year. I havent made the brew yet, but did have it on tap at the 2012 SCHF. Excellent beer!! The PB is not overpowering...just right.
It's worked out pretty well. Took it forever to carbonate, but I'm sure that had little to do with the recipe. As of right now, it's sitting pretty. Very subtle in the cocoa and peanut butter department, but they're there. I think were I to do it again I'd use a smaller beer, such as a sweet stout with lactose. I think the smaller brew with less alcohol and a bit more sweetness would really let the cocoa and PB shine through. But even as it is, I'm loving the taste of it. Nicely done!
How does it work with the powdered peanut butter? Do you put it in the boil? The primary? The secondary? I am starting to think this is would be a fun brew to do with my buddy. We've been looking for something kind of ridiculous to do.
I just dropped it in secondary and racked the beer on top of it. It might be better to have racked the beer and then poured the powder in to aid in mixing, but hindsight and all that. I had some misgivings about possible contamination, but unless it's the slowest growing infection ever, I made it through. I think if you can avoid opening the jars, licking your fingers and sticking them in the powder to taste it before adding it to the carboy, you'll probably be okay. In fact, leave the jars sealed until you add them to the secondary. The powder does contain a bit of sugar, after all. I did soak the cocoa nibs in vodka, however. One word of caution: As you might expect, once you add the beer to the powdered peanut butter, it turns into, well, not-powdered peanut butter. Be prepared to soak your carboy for awhile to get it all out. Plus, if you use a siphon to rack from the carboy, do NOT go all the way to the bottom. I'd humbly suggest you brew 6 gallons and just plan on losing a bit more than usual when racking.
Good to know. My brother in law has wanted a PB RIS for years, so I can finally do one for him using the PB2 (Which I'd never heard of until your post). Thanks!
Great timing on the update, because I was just thinking about putting together a recipe for a PB Stout. I was thinking about using a Sweet Stout recipe, but was wondering how to do the peanut part. Is "powdered peanut butter" the same thing as defatted peanut flour? How's the head retention?
Is this what the recipe said to do? If you just have powder sitting at the bottom of the fermenter then maybe that is why the peanut butter is so subtle. I've never used the stuff, but I wonder if a flame out addition might be more effective.
Head retention isn't the best, but it's there. And no, the peanut butter powder is at http://bellplantation.com/ . Pretty cool stuff, really. The recipe didn't say one way or another. I didn't want to mess with tossing it in after the beer, so I did before. After a few hours it was all liquid, there were no dry spots, not really much different than had I added it after the beer, really, so while it may have been the cause of the subtle peanut butter, I can't say for sure. A flameout addition might work. Not sure what high temps would do to it, though.
I think I am going to give this a try. It sounds too absurd not to do it. Probably gonna brew it in the late summer, it would be awesome to have at my friends Halloween Party.
Opinions on aging in glass secondary for 3 months? I've looked around and it seems like everything will be fine but maybe I will hold off on adding the nibs for awhile...
