Peanut Butter: Experts Divulge Best Brewing Practices

Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie | Hop Culture

Valley Brewing Head Brewer Joel Ford says they only incorporate peanut butter in one beer style: sours. They have a series of beers that emulate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So Ford says their intent with peanut butter is pretty specific.

We want the peanut character to come off as complementary to the beer ...

Josh Nard - Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co.

“We are trying to find something that will mix with the tart of the beer and make you think you’re drinking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” Ford says. “The sweetness usually comes from the jelly part of the beer.”

Liquid Mechanics Head Brewer Josh Nard says they look to balance peanut flavor and sweetness.

“We want the peanut character to come off as complementary to the beer and not fake or too distractive for the base beer style,” Nard says. “I’ve found that a fuller-bodied beer tends to complement the peanut, giving it the ’butter’ perception.”

Photography courtesy of Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co.

When it comes to using peanut butter, you have options. If you want the real deal, you can use actual peanuts, though the high oil content can be a hurdle, reducing head retention and adding unwanted slickness to the mouthfeel.

To avoid that challenge, many brewers use peanut butter powder, essentially pressed peanuts with most of the oil removed—for example, PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter.

Extracts are also a possibility, though some may not be true-to-taste or may be more challenging to dial in. And there is a liquid option you can play around with—easy like the extract, but not as highly concentrated, providing true-to-type flavor and aroma.

The powder is relatively easy to work with and actually tastes like peanut,

Josh Nard - Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co.

Nard says they opt for low-oil peanut powder, which they source from two companies, Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts.

“The powder is relatively easy to work with and actually tastes like peanut,” Nard says. “Extract can come off very fake, and actual peanut butter is a nightmare to work with because of the oil content and its insoluble nature.”

Though easy, Nard stresses the importance of mixing it in thoroughly.

“Rousing through the bottom after adding it, or circulating with a pump, is pretty critical,” Nard says. “We use the rousing method because we found circulation added too much dissolved oxygen. A large dry-hop port on our tank is also critical to get the amount of powder in quickly.”

Ford says they almost exclusively use liquid peanut butter from Amoretti to get the flavor they need.

“We decided on this form of peanut butter because it mixes really easily with the beer,” Ford says. “We don’t add the flavorings until we transfer the beer into the brite tank.”

Ford adds, “Then we recirculate the flavorings and the beer for around thirty minutes before starting to carbonate the beer to ensure that the flavoring gets mixed really well.”

Ford says using the ingredient isn’t that challenging but warns “that peanut butter has a very strong smell and taste to it, so use it accordingly.”

Photography courtesy of DuClaw Brewing Co.

Through a lengthy, seven-year trial and error, Nard landed on ten pounds of powder per barrel.

“We were doing seven pounds per barrel for a long time and have been slowly increasing it to get the desired results,” Nard says. “Some people still don’t think that the peanut butter beers have enough peanut butter character, but we believe in the subtlety of the nut character.

He adds, “We don’t want to overwhelm the base beer.”

Nard notes that they could add more—he thinks you can’t really overdo it—but the addition comes with a price.

“It’s important to keep loss in mind,” he says. “The more powder, the lower the yield.”

Nard adds that the contact time is essential whether you add a little or a lot.

“If the beer sits on the peanut powder for too long, it starts to pick up a harsher roasted nut character that distracts from the ‘butter’ character,” Nard says. “We put the powder in after fermentation, rouse it several times, crash the tank the next day, and then get it off the powder within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of the crash.”

According to Nard, one way to enhance the flavor is to add some vanilla.

“It can give the beer a better peanut butter cup character,” he says.

Ford says they alter the amount based on the beer volume.

“So usually, we will brew a seven-barrel batch of sour; half of that batch will be one sour—let’s say PB&J—and the other will be a different sour,” Ford says. “Usually, for this, we try to shoot for three barrels of beer in the Brite tank, and then when you add flavorings, it gets around 3.5 barrels. For peanut butter, we use twenty pounds of peanut butter and whichever flavor of jelly.”

To discover that ratio, Ford made a few test batches. He liked the first couple, working out the kinks to dial it in. Even with that precise process, Ford thinks it’s always hard to please every customer. “Some want less peanut butter, and some want more,” he says. “We feel we have hit a happy medium.”

Unlike Nard, Ford believes you can absolutely alter the beer by adding too much or too little.

“It’s definitely trial and error at first,” Ford says. “Make what you think is great and get feedback to adjust accordingly.”

Ford reiterates that they use peanut butter only in sours.

“For our PB&J sours, it’s really the combination of peanut butter and whichever flavoring of jelly we do that goes so well with the tart taste of the sour,” Ford says.

Despite that, they are mulling different ways to utilize the ingredients.

“[Our sours] have sold well for us, but we have been thinking about adding peanut butter to a porter or stout,” Ford says.

For our PB&J sours, it’s really the combination of peanut butter and whichever flavoring of jelly we do ...

Joel Ford - Valley Brewing

While Ford and Valley Brewing have only added peanut butter in their sours, Nard and Liquid Mechanics put their peanut butter in darker styles.

“Typically porters, stouts, and barrel-aged stouts,” Nard says. “For barrel-aged stuff, I recommend bumping up the amount of peanut flour.”

Nard says for barrel-aged beer, he wants to get a big peanut butter flavor to stand up to the added flavors from the barrel.

“I usually go up to fifteen pounds per barrel,” he says. “The loss is substantial, but that’s what it takes to get peanut butter through the extra alcohol and barrel character.”

Photography courtesy of Left Hand Brewing Co.

Of course, when dealing with nuts, there is the inevitable concern with allergies. Ultimately, it’s all about transparency—the more overt, the better.

“We have a warning on the can and the menu,” Nard says, mentioning they also instruct their bartenders to communicate with patrons.

Just to be extra careful, Nard says they take the warning a step further.

“We leave the text ‘Warning: Beer may contain nut products’ on our menu at all times,” he says. “Even when we don’t have a nut beer on.”

Ford says they always aim for safety.

“Our bartenders let the public know that there are peanuts in the beer,” he says. “We always want to be on the safe side, even if it’s flavoring.”

Photography courtesy of Valley Brewing

Nard says Liquid Mechanics’ seasonal Peanut Butter Porter is an 8.6% ABV imperial porter, with around forty IBUs, and made with peanut powder.

“It has created somewhat of a cult following for us,” Nard says.

Ford says to take your pick of Valley Brewing’s PB&J sours. They’ve done a wide variety in the series, including with blackberry and raspberry, among others.