Peanut Butter Stout & National Peanut Butter Day

So, January 24th is National Peanut Butter Day. Last year, I drank a Whitewater Peanut Butter Stout. I had received it from my sister as an oddity. I love stouts and I half promised to write about it. Then, the date came and went. No post.

Strange, even then that wasn't my first peanut butter beer. Peanut butter beers have been around for at least fifteen years. I know that some of you have heard about nut brown ales but no, nut brown ales do not typically have nuts in them. That is in reference to the colour.

My notes on the Whitewater suggest that I didn't like it but could see why there would be some that would. Whitewater is still a youngish brewery and several of their beer taste like it is from a brewery that is riding the line between mass and craft. They are looking for a beer that sells on the regular while trying to capture people that are fed up with the big breweries and their beer. So, they are capturing a market that wants better tasting mass market brews. That isn't a bad thing. I admire the brewery for doing that. It is smart business and something worth doing.

What I found was that the sweetness was out of proportion. I was able to drink almost the whole thing but did have to toss this last sip. It did come in a 473 mL can. Maybe that was just too much.

About a couple weeks ago, I had another peanut butter based beer from the Left Field Brewery. It was called Reggie Bar. Left Field focuses more on the more traditional craft beer drinkers with a side of progressive politics. The beer still has the sweetness and in a smaller can, it is easy to get through. 

I am still not sold on the value of a peanut butter stout. Full disclosure, I do drink pumpkin beer and tend to regret the ones that are super reliant on the spicing. So, I wonder if a more delicate peanut butter beer would work better for me. Some type of peanut putter IPA or pale ale might give the sweetness some counterpoint. 

I am glad that I celebrated because I got a badge on Untappd. I will always try the next one but I haven't found one that I want to go back to on a regular basis.