Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter - Horny Goat Brewing

                I haven’t written much on HornyGoat beers, because like some of you, I was less than impressed with the first Horny Goat beer that I had shortly after the brewery opened.  It was alright, but there are so many excellent craft beers on the market that my limited cash always went towards something else.  That said, I was impressed with the Brownie Porter that I wrote up a little while back and although I did not pick up the strong chocolate character that I was hoping for it was still a very good brown porter.

                Having not tasted the chocolate in the Brownie Porter, the next logical step was to try some Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, surely the chocolate flavor would be featured in such a brew right?  I mean come on, it’s in the name.  In all fairness, I had previously had Chocolate PB Porter on tap at the Horny Goat Hideaway and was not a fan then.  Looking back I don’t know if my dislike of the beer had more to do with the beer, or the fact that I was there for the 2013 Monday Night Packers-Bears game in Chicago. You all remember that one, right?  The on that Rodgers left with what turned out to be a fractured collar bone…

The injury that kept him out for the remainder of the regular season…

Yeah, that could have colored my impression of the beer, it was a rough night… 

With that in mind I decided to give Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter another go…

They Say:

A full bodied porter that gets its dark luscious color from the generous use of roasted malts.  You’ll get just the right amount of chocolate and peanut butter to question whether you’re drinking a glass of delicious suds or popping a peanut butter cup in your mouth.

6.5% ABV

55 IBUs

The Brewmaster Brian Sauer adds:

Chocolate Peanut Butter, best put, is illusive.  One day you see at the store, the next it’s gone.  So reminiscent of a dark chocolate peanut butter cup that most people are drawn directly to the nose on this beer.  To me, the true winner is the malt bill.  We use 2 different types of chocolate, dark caramel malts, and a touch of roasted barley to capture a rich, dark chocolate profile.

I Say:

                Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter pours an opaque black with a thick, creamy light tan head that holds good retention (3 min) before fading to a thick collar around the edges and leaving behind nice, thick lacing in the glass.  Strong notes of graham cracker and toasted marshmallows waft out of the glass during the pour.  Peanut brittle and milk chocolate become increasingly apparent in the glass as the beer warms and are supported a soothing vanilla note.  The aroma finishes on a great chocolate and peanut butter not that is reminiscent of a Butterfinger candy bar.

               

                Chocolate and peanut butter jump to the forefront in the flavor.  Notes of roasted malts, toffee, and vanilla add additional depth and complexity.  As the beer warms, the roasted barley notes become slightly astringent and the peanut butter flavor becomes on a slight chemically, so it is best to finish your glass of Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter before it gets too warm.  A strong Butterfinger/Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup flavor rounds out the finish and lingers long into the aftertaste.  Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter is nice malty beer with just enough bitterness to cut the malty sweentness.  It comes in just on the full side of being medium bodied with a moderately high level of carbonation that brings with it a slight effervescence.

                Honestly, Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter was better than I remember.  The nice complex

chocolate character brought to the beer from the dark malts is really the star of this beer as Brian noted when I reached out to him for additional info (after I took my own notes of course).  The excellent blending of dark malts to create this complex Porter highlights his brewing knowledge and is a good sign for any future new porter releases.  This is much more in the Robust Porter category, which most people expect when drinking a Porter in America.

I was not a fan of the chemically peanut flavor that came out as the beer warmed however.  The flavor played more like an extract rather than actual peanuts, which was disappointing.  Having homebrewed with P2B Powdered Peanut Butter  I have experience what a mess brewing with peanut butter can be even on my small five gallon setup, so it is understandable that Horny Goat might not want to use real peanut butter in the recipe.  However, it seems like they did an excellent Robust Porter a disservice by adding peanut flavored extract.  Fortunately a cold bottle of Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter out of the fridge tastes pretty good, but it is a good idea to drink this fast, rather than giving it time to warm.

                Well, that’s all for today.  Check back soon for another Review

Happy Drinking, and remember to always Drink Wisconsinbly