We celebrate just about every special occasion (i.e. birthdays, really good weeks and sometimes really bad weeks) with cake. And while Tacoma dessert options are more than plentiful, we’ve somehow exhausted our local options (eating our way through Met Market’s whole cake menu in a few short months) and began thirsting for something new — something worth celebrating, which meant it needed to have craft beer. Happy National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day! Seriously, it’s today. Skipping traditional desserts we’re celebrating with a beer flight that combines our love of nuts and craft beer. Love our Craft Beer Crosscut 3.1.17: A Flight of Peanut Butter Beer.
Wild Ride Nut-Crusher Peanut Butter Porter
6% ABV, 18 IBU
Let’s talk love. Peanut Butter. It transports us to a happier, simpler age. It’s not a candy thing. It’s a comfort thing. Redmond, Oregon’s Wild Ride Brewing brings together two favorite flavors, peanut butter and porter, in this liquid chocolate truffle treat with a strong nuttiness. Nut Crusher is a beer that’s almost as fun, if not more fun, to sniff for a while before actually drinking it.
Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout
5.3% ABV, 30 IBU
This San Diego-brewed, 2014 World Beer Championships silver medalist milk stout hits a nostalgic note: Peaks and Pints remembers how good a creamy peanut butter sandwich tastes with a glass of milk. That same luscious, nutty peanut butter flavor flows alongside coffee creamer richness; slight coffee roast and peanut butter on our noses before a lightly roasted, bitter finish.
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar
5.6% ABV, 33 IBU
Homebrewer Chris Studach brought this recipe to his friend John Maier, resident wizard at Rogue Ales. It’s a Northwest twist to the classic nut brown ale style, adding hazelnuts for an overwhelming nut fragrance. The taste picks up from there, starting with an initial toasted barley flavor and moving into an almost overwhelming nut flavor that coats the palate and lasts deep into the aftertaste.
Wingman P-51 Peanut Butter Cup Porter
8% ABV
Wingman Brewers introduced a peanut butter and coconut porter to the Port Townsend Strange Brewfest several years ago. At its 2014 Porterpalooza festival, the Tacoma brewery dropped the coconut and added chocolate. It was a huge hit. It re-appeared for Porterpalooza 2015, this time in 22-ounce bottles as a seasonal. Peanut Butter Cup Porter tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup full of rich peanut, chocolate, some light roasted notes and a decent amount of sweetness.
High Water Sugaree Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie
9.8%ABV, 28 IBU
OK, Peaks and Pints ran out of peanuts. Bring in the pie. Vermont maple syrup, bourbon barrel oak notes float, rich nougat and toffee waff as High Water Brewing’s pecan-flavored strong ale sits on our windowsill. Any beer that’s 9.8 percent with this level of sweetness is meant to be a sipper, so we slowly enjoy toasty malts and charred marshmallow with a splash of vanilla-laced whiskey and peanut shell after the last sip.
