PB&J Beer Recipe

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

csamson

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
68
Reaction score
13
Location
Omaha
I would love some help with a peanut butter and jelly recipe that I’m working on. The plan is to brew a peanut butter nut brown and a strawberry wheat. I’m open to suggestions on different styles but that combo sounded like it would work well. I’m going to make the peanut butter a lot bigger than the strawberry so I can serve it like a black and tan with the two beers separated. Any suggestions are much appreciated. I will post final recipes and pictures when finished.

Here is what I have so far for the two recipes:

Peanut Butter Nut Brown
12# Marris Otter
2# Munich
1# Carapils
1# Honey Malt
.5# Biscuit
.25# Chocolate Wheat
1oz EKG 60min
2 Jars Dried Peanut Butter
Mash @ 152
Wyeast 1056
Ferment @ 65-68 degrees

Strawberry Wheat
5# 2-Row
4# Wheat Malt
1# Oats
.25# Munich
2oz Special B – I want to add a very light red hue but not affect flavor too much
.5oz EKG 60min
Strawberry Extract - Keg
Mash @ 152
Wyeast 1056
Ferment @ 65-68 degrees
 
Yeah sorry. The PB2 powder from Hy-vee. Pouring the oil off of all natural peanut butter just doesn't seem worth the effort when you can buy this stuff at the grocery store. PB2 – Powdered Peanut Butter « Hy-vee Health State of Mind

Also, considering a porter for a base beer instead of the nut brown but don't want it to overpower the strawberry in the wheat beer when mixed.
 
Makes sense to me.

I've never brewed a peanut butter beer and will be interested to hear how it turns out. My buddy is pretty well known for his and you might be able to get some tips from his blog post. I've had it and it's delicious.
 
how did this turn out? I have a couple lbs of PB2 that I bought a while back with the intention of making a PBJ beer.

I was going to go more wheat beer with PBJ added.
 
Sorry I forgot to post back with results. The final beers turned out amazing. Most interesting beer I've ever tasted. It really did taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Not something you could sit and drink all night but perfect for a crowd pleaser at a party or beer festival. We took 5 gallons of each beer to extreme beer fest here in Omaha last year and both were gone after 30 minutes of the event. Keep in mind we developed the recipes based on the fact that we wanted to serve them together and the wheat on nitro. Here's the recipes:

Peanut Butter Nut Brown -10 gallons

22# Marris Otter
4# Munich
2# Carapils
2# C-40
1# Biscuit
1# Chocolate Wheat

EKG 38 IBU 60min

2 Jars PB2 Peanut Butter Powder per 5 gallons –Secondary 1 week Mash @ 154 US-04 @ 65-68 degrees

OG –1.080
SRM –24
IBU - 38


Strawberry Wheat - 10 gallons

10# 2-Row
8# Wheat Malt
2# Oats
.5# Munich
6oz Special B

EKG19 IBU 60min

Strawberry Extract - Keg

Mash @ 150
Wyeast 1056 Ferment @ 65-68 degre
OG –1.050
SRM –8
IBU –19
 
Here's a picture

ForumRunner_20130217_084022.jpg
 
Peanut Butter Nut Brown
EKG (East Kent Goldings) 38 IBU 60min

Strawberry Wheat
EKG (East Kent Goldings) 19 IBU 60min

I think any English variety would work in something like this though. Just enough to balance out the sweetness a bit. Definitely want malt / peanut butter / jelly flavor to come through more than hops.
 
Ok got ya I wasnt getting the abbriviation. Thanks for posting recipe looks great and something I will be brewing!
 
I am also intrigued at the possibility of a PBJ beer, however I'm not thinking of blending two separate brews, as it seems like a cop-out. A simple amber ale base recipe which comes in at 5.5%, but my idea is to add dry roasted peanuts to the primary, then pureed concord grapes to the secondary. I don't get the whole powdered peanut butter thing when I can use the real deal. I've had great success in adding nuts to my brews & the flavor has been amazing. I may strain the grape puree, as the tannins in the skins may affect carbonation and finish. Brew day is tomorrow.
 
I am also intrigued at the possibility of a PBJ beer, however I'm not thinking of blending two separate brews, as it seems like a cop-out. A simple amber ale base recipe which comes in at 5.5%, but my idea is to add dry roasted peanuts to the primary, then pureed concord grapes to the secondary. I don't get the whole powdered peanut butter thing when I can use the real deal. I've had great success in adding nuts to my brews & the flavor has been amazing. I may strain the grape puree, as the tannins in the skins may affect carbonation and finish. Brew day is tomorrow.

They're not really that blended if you can pour the black an tan properly. And I think the powdered peanuts is so that they can use enough to get a good peanut flavor without the side effects of all the added oils
 
PB2 is peanut butter with most of the fat removed. Fat contains oils which hurt head retention. You may be able to get away with using straight peanuts but it will most likely either hurt head retention or not give you enough peanut flavor. To me it doesn't matter what ingredients you use as long as you're getting the best possible end product.

As for the the grapes. Grapes have a lot of sugar which will be fermented just as they would be for wine. Depending on the amount of grapes used it may seem like a beer/wine blend. They will also dry out the finished beer so if you go that route you may want to mash at a higher temp. When I pictured a peanut butter and jelly beer I pictured a fuller beer finishing between 1.014 and 1.020.

Whatever you end up doing I suggest you plan out the entire process/recipe around what you envision your final product to be. Ask yourself what each grain is adding to the finished product and if it isn't helping find something that will.

My version was like a Black and Tan not really a blend. I based my process around that from start to finish and it turned out pretty damn good. All depends on your end goal though.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
 
I bottled my PBJ beer a couple weeks ago, although rather than blending this batch, I did it all as one. Mine was a wheat based beer with some added biscuit malt to get the breadiness. I did a secondary with 1 gallon of concord grape juice. Unfortunately the grape juice all fermented out and I didnt get any grape flavor :-/ I will post my full recipe for anyone who is interested.
 
I bottled my PBJ beer a couple weeks ago, although rather than blending this batch, I did it all as one. Mine was a wheat based beer with some added biscuit malt to get the breadiness. I did a secondary with 1 gallon of concord grape juice. Unfortunately the grape juice all fermented out and I didnt get any grape flavor :-/ I will post my full recipe for anyone who is interested.

I am interested in the recipe, if for no other reason than to compare it to my own. How long did the grape juice stay in the secondary?
 
PB2 is peanut butter with most of the fat removed. Fat contains oils which hurt head retention. You may be able to get away with using straight peanuts but it will most likely either hurt head retention or not give you enough peanut flavor. To me it doesn't matter what ingredients you use as long as you're getting the best possible end product.

As for the the grapes. Grapes have a lot of sugar which will be fermented just as they would be for wine. Depending on the amount of grapes used it may seem like a beer/wine blend. They will also dry out the finished beer so if you go that route you may want to mash at a higher temp. When I pictured a peanut butter and jelly beer I pictured a fuller beer finishing between 1.014 and 1.020.

Whatever you end up doing I suggest you plan out the entire process/recipe around what you envision your final product to be. Ask yourself what each grain is adding to the finished product and if it isn't helping find something that will.

My version was like a Black and Tan not really a blend. I based my process around that from start to finish and it turned out pretty damn good. All depends on your end goal though.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

Thank you for your input.

As I mentioned before, I have had success in using nuts in my brews. The last one I did was a pistachio cream ale - the finished product was amazing, and the nut flavor truly permeated the brew with head retention not being an issue. It is because of this experience that I'm using the more natural product. Since I'm using dry-roasted peanuts I don't think there will be much of an issue, since they aren't that oily.

I had considered everything you mentioned about the grapes. Any time I have added fruit to beer I always consider the amount of fermentable sugars being added. I don't necessarily care for sweeter beers, but this should finish out at about 1.014 like you said. I am going more for the flavor and aroma of the grapes.

That being said the only thing I'm unsure about (and I did put a lot of planning and thought into this) was how an ale yeast will attenuate the grape sugars as opposed to a wine-based strain. Any thoughts?
 
Type: Extract Date: 3/10/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 2.30 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot ( 3 Gal/11.4 L) - Extract
End of Boil Volume 2.08 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal Est Mash Efficiency 0.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Biscuit Malt
1 lbs Wheat Dry Extract
6 lbs Wheat Liquid Extract
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min 9.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min 2.3 IBUs
7 oz P2B dry Peanut Butter - 10 min

Ferment with Wyeast 3056 (if I do it again, i would choose 3068 for more banana) for 9 days at 60

Add 1 gal Concord grape juice, ferment 14 days (yeah, overkill, but I wanted to ensure that the fermentation finished)

7 days before bottling add 9 oz P2B dried peanut butter.


Sadly, the concord flavor fermented out. I think blending is probably the best bet to get both flavors. Some of my friends swear to me that they can taste the concord grape flavor, but I think it might just be the power of suggestion.
 
Type: Extract Date: 3/10/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 2.30 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot ( 3 Gal/11.4 L) - Extract
End of Boil Volume 2.08 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal Est Mash Efficiency 0.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Biscuit Malt
1 lbs Wheat Dry Extract
6 lbs Wheat Liquid Extract
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min 9.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min 2.3 IBUs
7 oz P2B dry Peanut Butter - 10 min

Ferment with Wyeast 3056 (if I do it again, i would choose 3068 for more banana) for 9 days at 60

Add 1 gal Concord grape juice, ferment 14 days (yeah, overkill, but I wanted to ensure that the fermentation finished)

7 days before bottling add 9 oz P2B dried peanut butter.


Sadly, the concord flavor fermented out. I think blending is probably the best bet to get both flavors. Some of my friends swear to me that they can taste the concord grape flavor, but I think it might just be the power of suggestion.

Here is where we differ a bit - anytime I've added a fruit to a brew it's always been in the secondary. Too much ferment time for any fruit and the sugars it brings just means you're going to lose the flavor.

Brew day for my recipe was last week. Just racked to secondary today. Primary smelled just like a jar of Peter Pan. Now, there were globules of peanut oil present in the primary, but i made sure not to suck up that last half-inch layer with the racking cane. Now, I did make sure to use some Cara-Pils and flaked oats in my grain bill to help with head retention. But as an added precaution I did not strain off the skins and pulp from my concord grape puree. I'm hoping that the tannic acids from the grapes will help offset the base-heavy oils. I'm also hoping that some of the color from the grapes stays, right now the secondary does have a nice purplish tint to it.
 
My amber turned out decent, and since the secondary went bonkers when I added puréed grapes to it the ABV came in at around 7%. Took a while to finally condition in the bottle as far as carb level and head retention go. Aroma definitely peanutty, grape sweetness very slight.

image-3103861529.jpg
 
Back
Top