De-oiling peanut butter...

[bonecitybrewco]

Just want to chime in and say I've used PB2....and it works well. At least, for me it did. Added the perfect amount of peanut butter flavour to a robust porter I did. I added 2 lbs to secondary using a sanitized tablespoon. Lots of people have similar experience with PB2 not infecting batches either. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[JJ900]

I rolled the dice with it.... No pasteurizing done on the peanut butter. Just made sure not to touch it or let it touch anything else as it was going into the fermenter.

This smelled like a reese's pb cup as I was transferring it. We'll see how it comes out!

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Sounds great. So this went into secondary? How much peanut butter did you use ?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Sounds great. So this went into secondary? How much peanut butter did you use ?

Yep this is in secondary. I used 2lbs of peanut butter on top of the 1lb of pb2 that went in the boil

 

[bornandraisedlv]

http://www.apexflavors.com/Beverage...up-Type-Natural-and-Artificial--Nut-Free~2981

Don't bother with PB2. Use this stuff. Or if you don't want chocolate just use the peanut butter one. The one I linked is exactly what DuClaw uses for Sweet Baby Jesus. Tastes just like a Reese cup. 0 risk of infection, you'll get exactly the flavor you want, and you'll spend less money.

I’m thinking of adding this to half of my 5 gal of Russian imperial stout that’s on its 6th month in secondary. Going to bottle in bombers and gift them for the holidays.

Any suggestions on how much of this stuff to use?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Yep this is in secondary. I used 2lbs of peanut butter on top of the 1lb of pb2 that went in the boil

2 weeks later, how's it going?

 

[Rob2010SS]

2 weeks later, how's it going?

So far, seems ok. I have taken 2 samples thus far - 1 week on the PB and 2 weeks on the PB. The second sample was yesterday.

Week 1 - PB wasn't anywhere near where I wanted it. I thought I could smell it just barely, but when I had my wife smell it, she couldn't smell the PB so I'm guessing my mind was playing tricks on me. Flavor was minimal.

Week 2 - PB smell is definitely stronger than week 1, but still not where I want it. My wife could pick it up this time. On the flavor, again, it was a bit stronger. Got a little bit of a nutty flavor in the aftertaste. I'm going to let it go for another 1-2 weeks on the PB to see if I can get some more out of it.

On the week 2 sample, I dosed it with a toothpick that was dipped in the bottle of the Apex Peanut Butter Cup extract. Definitely scared me away from using that extract in the whole batch. It wasn't pleasant at all.

 

[JJ900]

Rob2010 is this all for a 5 gal batch? If so I'm surprised the peanut butter flavor isn't stronger.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Rob2010 is this all for a 5 gal batch? If so I'm surprised the peanut butter flavor isn't stronger.

Essentially. It's like 5.5 gallons currently.

So im a bit of a peanut butter freak. I love peanut butter and there's no such thing as too much peanut butter, lol.

That being said, the flavor may be stronger than im making it out to be but it's not where i want it. It's definitely getting better though. I'l report back next week.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I’m thinking of adding this to half of my 5 gal of Russian imperial stout that’s on its 6th month in secondary. Going to bottle in bombers and gift them for the holidays.

Any suggestions on how much of this stuff to use?

It gives you the % of volume to use on each one. So for some it's like .25%, so you'd use .25% of 5 gallons if that's your batch size. Usually ends up being a couple teaspoons. Definitely try their stuff out, it's fantastic.

 

[bornandraisedlv]

It gives you the % of volume to use on each one. So for some it's like .25%, so you'd use .25% of 5 gallons if that's your batch size. Usually ends up being a couple teaspoons. Definitely try their stuff out, it's fantastic.

Yeah I should have read up on it a little before I posted....

Thanks for info though I definitely using some of it here in the next moth or so.

 

[Rob2010SS]

2 weeks later, how's it going?

So, final outcome - pretty delicious! I let this sit on the peanut butter for 4 weeks total. At time of kegging, i used just a tad bit of chocolate syrup to give it a bit more chocolate aroma. All in all...

1lb PB2 in boil
4oz Ghiradeli cocoa powder in boil
2lbs natural pb in secondary
2tbsp chocolate syrup in keg

Pretty happy with it. I like the flavor, it strongly resembles a reese's peanut butter cup. There's a couple of changes that i would make at this point but this is a solid start for sure!

 

[JJ900]

Looks and sounds delicious. What changes would you make?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Looks and sounds delicious. What changes would you make?

I don't think id do cocoa powder. I think next time maybe combine toasted cocoa nibs with the peanut butter in secondary.

Instead of de oiling the peanut butter for 10 days, i might go 15 to get a bit more oil out to help the head retention.

Other than that wouldn't change a thing. I just had two more of these tonight and I'm obsessed with it! Im probably going to post this in the recipe section because i like it so much. I literally think reese's cup when drinking it. You get almost a nice creamy peanut butter in the mouthfeel of it.

 

[ranchonodinero]

Apex flavorings. Peanut butter cup flavoring. 10x better than pb2. Takes 10x less work too.

How much of the Apex flavoring did you add to a 5 gallon batch?

 

[Rob2010SS]

How much of the Apex flavoring did you add to a 5 gallon batch?

I know you didn't ask for my input but I would stay away from this extract. Was not a fan of it at all. Very fake, chemically tasting. I have a bottle of it that i won't use because of how bad it was. Just my opinion of course

PB2 may be more work but it'll taste much better than this extract does.

 

[Beer666]

Your beer looks fantastic! i think i am going to have to try some real pb next as my experience of pb2 and flavourings has been dismal to say the least. I dumped the last batch, it had a horrible bitterness from using brewers best extract and adding pb2 to secondary was very underwhelming. Such little flavour.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Your beer looks fantastic! i think i am going to have to try some real pb next as my experience of pb2 and flavourings has been dismal to say the least. I dumped the last batch, it had a horrible bitterness from using brewers best extract and adding pb2 to secondary was very underwhelming. Such little flavour.

Highly recommend it man! I just did it again actually in an Imperial S'mores Stout. Love the flavor it gave off. When it comes to PB, I won't use extracts. My experience mirrors yours.

 

[Beer666]

Highly recommend it man! I just did it again actually in an Imperial S'mores Stout. Love the flavor it gave off. When it comes to PB, I won't use extracts. My experience mirrors yours.

Nice one i am really happy to hear that. Is there a particular type of PB you recommend using? I am in the UK so my choice will be limited. Cheers

 

[okiedog]

So no problems with it being too oily?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Nice one i am really happy to hear that. Is there a particular type of PB you recommend using? I am in the UK so my choice will be limited. Cheers

Go for a natural peanut butter that usually requires stirring when you open them because the oil separated on top. You want a peanut butter where the oil will naturally separate over time. If you go with just a standard peanut butter that's ready to use right after opening, it'll never separate.

This is the one I use. As you can see in the pic, the oil is separated on top. Try not to shake it up too much when purchasing. Get it home, open it, dump out all of the oil on top and spread the rest on paper towels in a pan. Get it spread out as thin as you can. That'll get more oil out of it.

So no problems with it being too oily?

Like I said before, the head retention was definitely affected a bit so there's obviously SOME oil in the beer. You get a lot of oil out of it by doing the above process for 10-15 days. Some of the remaining oil comes out in the fermenter when the beer is sitting on top of it. If you keep the fermenter on the cool side (<60*F) that oil will come to the top of the fermenter and not quite harden, but you'll see it form a layer on top. As long as you siphon or transfer out from below that layer and leave maybe half inch or so of beer in the fermenter, you leave most of the oil behind. This has been my experience anyway.

Can't stress enough that the flavor you get is definitely worth the effort.

 

[Beer666]

Thanks for all the tips. I will have a go at this asap. If i can get the same level of flavour from peanut butter as coconut i will be really happy. Like you i love pb. Do you think pb benefits a sweeter beer and its flavour is enhanced by heavier use of crystal malts?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Thanks for all the tips. I will have a go at this asap. If i can get the same level of flavour from peanut butter as coconut i will be really happy. Like you i love pb. Do you think pb benefits a sweeter beer and its flavour is enhanced by heavier use of crystal malts?

I haven't experimented with peanut butter that much. However, I would think you'd be better off using malts that give off nutty flavors - Maris otter, victory, biscuit, etc.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Thanks for all the tips. I will have a go at this asap. If i can get the same level of flavour from peanut butter as coconut i will be really happy. Like you i love pb. Do you think pb benefits a sweeter beer and its flavour is enhanced by heavier use of crystal malts?

But if you're going for a chocolate pb flavor, maybe crystal is the way to go. Like I said, I haven't gotten to play with it that much