Beer O'Clock: Chocolate Milk Peanut Butter Porter

As much as I love my classic stouts and porters, every once and a while I like to try those that have been flavoured, be it vanilla, raspberry, or pretzel. Some brewers like to add extra sweetness to make the stout or porter more like a dessert, like Souther Tier's Crème Brulée Stout (which is no longer available on their Web site) or some of the crazy flavoured brews from Rogue Brewery (again, no longer available on their Web site).

I absolutely love when a brewer adds some lactose to a stout or porter, giving it a milky creaminess that makes me think of chocolate chip cookies. Some of my favourite additions to these dark ales include vanilla, chocolate, and (lately) peanut butter.

Some time back, I reviewed a peanut butter and raspberry milkshake stout that had me wanting to try peanut butter in my stout again, and on my last visit to my friendly neighbourhood LCBO, I spied a porter that was displayed at the checkout, as I was purchasing a bottle of wine to give a friend for his birthday.

I added two cans to my purchase.

I didn't recognize the brewery and noticed that it is located in Sarnia, Ontario. As far as I can remember, I've never had beer from this Southern Ontario city before, either. So it was time to give city, brewery, and brew a try.

Chocolate Milk Peanut Butter Porter (6.2 % ABV; 30 IBUs)
Imperial City Brew House
Sarnia ON

Appearance: pours a dark walnut with a foamy taupe head that risked overflowing in the glass but eventually settled to a solid cap.

Nose: peanut butter permeates the room—you don't need to stick your nose into the glass. But when you do stick your nose in and give a sniff, you can cut through the peanut butter and capture aromas of creamy milk chocolate.

Palate: I thought that the peanut butter would lead the way but it's the chocolate that I detected first. The peanut butter comes up on the porter's flanks and carry the brew to a perfect marriage of chocolate and peanut butter. In the lengthy finish left me with the slightly bitter taste of peanut skins and made me wonder if the brewer shelled the legumes and threw both peanuts and skins into the mash. The peanut flavour seems to only give the impression of peanut butter because of the creamy lactose.

There are no nuts used in the making of this porter, nor is there even any chocolate. The ingredients list boasts both natural and artificial flavour, and as disappointing as that sounded to me, I was glad that this brew wasn't going to turn away those who had nut allergies.

Overall impression: this is a nice flavoured porter that falls squarely in the dessert category. It filled me up after lunch and left me feeling satisfied. Despite the lack of actual peanut butter or chocolate, it tastes like the real thing and the balance of both flavours makes for a satisfying bevvy. If you like flavoured ales and like the combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter (think Reese), you'll like this porter.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺 + .5

You can find Imperial City's porter in the LCBO. Pick up some while it lasts.

Cheers!

Beer for Dessert

This will be my strangest beer review. Because it's not really about beer per se.

But there is beer in this review.

Last night, my family and I went to Big Rig Brew Pub for our second time. The first time, we were celebrating Father's Day with a couple of pints. The girls nibbled on some nachos, while I focused on the beer.

However, while I savoured the suds I did peruse the menu and thought a second visit was in order; hence, our visit last night.

Straight away, I went for my favourite brew, their Big Rig IPA: with lots of intense hops, I just love this stuff. I drank this pint while I ate their Fort McMurray burger: Angus beef with aged cheddar and bacon. What's not to like? Their fries are quite good. I highly recommend coming for the food and the beer.

We're getting to the beer review, right?

Sort of.

I'm not much of a dessert craver when I eat out. If I chose a set menu that includes a dessert, fine. If my wife wants to split something with me, fine. But I don't look at the dessert menu on my own.

This time, I did.

Oh, boy.

Big Rig has a Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream with a Double Chocolate Stout Float. Stout. Ice cream. Together.

GTFO!

I happen to know from experience that beer and ice cream don't go together. Sweet and bitter don't match. But Big Rig's stout has a nice chocolaty sweetness that seems to balance with the creamy ice cream.

But not at first.

I started with a sip from the straw, and what I tasted was a bit of sourness, almost like buttermilk. I don't like buttermilk, unless you are using it in baking. My taste buds were turned off a little, so I took the long spoon proffered me and gave the tall milkshake glass a stir.

That did the trick.

The ice cream and beer float works. When stirred, you get the chocolate creaminess right off the top. As it finishes, you are left with the maltiness of the stout.

It's delicious.

If you haven't been to Big Rig yet, wait no longer. Enjoy their beer. Savour their food. And combine the two with dessert.