Saint Brewis

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4 Hands Brewery – Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout

Brewery: 4 Hands Brewery
Location  St. Louis, MO
Style  Milk Stout/Speciality
 ABV  5.5%
 IBUs  n/a

 

Best Quote During Tasting

It's like licking a teabag.

[ssba]

Justin:

Aroma - Definitely get peanuts in the aroma.  An overall nuttiness to the beer in general.  Not much roast or chocolate since the peanuts are so up front. Smells a lot like Frangelico liqueur.
Score: 8/12
Appearance - Head Dissipated quickly, and the beer is surprisingly clear for being so dark.
Score: 2/3
Flavor - Peanut butter once again dominates everything about the beer.  The chocolate and roast notes in the beer are there but subdued.  I'm actually finding it a little tart and astringent.
Score: 13/20
Mouthfeel - The body of this beer is ridiculously thin.  It is kind of startling since you're naturally expecting some thickness from peanut butter. Medium carbonation.
Score: 2/5
Overall Impression - While 4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout hit the nail on the head in my opinion, this variant kinda missed for me.  The big let down of this beer is the mouthfeel.  When you think peanut butter you think thick.  I really feel they could've played with the theme a little more and had come across a little heavier.  While the peanut butter is, well,  peanut buttery, it tastes a little fake.  While they weren't far off from a phenomenal beer, there's a little more to be desired from PBCMS.
Score: 6/10

 

Blake:

Aroma -  Peanut butter comes through immediately, with chocolate and roast being more secondary scents. 
Score: 8/12
Appearance - Repeat of their regular Chocolate Milk Stout. Not totally opaque, but still pours dark, and has a light tan head.
Score: 2/3
Flavor -  Peanut butter, milk chocolate, and roastiness are the dominating flavors. They'd be really great if not for...
Score: 12/20
Mouthfeel -  Thin body. Very thin body for something that is so rich in flavors. It just doesn't match up unfortunately. 
Score: 2/5
Overall Impression -  As seen in our earlier review, 4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout doesn't knock my socks off, but it's still an average to above average example of the style. You would think that adding peanut butter into the mix would really set this one up for a home run, but the thin body kills it for me. Peanut butter and chocolate are such rich flavors that makes you expect a thick beer. I would really love to see 4 Hands do an imperial version of this beer where they get the thicker mouthfeel of some of the great imperial stouts they have released. For those that were big fans of this beer (and I know there are a lot of you), 4 Hands is re-releasing this beer as Absence of Light, and they've upped the ABV. So far, it looks like an improvement over this version, and I look forward to telling you if the new version has addressed my concerns with this beer.
Score: 6/10

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout Final Score
  • Aroma
  • Appearance
  • Flavor
  • Mouthfeel
  • Overall
3
User Rating: 0.0 (4 votes)
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Blake Fehl

Blake Fehl

Co-Founder at Saint Brewis

Comments

    • Without knowing their specific recipe, most folks that brew a PB beer use powdered peanut butter to avoid the oils and other unfun side effects that come with actually using real PB. There’s a powedred PB product called “PB2” that a lot of home brewers are fond of. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same or similar product is used in this one. Great question!

      Reply

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