Top 10 Peanut Butter Beers Brewed in America
This Top Ten List of Peanut Butter Beers is from the results of the U.S. Open Beer Championship, Great American Beer Festival, and World Beer Cup. The top 10 Peanut Butter Beers are any beers using peanut, peanut butter or peanut butter extract as an adjunct in either the mash, kettle, primary or secondary fermentation, providing obvious, yet harmonious, qualities.
1. Peanut Butter Porter – Liquid Mechanics Brewing – Colorado
2. Peanut Butter Porter – Dangerous Man – Michigan
3. Sweet Baby Jesus! – DuClaw Brewing – Maryland
4. Pecan Chocolate Stout – Guadalupe Brewing Company – Texas
5. Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter – Willoughby Brewing – Ohio
6. Peanut Butter Milk Stout – Belching Beaver Brewing – California
7. Roadside Peanut Butter Porter – Crooked Handle Brewing – Ohio
8. Nutcase Peanut Butter Porter – Listermann Brewing – Ohio
9. Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout – Rapp Brewing – Florida
10. Liquid Bliss – Terrapin Beer Co. – Georgia
History of Peanut Butter Beers
Peanut butter beers emerged as a niche but beloved category in the American craft beer scene during the early 2010s, driven by brewers’ desire to experiment with nostalgic and decadent flavors. The trend capitalized on peanut butter’s cultural significance in the U.S., where it’s a staple in roughly 94% of households, evoking childhood memories of PB&J sandwiches and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Early pioneers like DuClaw Brewing Co. with their Sweet Baby Jesus! Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter (released in 2012) and Willoughby Brewing Co.’s Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter set the stage, blending peanut butter’s creamy, nutty profile with robust porters and stouts. These beers often used peanut butter extracts, defatted peanut products, or dried peanut powder to achieve authentic flavor without the oils that could destabilize the beer. The novelty and balance of sweet, savory, and roasty notes quickly gained traction, with breweries like Belching Beaver (Peanut Butter Milk Stout) and Mast Landing (Gunner’s Daughter) turning one-off experiments into year-round offerings due to popular demand.
By the late 2010s, peanut butter beers had carved out a lasting presence in a crowded craft beer market, with brewers expanding beyond traditional stouts and porters to styles like hefeweizens (Rusty Rail’s Fool’s Gold) and IPAs (Cigar City’s Jai Alai variant). The flavor’s versatility allowed for creative pairings with chocolate, coffee, raspberries, or even maple syrup, appealing to drinkers seeking comfort and nostalgia amid trends like hazy IPAs and hard seltzers. Brewers faced challenges in balancing intense peanut butter flavors with drinkability, often relying on precise techniques like post-fermentation additions to avoid overpowering the base beer. By 2022, the style’s popularity was evident, with Tavour reporting a 35% increase in peanut butter beer offerings since 2019. Today, peanut butter beers remain a testament to craft brewing’s innovation, transforming a pantry staple into a sophisticated yet approachable indulgence.
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