Let’s drop right into this. Left Hand Peanut Butter Milk Stout has finally hit shelves, and it’s perfect.
Yeah, I’ve bolded that because it bears emphasis. We live in a time in beer history that might be best summarized in one word – adjuncts. Here at this publication, we’ve mentioned a wide range of beers that have everything from candy, cakes, and fruit, to scorpions, crickets, and grasshoppers. Some beer additions should be sprayed for by an exterminator, and not wind up in your mash tun. But hey, you do you.
It’s the wild west of adjuncts out there. Some of these creations are so sweet you actually have a sugar crash later, while others end up being little shelve grenades in aluminum. Trying the next hyped brewery science experiment can wear out your taste buds, your wallet, and even your faith in beer brewing at large.
Still, there are some great pastry/milkshake/candy/cookie/skittles/chicken wing/hamburger/dragonfruit/marshmallow/baklava/cheesecake/jelly/pizza/tomato/herb beers out there, so I do what anybody else would do. Find them all and drink them all.
When it comes to well-established breweries like Left Hand, I hold them to a higher standard when it comes to a beer like this, and with good reason. They know what the hell they are doing, as evidenced by their Milk Stout. As good as that beer is, brewers want to play and fans demand variety. According to Left Hand, a peanut butter variant was the top request. However, it was never going to be as easy as just tossing peanut butter (in any form) into their milk stout and shipping it.
The best evidence of this? Peanut Butter Milk Stout was slated for November. “Despite getting close to how we envisioned this beer, we hadn’t nailed it yet,” says national sales director Jason Ingram, “Our brewing team worked hard until they got it right and it makes a difference,” he adds. Ingram is right because it was love at first sip for us.
Left Hand held themselves to a very high standard for the seasonal, and you the beer drinker, is the winner for their efforts. Peanut Butter Milk Stout is crafted. Meaningful. And worth the money.
Now you can taste the result of their hard work across the brewery’s distribution footprint this month. This beer is adjunct hope in dark beer form, in and increasingly muddy, sludgy world of pastry beers. 2020 is tasting good already.
Style: Milk Stout (w. Peanut Butter. Lactose.)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Seasonal Release.
Debut: Late January 2020
6% ABV, 25 IBUs
PIC: Beer Street Journal