Judge's Review: 89 Rating - Peanut Butter Korova Milk Porter by Gnarly Barley Brewing Co.

Peanut Butter Korova Milk Porter by Gnarly Barley Brewing Co. is going to be judged against the Spice/Herb/Vegetable category (BJCP 30A), with a Baltic porter as the base style.  

Aroma smells like dessert, rich dark chocolate, moderate peanut butter, sweet malt with some toasty qualities. I don’t get much in terms of hop aroma, but I don’t think it is supposed to. There is a lot going on here, but what’s interesting is you can pick up all the components. The color is a dark brown, almost black and it pours a light tan head. The retention of the head was pretty short. For the flavor, I got a bit of sweetness from the malt, and while I had a hard time picking up much coffee quality in the aroma, I certainly pick it up in the flavor. You also get the peanut butter which is not as overdone as I’ve experienced in other peanut butter beers, so that is a redeeming quality. The bitterness is a bit lower, and barely balances the sweetness, but I get the impression that is the intention. The beer is full bodied with a lower level of carbonation. It’s extremely creamy and quite smooth. I do get a bit of alcohol warmth, but not much. Overall, it’s a very good beer and I enjoyed my sample. It’s complex, and a great dessert beer. Could I drink a lot of this? Probably not, but it’s a great sipper after dinner, to say the least. For what it is, I like it. But generally speaking the coffee and peanut butter sort of drown out the base beer a bit. I’d like to see a bit more grain character