Peanut Butter Milk Stout Nitro

Peanut Butter Milk Stout Nitro by Belching Beaver Brewery​ was judged as an Experimental Beer (34C). Peanut butter is layered with chocolate, and these two dominant aromas blend together in the nose nicely. The peanut butter smell is strong, and dark malts lend a rich and notable character as well. Some warmth is also apparent in the aroma, presumably from the alcohol. The color is black like crude oil with a tan, fine head that lingers on the edges of the glass. The peanut butter is also quite apparent in the flavor, and the rich malts are sweet and almost syrupy. Hops bitterness is present, though the beer very much leans to the malt and additions. The malts come across as chocolate with a bit of roast malt bite. The mouth is medium-full with a creamy finish. The carbonation seems a bit low, and I find myself wishing for more to help balance the sweet malts with some carbonic bite. Overall, the flavor does not express the dimensionality that the aroma seemed to portend. Instead it seems that the malt and peanut butter are battling for supremacy in the flavor profile, not quite finding a happy balance in the process. My preference would be for a little more attenuation or a little less malt, though more carbonation might also improve this peanut butter stout. Perhaps nitrogen simply does not work well with these flavor combinations. It is still a very good and flavorful beer, just not as complex as one might hope given what one anticipates when first taking in the aroma.