Odd "nutty" taste in dark beers??

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I used to be able to brew really nice dark beers, but lately (past few batches) I’ve had a consistent peanut type taste in my porters. Its rather unpleasant. I’ve included two recipes below, thinking it might be ingredient related – specifically, could this attributed to Pale Chocolate malt? Thoughts would certainly be appreciated!

Porter1 (1.057 OG, 11 gallons):
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
19 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 74.7 %
2 lbs         Roasted Barley (Thomas Fawcett) (609.0 SRM)           Grain 2 7.9 %
1 lbs 7.2 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (215.0 SRM)                 Grain 3 5.7 %
1 lbs           Black Malt (Thomas Fawcett) (660.0 SRM)                 Grain 4 3.9 %
1 lbs         Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                                           Grain 5 3.9 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM)                   Grain 6 2.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)                   Grain 7 2.0 %

Porter2 (
Amt                  Name                                    Type          #        %/IBU       
20 lbs                Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Bairds) (3.0 SRM          Grain        1        79.5 %       
2 lbs                Vienna Malt (4.0 SRM)                                    Grain        2        7.9 %       
14.6 oz              Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)                          Grain        3        3.6 %       
12.0 oz              Midnight Wheat (550.0 SRM)                          Grain        4        3.0 %       
12.0 oz              Pale Chocolate Malt (215.0 SRM)                    Grain        5        3.0 %       
8.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)                            Grain        6        2.0 %       
4.0 oz                Black Malt - 2-Row (Briess) (500.0 SRM)          Grain        7        1.0 %

2

Yeah, I’m thinking you are not agreeing with the pale chocolate.

3

It could be the Maris Otter as well.  I once made an IPA with a small portion of Maris Otter that I toasted in my oven at like 350 F for 30 minutes, something like that, aiming for a more biscuity flavor, however the resulting beer tasted exactly like peanuts.  Maris Otter has major tendencies of being nutty.  Try American 2-row next time and see if the issue goes away.

4

Yep. I love MO and have used it with chocolate malt without a PB flavor. Although, I’ve never toasted it. I can see how the toasted MO with chocolate malt could do that. Interesting though.