BAROSSA VALLEY BREWING PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE
Paddle Pops and pints! What I love about them both is how they bring us together. As is the case for this cracking craft.
Origin – Tanunda, South Australia
ABV- 6.5%
Size- 330mL can
Style- Porter
After the purchase Bega ran adverts stating that the much loved, 'never oily or dry' peanut butter was not only just as good, it was now made by a good Aussie company Strangely, Kraft decided they didn’t want out of Australia after all and launched an identical-looking product to the one they had just sold to Bega. That Krafy manoeuvre was followed by court action, claiming that Bega was now selling peanut butter in a jar that looked like Kraft's salty spread complete with yellow lid! From there, things got messier than a two-year-old eating a peanut butter sandwich!
While it wasn’t this war of words that inspired Denham D’Silva’s 2019 GABS entry, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Milkshake, the creation of Barossa Valley Brewing was not without drama when founding Barossa Valley Brewing in 2005 at the Chateau Yaldara winery, well before craft beer had the following it has today. An agreement with national winery McGuigan Simeon, the owner of the Chateau, ended when the wine glut forced the major winery to restructure. Denham cut his losses and moved to a beautiful old building on the edge of Tanunda where he started again.
After installing an impressive five vessel brewhouse out the back and fitting an eight-tap bar inside, he set about making beers that have captured just as much attention as the peanut butter saga. One of those ales deserving of our attention is this Peanut Butter Chocolate Milkshake that D'Silva describes as a Snickers ice cream bar in beer form. Pull the ring and fill the glass, and you can't miss the tonne of crushed peanuts on the nose and that hit of nutty, buttery caramel that follows. Colour-wise, it sits in porter territory yet it's stickier, fuller and, well, nuttier on the palate.
Thankfully, Bega recently won the court battle. I wouldn’t be surprised if this literal 'treat' of a beer wins a few awards too!