DuClaw’s Sweet Baby Jesus!

Recently, I asked some folks ‘What makes you return to a favorite restaurant, listen to the same song over and over or order the same beer at your favorite watering hole?’ We all thought about it and then came up with similar answers… the reason you like it is because it’s memorable. We have all had less-than-memorable experiences with food, drink or even music. But the the experiences you enjoy most are the ones you want to repeat. This is not limited to the three examples above but for many things we collectively like to repeat based on our initial favorable experience. And because of the nature of this column, we will stick to good beer experiences. So, the focus beer this week may fit into the ‘oh wow’ column of taste treats coming to us from our friends at DuClaw.
DuClaw Brewing outside of Baltimore, Maryland has an interesting twist on making quality craft beers; ‘Craft be cherished, rules be damned!’ This has been the motto of owner David Benfield since 1996. Benfield studied many things while in college, one of them was homebrewing. His successful creations led him away from a predestined job at his family’s electrical business and into forming DuClaw Brewing. With over 70 different beers including a diverse assortment of Sour Me fruit-enhanced sours as well as PastryArcher imperial stouts of every possible combination, DuClaw is anything but your normal brewery. They distribute throughout the east coast and have finally come to NH. Look over their website at DuClaw.com
Sweet Baby Jesus! Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter has been annually produced since 2011 and possesses a mouthful of intricate flavor. This year’s production comes in at 6.2% ABV (last year was 6.5%) and reminds me a little of a liquid version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Hue is dark brown with a healthy tan head. In a beer that has adjunct ingredients to create a particular direction for that beer, quantity of those ingredients to make a point is a risk. Big flavors such as chocolate and peanut butter can overtake the base beer. Porters and stouts are usually the canvases chosen to experiment with. This porter supports a roasty, dark coffee beginning, but it is the chocolate or brownie batter, slightly more than peanut butter, than runs the show here. You might think it to be a dessert beer to be enjoyed after a generous meal, but the medium body keeps it from being so. Still, it is something to experience for sure.
BeerAdvocate.com has officially rated Sweet Baby Jesus! Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter as ‘Very Good’ and awards it an 86 out of 100. For me, this was a bit lower than I expected for this delicious American-style porter.
You can find Sweet Baby Jesus! in 12 oz cans at Case-n-Keg in Meredith as well as other fine beer providers. Enjoy something memorable and keep searching for more memorable creations from DuClaw.