Karl Strauss Brewing triples Peanut Butter Cup Porter production (Is this the new pumpkin?)

At Craft Brewing Business, we love being ahead of the game. Not more than two weeks ago, we brought you a story about how flavored beer is an exploding segment within the craft beer niche. Today, news has surfaced that Karl Strauss Brewing has had to triple its Peanut Butter Cup Porter production each year for the last three years to meet the demand during San Diego Beer Week.

“People go nuts for this beer! We can hardly keep up with demand even though we’re brewing a lot more of it every year,” says Karl Strauss Brewmaster Paul Segura. “It’s humbling to see the peanut butter beer trend take off in San Diego as others look to emulate what we did.”

Karl Strauss releases its Peanut Butter Cup Porter during San Diego Beer Week. It was first released back in 2012 as a unique spin on a classic robust porter and it has gone on to inspire other San Diego breweries to release their own peanut butter beers.

The brewery is looking to innovate again, as it will release a dynamic beer made in collaboration with San Diego’s Monkey Paw Brewing (couldn’t resist…). Deux Amis, French for “two friends,” is a blended barrel-aged American wild ale that’s been in the making for about three years.

Related: Barrel-aging Q&A: Saint Arnold founder Brock Wagner

The collaboration originally started with two separate beers—a strong ale brewed by Monkey Paw and aged for three years in French Bordeaux barrels and a sour ale brewed by Karl Strauss that was spontaneously fermented in American oak barrels and aged for two years. After careful blending, the teams were able to create an amazing wild ale featuring aromas of oak, wine and cherries and a complex subtle earthiness.

Deux Amis was first released on draft in August, and then a new cherry version was created with the addition of tart Michigan cherries. The team hand filled an extremely limited amount of this version into cork and cage bottles that will be sold during San Diego Beer Week.