Dismiss Notice
Subscribe to BeerAdvocate magazine?


Subscribe now →

SNACK ATTACK! - Cigar City Brewing

Not Rated.
No picture.
Have one? Upload it now.
very good

15 Reviews
no score

(Send Samples)
Reviews: 15
Hads: 76
Avg: 3.95
pDev: 14.94%
Wants: 15
Gots: 2 | FT: 0
Brewed by:
Cigar City Brewing visit their website
Florida, United States

Style | ABV
American Porter |  10.00% ABV

Availability: Limited (brewed once)

Notes & Commercial Description:
Beer added by: yourefragile on 06-08-2012

This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

Our collaboration with Bluejacket and Funky Buddha. Here’s what to expect when drinking: peanut butter cups, milk duds, black licorice, chocolate-covered peanuts and salted caramel.
Beer: Reviews & Ratings
Sort by:  Recent | High | Low | Top Raters
Reviews: 15 | Hads: 76
Photo of BMMillsy
4.03/5  rDev +2%

Hunahpu Day pour #6. Pours black with creamy looking kahki head. Aroma is peanut butter and chocolate, and maybe jelly? Neat. Flavor is dry peanuts, a bit of chocolate, and a strong caramel finish that sweetens things up a bit but not too much. Really like the uniqueness here. Pretty thick porter, but soft caronation makes it feel lighter. The body and sweetness is nicely balanced by the dry peanut butter flavor. Nice beer for sure.

 436 characters

Photo of xnicknj
4.3/5  rDev +8.9%

on tap at hawthornes, served in Chimay goblet - part of the EBF kegs that came to Philly after the blizzard fiasco

Opaque chestnut brown pour with a collar of lacing, left behind by a thin tanned head.

Like a Halloween haul gone crazy - peanut butter cups, dark chocolate, coconut, milk duds and honey. Roasted malts, boozy glow and nuttiness.

Salty peanut butter, creamy chocolate and coconut up front. This is like drinking cake batter filled with a random assortment of candy, ranging from Reese's to Snickers. Incredibly expressive and interesting, nutty, roasty, warm and sweet throughout with a boozy, sugary finish.

Fuller body, slightly milder carbonation, sticky and chewy on the tongue. I can see some people thinking this was too sweet or perhaps too salty, but I thought this was hilariously delicious. If you're into peanut butter cups or candy (and I'm not even that into it), this is right in your wheelhouse.

 931 characters

Photo of Rifugium
3.35/5  rDev -15.2%

First had: on tap at Hawthornes, Philly, PA

Dark brown-black pour with a foamy tan head that receded to a thick collar, leaving some lacing on the glass. "Peanut butter cups, milk duds, black licorice, chocolate-covered peanuts and salted caramel." Well, that's a way to get your expectations up. Unfortunately, it wasn't like that at all. In the nose, dark malts and burnt peanuts, and that was it. Taste was about the same, burnt peanuts taking the foreground, notes of dark roasty malts, and a hint of anise and black tea. Mouthfeel was on the thin side, absolutely no doubting that this was a porter and not a stout, body was about medium, with a little bit of warmth from the alcohol coming through. Overall decent, but more so an ambitious attempt that ultimately fell short.

 782 characters

Photo of russwbeck
4.83/5  rDev +22.3%

Imperial Porter w/ Key West Sea Salt, Cocoa Nibs, Lactose Milk Sugar & Honey-Roasted Peanuts. Brewed in collaboration with Cigar City and Funky Buddha


Black pour with a huge brown head. The retention and lacing are phenomenal. It's a great looking beer. 5

It smells a lot like roasted peanuts and vanilla. Amazingly I can still smell a lot of the roast and chocolate from the porter base. The aroma is so similar to roasted peanuts it scares me. 4.5

The vanilla is bolstered by the lactose, which makes this feel a lot like a milk stout. Very sweet, but you're bombarded by the roasted peanuts. The very back end is highlighted by porter characteristics, but it's picked up by the sweetness from the lactose. A strange and wonderful taste. 5

As I said this feels a lot like a milk stout. The finish is very dry, and the beer feels thick on the palate. Low carbonation. Extremely drinkable, it's really like a peanut butter sandwich. 4.5

How will this brewery top this beer moving forward? I have nobidea, but I can't wait to see. This was a great first run, really one of the most interesting beers I've ever had. 5

 1,133 characters

Photo of xzxer
4.3/5  rDev +8.9%

Snack attack has been one of my most awaited arrivals from cigar city brewery.

Overall what a wonderful beer. Great flavor.

Has a bit of a pepper bite from the hight ABV and the peanut flavor jumps out at me.

Wonderful collaboration from Cigar City, Funky Buddah, and BlueJacket.

 282 characters

Photo of Mposha
4.67/5  rDev +18.2%

This is good!
A: Very dark with creamy mocha head, little lacing.
S: Like a babe ruth, roasty, chocolatey, peanut butter.
T: Wow glad I tried this. Delicious, very robust with dark chocolates and a creamy peanut taste, a tad salty. Tiny bit of alcohol burn.
M:Typical cigar city mouthfeel, very full with a wet finish.
O: Great offering, a little different than most ccb porters but fantastic none the less. Hope they make this again!

 435 characters

Photo of slynke
4.67/5  rDev +18.2%

Had on tap @ CCB in snifter on 1st day of release

A - Black. Dark creamy 1 finger head which settles quickly.
S - Peanuts! Milk chocolate and heavy cream.
T - Who dropped a scoop of peanut butter into my beer? Because it's f***ing delicious. Salty peanut butter, milk chocolate, white chocolate, heavy cream, caramel, black licorice. An intense sipper.
M - Heavy, but not as thick as I would have liked. Maybe would do good on nitro as it could use a bump in creaminess.
O - I love peanut butter, and I love this beer! I understand how many can only have a small glass, but I had 3 the first night, then came back @ 11am to have 3 more in case it didn't last. A very unique beer, try if you ever have the chance. Definitely a beer for those of us with a sweet tooth.

 767 characters

Photo of billab914
3.81/5  rDev -3.5%

On tap at Churchkey the other night. It appeared black in color with a thin, frothy head to it. It left a good amount of lacing on the glass as I drank it as well.

The aroma pretty much smells exactly like a bunch of sweet and salty snacks all mixed together. Peanuts, chocolate, salty pretzels are all things that come to mind. It's definitely an interesting aroma.

In the taste, the chocolate comes out a little more at first. The finish is very salty, almost like a pretzel. I get some peanut flavors to it as well. Really cool flavors, I really enjoyed the salty aspect of it. It pretty much tasted exactly like a bunch of salty, chocolaty, sweet snacks.

The mouthfeel is on the heavier side and moderately creamy. Carbonation leans towards the lower end. Overall it was a very cool beer. It was pretty spot on with the snack theme as well. I found the saltiness especially interesting and unique. The chocolate was also pretty good in it. I give it a lot of credit for being unique, interesting and tasting pretty much like snacks, but overall the flavors were just OK. A sample was good, the novelty of it was diminishing towards the end of that sample.

 1,163 characters

Photo of Rhettroactive
4.67/5  rDev +18.2%

*From notes

A: This looks good and as it should. Dark, elegant brown to black. A minimal small and creamy head tops the beer. As it falls, a thick mocha collar and sticky lacing follow.

S: The nose is pretty wild. Freshly shelled peanuts, shaved cocoa nibs, freshly charred bark and what comes across like oragnic whole milk. I can't say I've ever come across a beer that quite resembles this, and I'm floored by it's originality.

T: Complex beyond it's pay grade. Simply stunning and more importantly, it's delicious. Charred cocoa hits the palate up front, which morphs into chocolate covered peanuts (you know, Goobers) on the mid. On the mid, I get a bit of creamy caramel and black licorice. The finish is slightly salty, and there's a lactic creaminess to it that blends beautifully with the flavor profile. There is a shit ton going on here, and I can understand that this might not appeal to all. But to me and my palate, this kicks all kinds of sexy ass.

S: Not overly viscous, yet it's as smooth as a baby's bottom. Elegant. The beer is silky, it's complex in the mouth and it's nothing if not a pleasure to drink.

O: One of the more auscpicious craft brewing debuts I've encountered. If Bluejacket can continue making beers even half this good, then I'm pushing all in. This is a wonderful, out of control and extreme idea that actually turned out to be a massive if not polarizing success. Cheers to the trio of breweries involved with this SNACK ATTACK! My hats off to a job (more then) well done.

 1,561 characters

Photo of zaphodchak
4.53/5  rDev +14.7%

On tap at Churchkey.

Two fingers of tan head and a deep brown body. As someone pointed out, good head retention for something brewed with nuts/oily stuff.

Smells vaguely boozy, but some saltiness, and peanut is definitely present. I'm excited already.

Tastes like snacktime! Chocolate pretzels and salty peanuts, rich, thick and delicious. Amazing flavor that I'd call groundbreaking; after hundreds of beers reviewed, nothing was even remotely similar to this.

Kinda thin feeling, but not weak.

One of the most interesting beers I've had this year. Basically read the description. If you think you might like it, you will. If you think you won't, you probably won't.

 672 characters

Photo of oline73
4.36/5  rDev +10.4%

I had this on-tap at Churchkey. Served in a 4 oz snifter.

Appearance: Pours very thick and black with a finger of tan head. I was surprised how well the head hung around given the fact that this beer is brewed with nuts. Leaves some lacing.

Smell: Honey roasted peanuts with a mild roast and malt sweetness. I'm getting some dark chocolate and alcohol heat.

Taste: Creamy and very sweet. The peanuts add a lot of flavor to this beer. The salt and dark chocolate go together very well. There is a caramel note along with sweet malt and some alcohol. The peanut flavor dominates to the finish.

Mouthfeel: The body is on the thick side with a tingle of carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: I really loved the peanuts, salt, and chocolate together. Everything worked well if you ask me. I think this would be a really nice desert.

 833 characters

Photo of macrosmatic
3.61/5  rDev -8.6%


A: Dark dark brown to black in color. This is opaque, with a thin tan head. No visible carbonation bubbles in the beer.

S: Chocolate up front, then some peanuts, but seems a bit muted.

T: Chocolate, salted boiled peanuts, salty caramel, cacao, peanut butter. Some alcohol presence but not overdone given the ABV. Sticky sweet finish.

M: Thickish, smooth heavy mouthfeel.

O: So...yeah. I guess you can't complain if a beer is exactly what was advertised. Overall, not an unpleasant beer. And a very interesting one - it pushes the limits of what you think the flavor profile of beer can include. But, one (or maybe a half) of this beer was enough limit-pushing for me. I'm very glad I had the opportunity to try it, but I wouldn't be purchasing a six-pack if this were a regular release.

 868 characters

Photo of Thorpe429
3.08/5  rDev -22%

Collaboration between Bluejacket, Cigar City, and Funky Buddha. On tap at Churchkey. Served in a snifter.

Pours a fairly-dark brown with a tan head and a bit of lacing as it goes down the glass. Thin collar throughout.

The nose starts off with what is a really nice chocolate character. Just a bit of sweetness paired with some dark chocolate notes plus a bit of roast. After that, the peanuts come through, though their character lends more of a peanut-shell character than something like peanut butter.

The flavor takes the same progression as the nose, with the initial chocolate taste being quite nice when paired with the underlying malt, though quickly the peanuts and especially the salt take over, ruining the initial flavors. The salt really just doesn't work in a beer of this nature.

Body is medium with good carbonation and a nice creaminess, though most of the positives of the beer are washed away with salt.

Overall, I think this could have been a really good beer. My comment after half a glass was that this would have been a really good chocolate porter. The addition of peanuts might have gone either way, though probably would have been for the worse, and then the salt took it off the cliff.

 1,218 characters

Photo of drabmuh
3.03/5  rDev -23.3%

On tap at Churchkey. Beer served in a snifter. Beer is mostly head. Small tan bubbles. Moderate to high retention, some lacing, moderate carbonation. Looks OK.

Aroma is peanuts, sugar, caramel, sweet, odd late aroma, like dirty vegetables or something.

Can you spell reinheitsgebot? The hardest shape to draw is a circle. This is your first beer? Peanut butter, caramel, chocolate, licorice, kitchen sink? I'm surprised there weren't tea leaves in here. It is a muddled salty sweet peanut mess of a beer. I hope you barrel age this. Cause then it will be really sought after. Will not have again.

 600 characters

Photo of yourefragile
3.05/5  rDev -22.8%


On tap at Churchkey in DC. Kegs showed up late for the event, crowds were unruly, pours were exceptionally foamy (obviously), quite the auspicious "debut" for Bluejacket.

Pours a clear, oily dark brown with a foamy tan head that settles to a thin film with nice lace. Nose and flavor are what you would expect (with varying degrees of success) from the ingredient list, marketing and description of this beer. Obviously this is a Shorts-ian gimmick and if you love a sweet and salty flavor profile (leaning more on the salty) you might enjoy this. I have never wanted to put a movie theater concession stand in a blender, so the flaws were difficult to overlook.

The nose was more balanced than the flavor and had a sweeter, more chocolately presence. The flavor unfortunately was quickly over whelmed by salt, salt, peanut shells and more salt with the milky chocolate and caramel flavors getting lost in the mess. The balance and complexity of the nose represented the ingredient list well, but picking out distinct notes in the flavor was a chore. Remarkably the 10% ABV is well hidden but the medium thin body is still relatively cloying.

Hopefully revisiting a settled keg of this in the future will result in a better opinion but probably not by much. If you want a super salty peanut butter cup, you should start seeking this out; otherwise...

 1,553 characters

SNACK ATTACK! from Cigar City Brewing
87 out of 100 based on 15 ratings.