Saturday, January 21, 2012

Quick Sips: Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

Dogfish Head is best known for doing really unusual beers. That makes them a somewhat divisive brewery, but it's also why I like them. When you get a beer from Dogfish Head, you're likely to be getting a beer unlike anything else out there ... and that's pretty cool.

One of their few "normal" beers is their winter seasonal, Chicory Stout. This is a pretty straightforward stout -- at 5.2% ABV it's also one of Dogfish's weakest beers -- that takes a turn for the unsusual thanks to the addition of roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John's Wort and licorice root. The result is a very drinkable dry stout with just enough going on to make it stand out from the pack.

The nose is rich Mexican coffee, very roasty, like a handful of oily black coffee beans spilling from your hands. There are hints of chocolate and coffee throughout the taste, yet oddly, very little sweetness. Instead it has a sharp, coffee-like bitterness. This beer has a dry finish. They don't call this a coffee stout, but that's what it is. A roasted rich (and delicious) coffee stout.

Chicory Stout is on shelves right now, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it if you enjoy stouts. Grab it while you can, as this beer is only released once each year

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