It’s 27°C outside in sunny Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; perfect weather for a nice refreshing citrusy light India pale ale (IPA). But when selecting my beer today the words “dark brew”, “organic Mexican coffee” and “roasted chicory” proved too overwhelming and I was shamelessly sold on the Dogfish Head Chicory Stout instead.
Definitely more of a brew suited to a cold winter evening, the Chicory Stout has been a popular choice from the Dogfish Head Brewery since 1995. You can understand why as it’s contrived with a complex blend of whole-leaf Cascade and Fuggle hops and pale, roasted oatmeal grains. It’s fairly strong at 5.2%.
So, expecting great things I poured my pint. It’s got a sweet-smelling, yeasty nose to it and pours with a brownish head which doesn’t hang around and leaves barely any lacing. It has the opaque dark colour of motor oil.
First sup leaves me underwhelmed as I’m slightly disappointed in how watery it tastes. I prefer my stouts to be slightly more full-bodied. But I can detect definite notes of chocolate, dark fruit, liquorice, wood and that Mexican coffee that it boasts on the bottle. It’s definitely complex even though I’d concur that’s it’s slightly over-carbonated for a stout.
Verdict: I expected the roasted chicory flavour to be more prevalent but it’s a complex stout and I like that. I’d pair it with pretty much any dish but strangely enough it gave me a hankering for a bar of Galaxy chocolate which I’ll never find this side of the pond in a month of Sundays. The delivery wasn’t blowing me away but when it comes to stout I’m a tough crowd to please. But 10/10 for effort and a round of applause for Dogfish Head Brewery as is has consistently pleased beer drinkers over here with this beer for 17 years.
