chicory flower (photo: Alvesgaspar)Brewed 30 September 2017 in Plummer’s Hollow.
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) root, to my taste buds, is indistinguishable from dandelion, which isn’t surprising since they’re in the same family. I’ve used both in gruit blends over the years, but here, roasted chicory root is used as it is in the American South: as a coffee substitute.
The recipe is closely patterned after coffee stout. Leave the chicory in the secondary as long as you can. I used 1 oz. of chicory because that’s what I had on hand, but I could easily have used more. The trouble with some of the commercial varieties for sale in the coffee sections of large supermarkets is that they’re either sold in powdered form, which doesn’t have a long shelf life and is hard to brew with, or they’re packaged in prohibitively expensive little tea bags. What you want are whole or chopped dried roots which you can toast in an oven.
If gathering chicory yourself, be sure NOT to harvest it from beside a road, where it’s so often found, unless the road wasn’t put in until after the phase-out of leaded gasoline.
Recipe Details
Batch Size
Boil Time
IBU
SRM
Est. OG
Est. FG
ABV
5 gal
60 min
17.2 IBUs
30.9 SRM
1.067
1.011
7.4 %
Fermentables
Name
Amount
%
2-Row - US
8 lbs
68.09
Biscuit Malt - BE
8 oz
4.26
Caramel/Crystal 60 - US
8 oz
4.26
Chocolate Malt - US
8 oz
4.26
Vienna - US
8 oz
4.26
De-Bittered Black - BE
4 oz
2.13
Red Wheat - US
4 oz
2.13
Dark Brown Sugar - US
1.25 lbs
10.64
Hops
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Form
Alpha %
Fuggles
0.75 oz
60 min
Boil
Pellet
4.8
Fuggles
0.75 oz
10 min
Boil
Pellet
4.8
Miscs
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Type
roasted chicory root (Brewer's Best brand)
1.00 oz
0 min
Secondary
Other
Yeast
Name
Lab
Attenuation
Temperature
Fermentis Safale S-04
75%
64°F - 69°F
Notes
A stout in which chicory root provides the roastiness.
