Triple Digit Series: Chickow! Espresso
Listermann Brewing Company

12oz bottle from Tavour. Dark brown, clear, small beige head. Aroma is dark roast malt, a touch of coffee and hint of nuts. Tastes of these are much stronger, coffee up front followed by the hazelnuts, finishing with a warm glow. Lovely!

Look: Dark brown with a red hue when held up to the light. Thick but slightly see through.

Smell: mostly cherry cordials with hazelnut

Taste: more cherry cordials. Hazelnut, vanilla, hershey chocolate syrup, slight dark fruit, finishes with a pleasant bitterness, almost like a mild Brazilian coffee.

Feel: medium to full body with mild but notable carbonation. Chewy, coats the tongue. This one sits on the tongue for a while.

Overall: Fantastic brown and def at least slightly above average ale overall. Worth a drink if you can get it.

 

 

This one pours a dark and syrupy brown color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like syrupy and somewhat artificial hazelnut coffee creamer, vanilla, caramel, and just a hint of coffee.

I've liked other Chickows better - specifically the barrel aged version. I theorize that barrel aging tames the intense sweetness down and downplays the syrupy character. This is just so syrupy and sweet, and there's not enough interesting coffee character to kind of bitter balance down the artificial and too sweet hazelnut. The base brown ale also doesn't do a ton of heavy lifting here - no toast or roast or anything.

This is medium bodied, with a lower level of carbonation, and an unpleasantly syrupy body. There's no real booziness at least.

I find it hard to suggest this one to anybody. There are much better variants in this series.

 

12 fl. oz. bottle
Served in a snifter

This beer pours very dark brown with some ruby highlights. It is topped with less than an inch of tan head that leaves spotty lacing.

The smell is intense hazelnut and coffee.

The taste is also intense hazelnut and coffee.

Medium bodied with a smooth, syrupy mouthfeel

This is a great dessert beer. Chickow! is pretty great. The espresso compliments the hazelnut and enhances the flavor and smell.