“Red Duck Licky is a dark lager with a few extra special additions; all natural, dried liquorice root, sarsaparilla root and aniseed myrtle. We did not use any lollies or added sugars for this amazing brew. Licky has a pronounced liquorice aroma, and a wonderful balanced liquorice taste. Its dark, delicious and intriquing! Also, this is the first ever lager that Red Duck has released, and it is a real Lager, so took a nice, slow 4 months to ferment over winter. That and 2 months to condition as well, which is about the right amount of time a real craft lager should take to make.”
You can always count on Red Duck to produce extremely interesting craft beers. This dark lager is brewed with real licorice root, sarsaparilla root and aniseed myrtle. This is why we love craft beer. So, this one we served into a shaker glass. The appearance is displaying a mat black colour with 2 fingers of loosely held tanned foam that gradually peeled away to a ring around the edge of the glass. Laced reasonably well. The aroma gives off a strange phenolic characteristic initially. Firm wafts of licorice and sweet roasted malts employ some vinegary notes, toffee, spice and a subtle hint of cola in the background. Mild carbonation with a light, oily mouth feel. Maybe a touch too thin. Initially a roasted element of malt and mocha is evident. Some sweeter flavours of caramel and a hint of spice lead on to a slightly hoppy mid-palate that’s rounded off by a roasty finish. The 5.8% ABV does add a little warming but in summary the licorice contingent isn’t strong enough which really leaves the beer in limbo. A bit like a mild porter but more like a watery dark ale. Although we weren’t too keen on it, we like the idea. It’s just a tad confusing.