The Brewery: Mikkeller – Denmark

The Beer: Beer Geek Brunch

The “Stranger Ingredient”: Vietnamese ca phe chon Coffee

Over the years, more and more breweries have added a beer made with coffee to their beer arsenal but to the best of my knowledge, Mikkeller is the only one that uses this particular coffee.

“This imperial Oatmeal stout is brewed with one of the world’s most expensive coffees, made from droppings of weasel-like civet cats. The fussy Southeast Asian animals only eat the best and ripest coffee berries. Enzymes in their digestive system help to break down the bean. Workers collect the bean-containing droppings for Civet of Weasel Coffee. The exceedingly rare Civet Coffee has a strong taste and an even stronger aroma.” – The beer bottle

Out of all the beers I’ve had made with coffee, this one is definitely the most unique. The aroma is unlike any coffee I have ever smelled, yet it’s still distinctly a coffee scent. The same goes for the flavors. Overall, it combines the traditional deep, thick roasted flavors and aromas of a good oatmeal coffee stout.

As for drinking a beer made with something that came from the droppings of a weasel-like animal…yeah, I went there.

Cheers!