Licorice in stout?

[jlm]

One of the best beers I've had that just hints at what I think you are after is made right here in Tassie by Seven Sheds, it's called "Willie Warmer", the description from their website reads;
A strong dark ale, full of chocolate notes and spiced with cassia bark and star anise. Guaranteed to warm the extremities.

Anyway, I wouldn't be brave enough to try this myself but star anise sounds like the go to get there!

From memory.........It had about 200g in 1000L at 10 min. Scaled down to home-brew sizes it really means only a touch.

 

[Redreuben]

I made a medicinal stout, liquorice root, fennel and star anise. Tasted like cough mixture.
Didn’t like it myself but it was my side of an exchange deal and he loved it so all good.

 

[Cloth Ears]

I use about 10g of the root in my initial boil (for a 55l brew). I find it adds a fair amount of sweetness without any extra added sugar. And 10g in 55l might sound small, but a little goes a long way. The brew is a (sort of) imperial stout ending up around 11.5-12.5% abv - depending on what I feel like adding at the time.
So, it's a useful ingredient, but should be handled with caution.