Flying Monkey Four Finger Stout

Flying Monkey Brewing
Formerly brewed at Weston Brewing Company
Style: Dry Stout
Olathe, Kansas USA

Serve in English pint

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Black black. Is that a color? No, actually black is considered not to be a color, so...its damn black. Medium dark tanned/soft brown capping of lumpy thick foam. Lacing is adequated placed in a few scattered spots, flecks, and lumpy strings. Nice display on the nose. Big black roasted malts and grains on the nose. Burntness, roasted bitters, dryish, and lofty espresso notes burst from the glass. A tad bit dark fudgey and chocolatey with a little oaty touch of sweetness. Nice! Flavor profile is quite nice here. Big on tone and lasting flavors of roasted burnt stuff and spent coffee; dryish, yet leaks a bit of oaty sweetness way underneath. A touch chocolatey and plenty of roastyness continues late with a mild bitterness of burnt coffee. This stuff lays a groundwork that doesn’t quite until, well...never. It sticks with ya for a long time spending a oaty chocolate roast into the pocket book of your palate. Yum! Feel is pretty full and roasty. Mostly dry at the front and middle, gains some pace, stays roasted, burnt, and coffee toned. Then late, a very simple chocolate sweetness emerges underneath as does a bit of oatyness, yet stays dry and roasted. Solid stuff! Wow, who wouldv’e figured a beer this good is sitting in Kansas? A solid stout here that won’t dissapoint.

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2007 Updated for the new release: This stuff is dark - I mean black, its really dark! Three finger, not four, head! But what a head, almost brown in color, foamy and pitted. Roast and coffee in the nose, a touch of brown sugar, there also might be some citric hops here. Light on the palate, with a roasted note, and paradoxically smooth from the big malt presence and biting from the fizzy carbonation, then a touch of twang. Finish is pretty hoppy, probably citric. This seems to match my original (below) rating of this beer from its previous incarnation, but it feels a touch less complex. It still seems like it could make a good stout float. I’m keeping the rating at 4, this is the kind of stout that suits me fine.

Original beer for historical purposes: Nice deep black color and medium head. Medium but smooth carbonation and body. Rich coffeeish flavors. Malty and rich - a very good stout. I plan to try this with vanilla ice cream - it was a flavor match that just screamed out at me as I drank it.

(I’m clearing out some old notes from back in the fall. Here’s the first one...) Still more from the stash rounded up this summer from the Great Midwest... This stout pours black, of course, with a dense brown head. Lots of mocha aromas and supported by burnt malt and roasty smells. Strident but lesser sweetish dark malt aromas mixed in there as well. It’s a nice balance of sweet and bitter flavors, damn near perfect balance as far as I’m concerned. Lots of dark chocolate flavors here with sweetish finish, lightly sticky and rich. Very full bodied with a lightly bitter finish. It’s nice, one of the best stouts I’ve had in awhile. I am impressed. Run, don’t walk.

Very nice ebony black color with minimal tan head that dissipates rapidly. Leaves a thin bubble film on top which produces decent, but minimal, lacing. Smells of dark chocolate and nutty, roasted malts. Light coffee notes. Tastes of burnt coffee and bittersweet chocolates. Minimal sweetness, which could benefit from being bumped up a slight bit. Light lingering bitterness. Carbonation is dead-on perfect. Feels good in the mouth but could use a bit more creaminess. Perhaps a bit more malts could help make this bigger and better. Several in a row could be thrown back easily. My only concern is that the bitterness would eventually build up.

UPDATED: AUG 26, 2008 Courtesy of Degarth. Pours deep dark brown with thin tan head. The aroma is rich and yummy with molasses, rich roastiness, some smoky qualities and a bit of burnt malts. The taste is roasty to burnt with an under current of chocolate malts. There’s a mild malt astringency along with an earthy quality both coming together to add an extra dimension to the experience. Very nice stout.

Dark black beer with a thin dark brown head. Aroma is very sweet and chocolatey. Milk chocolate and a touch of earthy character. Flavour is very chcolatey with just a soft roastiness on the back. I quite like this actually.

I didn’t expect much but I really enjoyed this. The aroma is lightly smoky with ample roasted malt and coffee accents. The flavor is define by those roasted notes and gives up the expected chocolate/coffee and burnt malt flavors. Simple and narrow in flavor profile, but satisfying if you have a roasted malt tooth. Which I do. Much better than anticipated.

12 oz bottle courtesy of theisti. Pours a jet black with a tan head. Nose is roasted malt & coffee. Smooth, well bodied palate with a slightly oily mouthfeel. Taste is roasted malt with some bitter burnt coffee coming out midway thru. Also flavor of semi sweet bakers chocolate. Bitter finish.

Bottle - big, strong roasted coffee nose. I find that stouts and porters are difficult to separate, they all look fairly similar. This one is nice - quite black with a medium brown head. Flavor has plenty of roasted malt. Is quite dry with roast in the finish. Palate is maybe a touch thin, but not overly so. Really enjoyed this one!

Pours a mostly opaque with dark mahogany edges and a thin, wispy-lacing dark tan head. Aroma of lightly sweet dark caramel and chocolate malts with some mild earthiness. Body starts fairly full with a nice, light sweetness and well-dissolved carbonation drying out more toward bittersweet, earthy dark chocolate finish. A pretty good dry stout.