IN KANSAS THEY SAY “FOUR FINGERS”

Got a bottle of this FLYING MONKEY FOUR FINGER STOUT the other day from the same trade I made that brought me the whole BOULEVARD BREWING SMOKESTACK SERIES. This was a “throw-in”, and I thought it was a pretty generous extra to put into the box, considering that it costs an additional $47 in shipping for every bottle you put in. FLYING MONKEY are based in Olathe, Kansas, the land of Dorothy & Toto, and I’m guessing it’s no accident that they named the brewery after the famous winged monkeys summoned by the Wicked Witch of the West to vanquish the aforementioned (“Wizard of Oz” is huge in our house right now, given that a 5-year-old lives there). But what of their stout? Well, it’s kind of a mixed bag. It certainly is black – blacker than black – as black as OLDER VISCOSITY, and that’s pretty damn black. It’s also got quite a bite to it, with a taste of charred grain, coffee grounds and slight chocolate. I only really like one of those things. Heavy roasted feel across the tongue, which my notes capture as being “strange”. I’m not sure what to make of it; I got it down without a lot of complainin’, but that doesn’t say a whole lot, does it? 6/10.