The Chocolate Manifesto
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery

 

 

Pours a very dark brown with a small dark caramel colored head on top. Smell is of straight up chocolate and a hint of a barrel? Has a roasted espresso taste with no notes of chocolate.

 

From the can art to the beer itself - a chocolate manifest, indeed!

Pours out motor oil thick and ends with a foamy yet short-lived tan head. The smell is deliciously all chocolate, no hint of the booze there or as you sip and enjoy. Speaking of the taste, it was just as full of chocolate flavoring with a hint of roast - which I liked (instead of the overpower roast flavor I have dealt with in recent stouts). A definite and welcomed change of pace. The mouthfeel was surprisingly more light than medium-bodied, but it was still creamy to the tongue. Overall, an exceptional dessert beer that hides its booze very well...

16oz can from my brother. Dark brown pour, one finger fluffy beige head. Chocolaty aroma, mostly cocoa powder and chocolate syrup. Taste is bit more restrained, chocolate, sweet, but also a bit dry. Lactose plays its part too, so it does end up with the whole chocolate milk vibe.

Colour almost black and cloudy, slight ruby reflections are visible. Medium-high, beige foam, built of small bubbles, moderately persistent. Gently draws circles on the glass.
Intensely chocolatey, sweet aroma. There is dark chocolate, there is milk chocolate, there are pralines and cocoa, there is warm, melted chocolate, chocolate liqueur. No matter how you describe it, the aroma constantly revolves around chocolate and only chocolate.
The taste is sweet broken, however, by a more pronounced, stronger bitterness. The bitterness is obviously cocoa in character. It is medium-high but long, perhaps even lingering.
The alcohol is well-balanced, gently "scratches" the oesophagus. Low saturation slightly upwards. Texture smooth, velvety, soft. Full body. A sweet, slightly sticky "film" remains on the lips. Aftertaste long, sweet with a distinctly bitter, longer finish.

 

 

Brewing style notes: Sweet Stout, also referred to as Cream Stout or Milk Stout, is black in color. Malt sweetness, chocolate, and caramel should dominate the flavor profile and contribute to the aroma. It also should have a low to medium-low roasted malt/barley-derived bitterness. Milk sugar (lactose) lends the style more body. This beer does use lactose sugar, so people with an intolerance should probably avoid this style.

Brewers notes: lactose sweetness gives the manifesto with a heavenly body of a milk stout and the indulgence We crave in chocolate. drink life to the lees. save the Earth. It’s the only planet with chocolate. And beer. The chocolate manifesto is a luxurious statement of the decidedly unfribolous indulgence of blending artisan chocolate and craft beer. Brewed to the definitive statement on chocolate and beer loved by all! rate beer 99 that’s a magic number. A true specialty beer with much thought and even more chocolate. This triple chocolate milk, stout is an indulgent treat for the beer geeks ready for a euphoric detour from the mundane. Horizontally traded, cocoa, nibs and powder. Give this beer naturally luscious chocolate flavor and aroma. Espresso notes, and the toasty tobacco aromas are part of the cocoa beans roasting, as well as the profile of the chocolate malt in this ruby, lit burnt Amber bodied brew. Three kinds of chocolate forest, grown shade, grown, cocoa, nibs, roasted whole cocoa powder, chocolate malt. Ingredients, water, barley, oats, lactose, cocoa, nibs, cocoa powder, hops, yeast. Brewed by flying monkeys, craft brewery, 107 Dunlop Street, Barry, Ontario, Canada, earth, Milky Way, the universe, infinity. For those seeking decadence and transcendence in a craft beer, we bring you The Chocolate Manifesto Triple Chocolate Milk Stout, a luxurious beer that demands to be shared among friends. With three kinds of chocolate, this beer is a euphoric detour from the mundane. Life is too short to brew beer that doesn’t matter to you.

Chilled 16 oz can pours a dark brown liquid with reddish accents crowned by a 1.5 finger taupe layer, good retention , settles to a solid layer

Aroma is chocolate , cocoa powder, toasty tobacco

Taste is cocoa powder , cocoa nibs , chocolate, roasted malts, faint coffee taste

Smooth , ever so slight coffee astringency on the finish , not too sweet

Good beer , I like it

“ a sweet declaration of flying monkeys brewing proclaimed through chocolate and beer. Extra strong beer. Always brewed in Canada.”

Pours perfectly. A decent fizz that settles a thick foamy two finger espresso cream head that remains.
Smells like a good quality dark chocolate shake. Pleasant sweet cocoa and hints of coffee notes.
Tastes dark chocolate first with milky malty aftertaste. Not as heavy as the dark chocolate smell and taste might lead you to expect.
This has got winter Sunday afternoon by the fireplace with digestive biscuits written all over it. Superb pint.

On tap at Swillburger/The Playhouse in Rochester, NY.

This one pours a fairly dark black color with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like high quality chocolate milk, fudge, coffee creamer, and vanilla.

This is definitely quite chocolatey, but stops short of being ridiculous or syrupy, as the body isn’t huge. There’s a very creamy overall smoothness to this, with a solid and not overwhelming use of lactose.

This is medium bodied, very creamy, and very drinkable.

This was always a beer that semi-intrigued me on the periphery, and it was cool to finally try it.

 

 

 

I'm looking at Barrie on the map - I had a good friend from North Bay, but I've never been up that way. Anyway, this is the second Flying Monkeys I've had. I had the Smashbomb Atomic IPA last year, and I was impressed.

This stout pours nicely black and fizzy. The sweetness is already evident in the aroma. As you start into drinking this it hits you with a pile of chocolate and alcohol. Malts dominate and you actually get a milky taste and feel to it. It's a biggy but easy drinking. You could knock back a few of these before you pass out and wake up in a Tim Horton's..

Highly recommended. I hope I get to Barrie and North Bay some day (I haven't ever been North of Toronto in Ontario). This brewer would be OK as a destination (a lot of faith for two tastes, but I'm easy to please).

Maybe the plan was to reach 10% ... If it is the case... Job is done and not on a shy way...
I must admit. The beer showed well... smell awesomely good... but the overreach of the alchool level hit. Don't get me wrong... it is "fine" since it is written on the can !
But Do I prefer the Samuel Smith Chocolate Stout ? Yes by few miles ! For 2 beers in the same price range I must give my "go to" to Samuel Smith.... but for being funny and fast with an awesome taste.... Flying monkeys do (again) some magic with this strong beer !
Don't hesitate... grab one. It is good ! It is just not heaven.
-Alex Co-Owner at Sandy's Shack

Definitely found this enjoyable, the first sip did taste very similar to chocolate milk but then it was on to more beer like tastes. Very chocolate forward. I dig this one

The best milk stout I've ever had, by far. Loads of chocolate, and I LOVE chocolate. ABV is fairly hidden, in my opinion. Thinish mouthfeel - but better than most for the style. I usually don't subscribe to too many milk stouts, but I will indulge again, and often. Near perfect milk stout.

Finally cracked this one open and poured a very deep, dark brown coloured beer that is almost black in the glass, the deepest of ruby, if not just brown. A very thing, half centimetre tan head appears and disappears, leaving a solid black lake surrounded by a thin tan ring around the glass.

The chocolate aromas here are not typical like other sweet or chocolate stouts. It’s incredibly rich, cacao like. Dark chocolate aromas, milk chocolate covered coffee beans, a sort of sweet, caramel smell as well. There is this very dessert-y aroma that reminds me of rich, dark chocolate rum cake. Roasted malt abounds as well. I even get a whiff of what smells like brandy beans, if anyone has ever had those. They tasted quite awful to me, but they always smell nice, and it’s a gorgeous smell here.

I’ve been waiting to taste a chocolate milk stout that tastes like this. Both the bitter hops and the bitterness from burnt and roasted malts results in a delicious dark chocolate flavour. The high ABV% recalls flavours of cognac and rum. Cacao beans and chocolate powder, dark fruits like alcohol soaked dark cherries, or chocolate covered dried blackberries. The chocolate flavours cover every other one on the palate, infusing them in its unique lusciousness. It comes together wonderfully. For a triple chocolate milk stout, as they put on the can, that’s exactly what you want.

Someone said this was light bodied, usually beers can feel in between categories but I honestly can’t get with that at all. Not light bodied whatsoever. Now, it’s lighter in body than you might expect, but it’s still firmly medium bodied. Slick, creamy, and a bit oily, a long a smooth bittersweet finish recalling notes of dark chocolate, sweet dark cherries, and spirits like dark rum and cognac. Higher carbonation than some other milk stouts, but not excessive. An average amount, which allows the flavours to really rest on your tongue. ABV% is noticeable but that adds to the flavours, I’d argue the beer would be lesser if it was more hidden. It’s there but without a burning or nasty heat, it’s well integrated into the flavour profile.

Back in the day, Flying Monkeys was *the* definition of craft in Canada and many parts of the US. With craft explosion, it’s place isn’t really the same, with a lot of competition their products just aren’t ranked with the absolute top anymore. However, with that said I’d say this stout is still an example of the absolute best for its style, and still keeps the brewery in the same echelon of breweries. This is probably one of the best beers (and you could find an argument for it being the number one) Flying Monkeys has ever put out. Absolutely gorgeous. It’s chocolate milk stout all the way. Hits every category and then some. Beautiful, strong stuff.