Founders Blushing Monk

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

22oz - Aroma of raspberry danish with some fresh raspberries on the side and alcohol. Pours transparent garnet with cascading bubbles, a fluffy pink head and great lacing. Flavor is sour raspberries followed by yeast, malts and a slight alcohol burn. Palate is tart and sticky. Even though the alcohol is present in both aroma and flavor, it is not as overpowering as 12.3% would lead on. A tasty brew, almost wine like.

22oz. POured a very deep ruby red color. Aroma is of raspberry. Taste is that of yeast raspberry and almost like a wine but very good.

Bottle. Deep red pour with a pink head. Aroma of rspberry, yeast, light booze and mild banana. Flavors of yeast, raspberry, light pale malt, subtle spices and banana. Medium body, little carbonation sweet/tart with a dry/tart finish.

Bottle. Blushing is a great descriptor for the color... a deep red with a fizzy pink head that doesn’t stick around. Aromas are very fruity and almost have a champagne side to them. Cherries and raspberries are the dominant fruits in the nose. Upon first sip, I’m not sure I would have guessed this was a beer if you handed it to me and asked me what it was. It’s more like a raspberry and cherry sparkling wine. Has a very sweet fruitiness to it and a very dominant ammout of cherry, which drowns out any malt or hops flavors. It’s almost more like a candy or soda than beer, but you can feel a slight warmth from the alcohol and every now and again it comes through in the flavor. I like it plenty, but come on... $15 a bomber is killing me.

Deep amber coloured body with strong ruby highlights and a thinnish tan head. Aroma of pure raspberries, malt, a bit of sugars and even a faint yeastiness. Medium-bodied; Sweet flavour mixed with some tangy raspberries and a bit of malt, coupled with alcohol and pears. Aftertaste shows sweetness along with some sour raspberries and a bit of icing sugar. Overall, a good beer - perhaps one of the best fruit beers ,perfect with good alcohol, a good body and of course ,the potency of the fruit. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased at Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 17-November-2007.

22oz bottle, courtesy of Schutzenliesel. Thanks, Tom! Pours a hazy, bright ruby-red color; pinkish head with good retention and lacing. Bright red fruits (bing cherries, strawberries) and cherry pie in the aroma; quite fruit and sweet. This actually tastes like gummy worms and sour cherry pie combined: intensely sweet and viscous sugary goodness; no sign of alcohol; the gummy worm aspect is quite pleasant (this coming from a reformed gummy candy fiend), and the mild tartness brings up the drinkability on this a lot; lengthy, berry and sugar finish.

Champaign Urbana Beer Club November meeting. I’ve had this on tap before, and I had forgotten what a wonderful fruit beer it was. Certainly to be enjoyed in small quantities as one would a dessert beer or apertif. Notes of grass and sour raspberry lead into something akin to quince paste on the palate, with secondary notes of blackberry, butter, straw, and a wonderful sour and acidic finish. Excellent stuff, as one has come to expect from the likes of Founders.

Super dark bright red (makes sense?), almost a heavily saturated pink color with a light pink soda-looking, big-bubbled head. Huge potpourri nose of cherries, cream and perfumy and tart floral notes. Peppery flavor, big but not thick, with some light cream noticed before a mostly boozy and tingly finish. After a few minutes it seems to resemble Robitussin and sour patch kids. Weird beer.