21st Amendment Monks Blood

21st Amendment Brewery
Brewed at Cold Spring Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Good Belgium ale with amazing flavors. Good with dark chocolate and cinamin flavored food.

Vanilla-like oak and cinnamon aromas emerge from this murky, dark amber ale. Creamy, off-white foam takes a minute or two to drain down, leaving behind noticeable lacing. Once the foam dies down, you get barely perceptible alcoholic heat on the nose, followed by dark, dried fruits and a light Belgian funk. Some esters are present, but not very strong. In the mouth, it is full-bodied with good carbonation. Lots of complex fig and raisin flavors up front, backed by caramelized sugars and warming spices (muted cinnamon, cloves, warm coriander notes) that mask the ABV very well. It wraps up with a clean, roasted malt and crisp hop combo. Overall, a good Belgian dark that I wish was year-round. Good complexity to the nose and palate without crossing over into the overwhelming syrupy mess that many beers in this category stumble into in their quest to stand out.

I’m a can. Delicious! Full flavor but not too heavy. Tastes of figs and cinnamon. Not too sweet, not too bitter. Very smooth.

UPDATED: MAR 11, 2011 Can, thanks to Keith. Pours brown, with a tan head. Aroma is spices, malt, vanilla, and fruit. Flavor is vanilla, malt, fruit, spices, oak, and chocolate. Medium body. A really nice beer to come out of a can.

A draft pour at The Local Beer Bar in Eureka, CA. Pours a dark red amber with a good sized tan head. Nose of caramel malts and ripe fruit. Medium in body with mild carbonation and creamy mouthfeel. Flavor is medium dark fruit with some wood notes. There are floral hops present. This gets more complex as it warms and the finish moves from sweet chocolate to bitter. Lots going on here. Delicious stuff.

Aroma real good some sourness comes through which is great. Taste is a little too sweet with a sour finish. Very faint oakeyness. Too much vanilla. Caramel and chocolate is enjoyable. The sour notes really do it for me. So if you like sours I recommend this. There is a lot going on here.... maybe too much but I still really enjoyed it over all. Appearance like a beautiful sunset.

Canned. Poured reddish-brown with a tawny head. Nose is caramel, raisins, dark fruit. Flavor is complex, with heavy notes of raisins, figs, vanilla, and caramel malt. Sticky palate. The finish has a nice hint of the alcohol behind this brew. Very nice rendition of an Abbey Dubbel. Was interested to see that the can came from 21st Amendment Brewery, Cold Spring, Minnesota. RB says San Francisco, California.

Pours an opaque chocolaty brown with a thick light tan head. Rich aroma has a malty core and cinnamon, caramel and apple notes plus hints of wood and cloves. Excellent flavor has malty, fruity, cinnamon, horehound and hoppy notes. Bitterness is subtle and nicely balances the sweet component. Lively, fizzy texture has firm body and leaves a woody, fruity finish. Take, drink, this is monk’s blood! :D

Pouring this beer and the head rises to two fingers high. It’s a brownish color that is pretty bubbly. The color of the beer is a blood red or a burnt red color. It’s very clear you can see right through it pretty easily. The aroma is a malty candy smell and it’s pretty big. I can smell it a couple of feet away from my beer. I also pick up some alcohol raisin notes. My initial taste I get a fig, plum character also I picked up on a nut like flavor as well. Subsequent tastings a yeasty or a doughy feel mixed in with a brown sugar like quality is also present as well as a mild floral hoppy note but it is really in the back ground. The finish is a slight cloying taste with a mild bitterness or alcohol bite. Overall, I really find myself enjoying this beer a lot. It is a sipping beer that goes well with a cold winter night.

12 oz. can from the Whole Foods in downtown Seattle. This has a nice dark amber brown appearance. The head lasted for just a few seconds. This has a nice fruity fig aroma. The beer is quite pungent, even when it’s cold. This, also, has a nice yeast and banana aroma. There is a hint of cinnamon popping through, at times. Very sharp, carbonated texture. Wow, I’m loving the texture; it starts out effervescent, and then takes on a soft and smooth texture. This has a wonderful fig flavor. The subtle cinnamon spice backs it up perfectly. Small hints of oak and alcohol are hitting my taste buds. In addition to all of this, I’m getting a little banana and yeast. This is a well-rounded beer. It has a lot of great qualities to it, and I’m surprised by the mediocre ratings. Overall, this is a great brew. One of the best Belgian Ales from an American company. Cheers.