Founders Blushing Monk

Big bottle pours ruby red with a fizzing pink head that goes away quick. The aroma is of berries. Yes, that’s it, berries – red, blue, and black. The flavor is much like the aroma let on. This is sour berry. Sort of like the blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry mush I cook down for pies and preserves using no added sugar. OK, so we have tart sour berries, what else do we have? The alcohol is nowhere to be found. The palate is rich and lively. You cannot get past the fruit flavors in this and rate the flavor beyond the “A Fruit Beer” style. This is what it claims to be – A Fruit Beer. The fruit is not over the top sweet. Others have mentioned the artificial flavor; I taste what I cook down in my kitchen without adding sugar. This is what it claims to be. I like it for what it is. Will I buy it again? Perhaps not, but it is what it is.

22 oz. bottle at Flat Rock Saloon. Poured clear, deep ruby with pinkish virtually no head. Just the slightest bit of lacing. Very sharp raspberry nose that took me back a bit. Immediate impression was that it was a quadruple mixed with raspberry extract. Extremely tart raspberry flavor that screams artificial. Medium body. ABV unnoticeable. Wouldn’t revisit due to crazy pricing, $24.

pours a nice ruby red with a one finger dark purple head. aroma is dark sweet raspberries. has a medium body with ok lacing and good carbonation. flavor is the same as aroma with raspberry seeds and a little sour taste. has a little dry aftertaste and the 12% abv is well hidden. not bad thought it would be a little better though. almost has some wine like qualities in every aspect. as it warms there is a little wood flavor to it.

In short: A sickening extra-sweet and very artificial-feeling raspberries drink. Like one of those macro-coolers on steroids.
How: Bottle, 750ml, relatively fresh, at unforgettable super-snowstorm Montreal suburb tasting session.
The look: Partly cloudy red body with almost no head.
In long: Hi, my name is William, I’m a resident of a Grand Rapids monastery. A few years ago I’ve contacted the Founders brewery about making a beer to help finance our monastery. Founders kindly agreed. So we’ve thrown in a lot of artificial concentrate raspberries flavour in a barrel, added some extra-sweet red-fruits breakfast jam and plenty of white sugar. All that sweetness should hide the alcohol pretty well making it seem like a skilful recipe. We needed to sell the bottles $8 to collect the money we needed for the monastery. I never told Founders we needed the money to pay for the court judgment settlement regarding a child abuse case. And while at it I thought why not sell the bottles $15 to cover for our gambling debts. So now you know why I’m blushing.

Objectively speaking: Simplistic and highly rated (for some reason...) fruit beer that does not feel anywhere above 10%.
I like: Concealed alcohol. Not too thick, albeit a bit syrupy - frail carbonation.
I dislike: Artificial character. Very sweet. Very limited malt complexity. Highly priced indeed at ~15$. Not very beery. I feel I’ll have to drink my remaining bottle alone. Missing acidity.

My Bottom Line:
Kool-Aid raspberry fruitiness dominates this thin, mildly tart and gum-drying Fruit Beer. If these are all real raspberries in here, they are simply coming out wrong to my palate (and nose).

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is no head to garnish the deep red.
-Although the 12% alcohol is very well hidden, I don’t understand why you would want a 12% beer if you are looking for this juicy, artificial flavor profile.
-I am astonished by the high ratings this one is getting. I guess I will have to try it again to try and understand, but at this price I don’t think it’s going to happen very often.
-The tiny bubbles are quite active, but never bothersome.
-A subtle herbal character walks alongside the raspberry fruitiness.
-The malt base is way too timid for my liking. It is borderline anemic for a beer this size.

Bottle.

Bottle. pours red an in the same red a red wine would it. very sour. hides the alcohol very well.

Bottle. Dark red pour, opaque. Aroma of raspberries. The flavor is also raspberries (slightly tart and seedy), very fresh and tasty. Extremely light for 12%, and the fruit and carbonation level reminded me of drinking a martinelli’s sparkling cider (but obviously raspberry flavored).