Founders Blushing Monk

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

bottle. deep red pour. raspberry, black cherry aroma. rich raspberry tart. would make a nice after dinner drink.

wow tart sour cherry-raspberry-cranberry feel to this one. very very dry almost wine-like mouthfeel. hints of lemon with some grapes. very very tart though. i thought that for the price, this should have been a LOT better but then again i’m the sucker that bought it.

I’m feeling like this is Rubaeus that was brewed with a belgian yeast...oh well. The pour is a nice dark red color with a pink head. Aroma is of raspberries and a hint of yeast. The flavor is very sweet with plenty of the fruit and hit of belgian yeast, and very light tartness. No way this is worth the cost, that’s for sure.

Sampled at Bockyhorsey’s Bocky Bash on 7-5-08. Cranberry red pour with a small fizzy pink head. Lots of rasberries and a bit of malt and tartness in the aroma and flavor. Almost no hint of the high ABV. Really good fruit brew.

hand bottle sent back from bhensonb. poured a grape-ish/purple-ish/red with a white head that goes away pretty quick. aroma is very fruity with raspberry with maybe a touch of vinegar which could be coming from the acidic tartness of it. flavor is pretty much all business with raspberry finishing with a grape juice type finish. cant tell that there is any alcohol in this by the taste. i originally sent a bomber of this to bill and when he found out i had not had it he graciously said he would send me a hand bottle back. bill is an awesome guy!!

22 oz bomber from Crown #15 in Fishers IN. Pours a deep cranberry juice red with a thin pink head that reduces quickly. Big, solid, tart raspberries on the nose (and perhaps a hint of candy sugar). I’ve never smelled a fruited beer that smells more like fresh fruit than this one. Medium-bodied and lightly effervescent with a tart and mildly dry finish. Sweet and tart raspberry with a nice lightly dry finish. This is probably the best fruit beer that I’ve sampled to date, but at $17 a bomber I’d have to say that Rübæus (Blushing Monk’s "smaller" sibling) is the better value.

Acquired via trade with holdenn. THANKS MATT!!! Crimson body with a razor-thin head. Aroma is dark fruit and natural sweetness. Not just raspberry but hints of cherry skin. The flavor is biting sour/tart raspberry that surrounds the tongue and requires a pucker!!! The ample carbonation dances on the tongue and the 12.3% ABV is hardly noteable. Tasty and glad I had a chance to try!!!

Gorgeous color scheme: very deep crimson and violet in a swirling hazy cloud. A thin off-white and pink tinted head recedes fully and quickly, but just reveals more beautiful coloration. The aroma is loaded with fresh raspberry juice without any offensive medicinal notes. Loads of fruity and lightly spicy yeast follows. Alcohol is marvelously masked, evident yet restrained. Yogurt loaded with lightly soured lactic acid floods the senses and further conceals alcohol. Each nosing concludes with mellow milk chocolate and tropical fruit scents. Shiraz styled jammy notes cloak some acidity. The flavor is monstrously sweet and very jammy, as expected from a more caressing and tricky nose. Acidity must technically be off the charts to be so noticeable in the finish; this thing is freaking sweet, not cloying but damn close. The yeast profile is more forward. Light to mild tartness is refreshing and seems just the right amount, any more would seem too much like a candy element. No hops or bitterness noted. The finish is lightly tart, highly sweet, long and strong, very heavy warming late. The mouthfeel is full, extremely sticky and lightly carbonated. Very good but too sweet for a lengthy session or too tall a glass, a definite sipper and brew to be shared. Founders never ceases to surprise.