Monk's Blood
21st Amendment Brewery

 

A - Garnet red color with nice clarity and a cream colored head.

S - Dark fruit, plums, and sweet caramel malt.

T - Sweet caramel malt, plumb, and dark fruit with light and delicate cinnamon.

M - Thick and full bodied with silky softness.

O - The cinnamon has definitely faded, but overall, a solid beer.

 

 

April 5th, 2016 - This dark and fruity beer is a fun and interesting experience, and not easily replicated in other brews or breweries. In a shaker pint it looks just like a Coca Cola, and smells of craisins, chocolate covered cherries and cinnamon crusted almonds. With all these strong aromas I thought the flavor might be quite strong, but it's actually mild up front, and blossoms on the aftertastes, with gentle and light notes of cherry, and candy coated almonds, and somewhere in the back, a slight oakiness.

Medium carbonation with about a medium body. Has slight slick oily feel that coats the tongue and carbonation is a little prickly
Aroma is yeast, yeasty doughy bread,dried fruit, fruit cake - I mean that in a good way. Slight cherry liqueur and brandy as well
Taste is yeasty malty bread, fruit cake, mildly sweet, some cherry juice as well
This is much better warmer than too cold. Much more flavorful and interesting as opposed to when I first poured it after taking it out of the fridge.

Look: It pours brown with reddish hues. The head is light brown and head retention is good.

Smell: It has bread aromas with dark cherries and raisins. There are low levels of spice in the background.

Taste: It has raisin and dark cherry flavors balance with some bread. There is a moderate warming presence. There are some low spice elements in the background.

Feel: It has a medium full body with smooth alcohol warming.

Overall, plenty of bread, dark cherry, and raisin elements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type: 12-oz. can
Glass: Monks House of Ale 12-oz. tulip
From: Trader Joe’s in La Mesa, Calif.
Price: $2.25
Purchased: Oct. 27, 2019
Consumed: Nov. 1, 2019
Reviewed as: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Misc.: Unable to decipher the canned on date

Picked this up on a whim. Not a big fan of 21st Amendment Brewery, but this one sounded good on the can as a Belgian-Style Dark Ale brewed with Cinnamon, Vanilla, Oak Chips and Dried Figs.” Online description was a bunch of nonsense, so leaving that out.

Poured a reddish brown color with three fingers of frothy khaki head. Lots of bubbles coming up along the sides of the glass at different speeds. World-class foamy lacing. Excellent retention. (Sight - 4.50)

Smelled figs, raisins, dates, oak, hints of cinnamon, plum and purple grape. Not much else, not like that is a bad thing. Even earthier from the can. (Smell - 3.75)

Tasted better than the smell. Got figs, raisins, dates, oak, peppery spice, cinnamon, plum, purple grape, sugary caramel and red apple. (Taste - 4.00)

Medium body. Oily texture. Average carbonation. Long, slightly warming finish. (Feel - 4.25)

Thought this one was going to be good. It was actually probably better than it should have been, but not quite as good as I hoped after seeing the ingredients. Which I get does not make sense. (Overall - 4.00)

4.00 | 90 | A-

Aroma is on-point, classic, cinnamon doesn’t add much, dilutes the fig / fruit ester notes, finish is too dry, average