Rodenbach Alexander

Formerly brewed at Brouwerij Rodenbach (Palm)
Style: Sour Ale
Roeselare, Belgium

RATING #1000! Almost three years in the making, I have finally achieved the coveted number. And what a beer with which to mark my accomplishment. This comes courtesty of Terry Boyd, and how fitting... the #1 beer guy in Connecticut handing me that which would become the showpiece for my most significant benchmark. Terry got these bottles from a friend down south who didn’t know what it was... luckily for us. Poured an effervescent light brownish red with a white head that started tight and creamy but became somewhat fizzy. Interesting aroma of sundae cherries, cream, a bit of vinegar, some cinnamon. Almost artificial in its sweetness. Flavor is very complex, with both sweet and tart balancing each other well. Sundae and black cherries come through strongly with some cider vinegar, vanilla, a bit of oak, some olive-like character. Almost dessert-like, but with enough unfolding layers to warrant solitary study. Finishes with some ashen dryness and a bit of olive pit. Very easy drinking. This has obviously held up very well. Very tasty. I wonder why they stopped making this.

Also, special thanks to the entire RateBeer community for taking me on an incredible journey through a world of such unfathomable depth that it confounds all except those most familiar with its terrain. I know I still have many miles and glasses to go, and I’m looking forward to every one. Cheers to all you great RateBeerians!

Bottel. tasted with beermouth, Pours with no head. Aroma is sour, just a bit. The beer is just a little too fruity and tart.

Amazing flavor. This is one of the best I’ve had. Bottled. Muddy brown color with a nice medium palate. The first aroma is a sour cherry fruit and the taste is the same. Very good cherry and fruit tartness- perfect tartness, not the pucker up unable to drink kind. Wonderful flavor. It was a pleasure drinking this beer.

A very nice beer as well drunk new as well older versions. Very complex beer, also different evolution done. Had the oportunity to taste 2 total different tasting in 1 day. One of the latest brews and 1 9 yrars older. The tast was totaly different. Still have 2 bottles for tasting a bottle of 6 % and an older bottle of 5.1 percent. I will keep them for a good beer tasting among frends

Rerate, 33cL bottle, courtesy of ryan. Thanks!! Pours an oily, amber-brown color with golden edges; headless, although others got a slight bit of head formation in their pours. Very dense and generous aroma: honey, red fruit leather, some toasty oak, with a sweet and sour character and mild tartness; a nice touch of acidity is noticeable. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: dense, chewy cherries, mildly tart citrus, balsamic, and toasty oak character; light acidity, a bit less than the previous bottle I tried; still impressively dense, gorgeous red fruit character, and just excellent, even with so much time behind it. Lengthy finish: toasted malts and cereal, red fruits, and a touch of lingering acidity and tartness. 9.4.9.4.18=4.4

Rating #500. 33cL bottle, courtesy of BigErn. Thanks a ton, Sean!! Pours a clear, reddish-orange color, almost like a dark cherry wood; small off-white head with fine-bubbled lacing, hanging tight to the sides of the glass. Rich, tart cherries and red fruits in the aroma; enormously sweet-and-sour, but keeps up with the tartness, allowing the sweet fruit and warm vanilla to poke through; hints of green olive. Wonderful, generous nose. Full, viscous mouthfeel: light carbonation and incredibly dense; layers of tart cherries and ripe dark fruits, maple syrup and chewy maltiness; medium acidity, giving a gentle bite on the sides of the tongue; doesn’t have the over-the-top acidity and tartness of something like DDSB20. Lengthy, minutes-long finish, showing cherries and woody oak character. Incredible. 9.4.10.5.19=4.7

poors a deep amber with a thin white head. Sour fruit aroma, medium to light mouth feel with sour than sweet flavor. WOnderful brew, one of my favorites

Soft sensual sweet sour aroma, like the most calming smelling salts you ever have experienced,taste wow, the mellowest sweet sour fruitiness,taste you can imagine,but sourness is definitely there,taste is as smooth as silk, finish is so heavenly, I feel very privliged to have tasted this

Rating is a culmination of notes from samples from vintages 1986, 87, 90, 91, 92, 93, 98, 99. All bottles(9 and 11oz) held up superbly, a testament to Rudy Ghequire’s expertise and a sophisticated recipe and bottling process. Dark, deep red pour with oily chestnut highlights. Tall cream colored head, slowly diminishing, never fully. Aroma is sour and sweet cherries, wet oaken barrel and refined glorious yeast. Also apricot rinds, apples, peaches, flowers and wax in unison, all in reserved quantities. Breathtaking. Flavor is once again solely focused on cherries, oak and yeast, and has very minor notes of funk, acidic fruits and sour grapes. Alcohol is never a noticeable factor. Finishes sweet with little acidity, cherry and sugar lingering. Palate is perfectly wrought and though syrupy at times, there is always enough sourness to dice through it. Every bottle was memorable, especially the last one, as I knew it would probably be the last ever. A tragedy this was discontinued, but hope glimmers that it will return one day. Classic.