Rodenbach Alexander

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

Bottle (marked July 91) from my winter Secret Santa 09/10. Thanks very much, Dave. An impossible want fulfilled. Nose is impossibly awesome: huge vanilla, tender cherries (pits and peels plus sweet sweet juice), gingerbread and meringue. Color is a refractive, gradient ruby-garnet with brown low-lights. Flavor is deep cherry without a trace of artifice. Ends with a nice, gradual tart that builds just enough to make your tongue twitch. Aftertaste is like sucking on bing cherry pits. Absurd that this is nearly 20 years old.

Big thanks to Goldtwins who gave me this bottle about five years ago. I’m sure sitting on it isn’t doing it any favors so I’ve decided to celebrate Alabama’s National Championship by opening this. Pours a Coca-Cola caramel color with deep red highlights. A quickly dissipating head, also reminiscent of Coca-Cola. Fruity aromas fill the room simply from the pour. Somewhat biscuity, cherry aroma. Tart and leathery. Cherries, sweet malt and balsamic flavors. Slight notes of tobacco. Pretty thick mouthfeel. Much better years ago but still a nice beer. Overly acetic. Vinegar and malt. Acidic aftertaste. Roll Tide!!

Bottle. [thank you, Søren and Feldthaus]
my Belgian rating #1001
Pour is clear red-golden with a small, creamy, beige head. Fine duration for a sour ale. Magnificent aroma! Cherries, oak, barnyard, raspberries, caramel, some toasted notes and slight herbal. Highish prickly carbonation, light but also slightly oily mouthfeel. Flavour is great, very tart at first. Cherries, oak, citric, fruity, caramel sweetness. It gets more mellow later in each sample. Caramel, Belgian sugar. Immensely drinkable and brilliant balance between sweet and tart. Yum!

Bottle, thanks Henrik! Pours a deep reddish brown with a nice soapy tan head. Cool color and look. Extremely vinegarish on the nose, so much so that it’s difficult to pull out anything else. Somme essence of wet wood and cherries floating about. Whoa, what a powerful, strange mix of flavors. Red wine vinegar, oak, deeply rich malt. Sweet cherries and oak unfold. Really strange, lovely progression. Endlessly complex. Deep, earthy, and a bit herbal. Almost hard to take the intensity of this. Perfectly bubbly, fine carbonation, sharp enough but soft enough. This is incredibly unique, much more complex and diverse than any Flanders Red, and more deep and rich than any sour I’ve had. Cherries and raspberries really start to come out as it warms. Killer stuff, absolutely blows everything else by Rodenbach out of the water.

25cl bottle, dated July1991, with a huge thanks to kappldav123 for another awesome rarity! Pours a clear copper with a minimal tan head that settles to some whisp and a thin ring. Aroma starts out in a less than positive way, with an almost wood stain aroma, but fortunately starts to settle out with some air. Regardless, there are a lot of nice notes of oak, fruit, and port, but stay mostly hidden behind the less appealing aroma. The flavor on the other hand is stellar, and very surprising considering the nose, with lots of oak, vanilla, and robust dark fruits; nicely sour and tart. Drinks much, much younger than the aroma alludes, which saves this one from being out and out over the hill. The aroma and flavor couldn’t be more opposite on this one, but overall a nice experience. Thanks again David for the chance to try something I thought I’d never see, much appreciated!

25 cl bottle graciously shared by mreusch. July 1991 notched on the label. This beer has been my #1 most sought after beer on my want list for several years, so I approach it with quite a bit of expectation. Pour is clear ruby orange with a minimal tan head that fades fast to just a few bubbles lining the glass. Pretty viscous on the swirl. Aroma on the initial pour is straight tawny port, syrupy, vinegar and acetic. Not traditional oxidation, but certainly smells a bit old. I think we need to let this one open up a bit. After 15 minutes or so, the initial aromas clear a bit, revealing some very faint cherry fruit and oak woodiness. Taste is very unexpected after the nose, in that it does not taste over the hill at all. Big dark black cherry and gentle oak woodiness. Nice sweet vanilla notes, layered in with the fruit and wood. The vinegar and acidity of the nose is present, but mostly is a background flavor that accents and brightens up the fruit and wood. Great complexity, really rich and full flavors. Palate is medium, pretty much still body. After taste is tart and acetic vinegar sourness - drying. Really nice. For a beer that I had been wanting for so long, I had surprisingly few preconceived notions on the beer. All in all, it was a fantastic experience and really had amazing vibrancy for an 18 year old beer. Wow, Matt. Just wow.

1996 33 cl bottle shared by psprings at Hellbilly’s Feb. tasting - Pours a hazy amber color with no head or lacing. Aroma is tart fruity esters and a hint of vinegar. Flavor is much of the same and it actually tastes pretty good. Not as sour or tart as some of the others I tried. Medium body. I don’t know if it’s the quality or the age of the beer, but this is one of the better Sours I’ve tried. Thanks Paul.

Thanks to mcbackus. Sweet aroma of cherries, honey and red wine vinegar. Fruity flavor with a smooth and low carbonated mouthfeel. Very tasty.