Rodenbach Alexander

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

Bottle shared with J on the 7/18 tasting in OC. This stuff was just flat out good. Aroma was a sensual oak covered sour cherry...wrapping into a pefect mix of sour/sweet, cherries/berries. leaning on the sweet side more than what I was expecting. The smoothest, mellowest, softest palate I may have ever encountered in a brew. Just divine all around. The oakiness is shown in all flavor transitions...I absolutely loved it. A nice change of pace from all the big beers.

Bottle generously shared by jarspag for the 7/18 Death Metal Tasting at his place in Orange County. We finally got around to opening this masterpiece of a beer! The beer pours a hazy burgundy color with some lacy beige swirls that float on the surface. Some yeast sediment settles to the bottom. It looks quite mellowed and still; expected with 10+ years of age since Palm stopped brewing this. The aroma is loaded with oak wood and tart, acidic cherry. Notes of potpourri, cinnamon bread, sherry wine, banana rum and lightly bittered toffee follow. The flavor is really something to appreciate here. Ultra-subtle transitions give way to sweet berry and dark grapes with cherry jam and old musty oak wood. The flavor’s finish is very earthy with lingering yeast and raisin bread character. Tart and acetic, but not puckering or weak. Palate is what truly blew me away here, I wish I could have scored it higher than a 5. The body is velvet on the tongue. The aged personality of this beer amazing. Superb drinkability. Wow, I’m awestruck.

Finally I get to try this!!!One of the nicest looking red colors I have seen on a beer.Lots of funk and sweetness of cherries on the nose.The flavor was devine.Lots of vinous cherries with some wood notes.Slightly funky with a touch of sweetness.Thank you Ron from Shipyard for sharing this!

330ml bottle. Whoo hoo! Dirty funk on on the nose. Earthy, musty with tons of rotting, juicy cherries. Soaking wet oak. A bit of sweeter balsamic. Definitely more sweet than sour. Pours a muddy, thick and earthy brown. Nearly lifeless appearance save for a very thin film of grey on top and a brown/white ring around the sides of the glasss. Slightly tart bing cherry juice that has been aged in oak for a few days. Brown sugar sweentess. Not overly sour, not overly sweet. Pleasant. Refreshing. Showing it’s age a bit. Medium on the tongue with a bit of pleasant acidity on the finish. Don’t think about this one too much and it will treat you well. Thanks Eben!

Dark red with just a bit of tan head. Aroma is of a bit of acetic acid and some sweentness and a bit of cherry. I was expecting this to be a bit more sour, especially with age to develop the sourness. There is some sourness and a lot of sugary sweetness and quite a bit of cherry presence. This is really quite awesome, especially for not being very deep.

Poured from a 33 cl bottle. Basic clear red and a wispy white film. Huge aroma of musty cherry tobacco, maraschino cherry, champagne vinegar and vinaigrette. It has a thick, woody, sweet-saltiness reminiscent of balsamic-seared onions and soy sauce. Maple-thickened butter.

Flavor is Goudenband with intent to kill. Brown sugar, cherry pie filling, vanilla-oak, raspberries, honey, and caramelized sugar; there’s passing winks of tartness, but no intense sourness or acidity. Rather it’s a very well defined and polished sweet body of flavor, not bashful and somewhat confronting in its own way; it just isn’t in line with the expectation it produces. Saturated in dark sweetness and a bit of ground pistachio and honey tang. Alternately, there’s plenty of wine-like tartness, in a reisling-like shimmer of sugary simplicity.

Round, rotund palate is softly carbonated; finishes warmly with the same pungent, dark, slightly salty sweetness, and a wink of cherry and pineapple. As an extraordinarily simple example, its single dimension has developed quite appreciably over the years, and it’s become very easy to like. Thanks to Chris, for the confounding generosity.

lightly carbonated, ruby red pour..aroma is very similar to their Grand Cru..huge black cherry, vinous grape, and vinegar..amazing flavor of tart cherry, sour funk, raspberry vinagerette..also has an interesting minty finish .wonderful in every way. this may rival the Grand Cru in my books...a wonderful dicotomy of sweet and sour elements...

Small bottle. Graciously shared by my cousin, ggaughan, before he moved to Luxembourg. Poured reddish brown, capped with a small tan head. Rich, complex aroma with sour cherry, wood, and mild acidity. Flavor is moderately tart, with sour cherry, oak and caramel malt. It’s a pity this is no longer produced.