Rodenbach Alexander

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

1997 vintage from Le Bier Circus. Sour malty cherry skins, smooth. Hops, light caramel. Deep vinuous aroma. Deep chestnut brown clear with thin off-white head. Smooth palate, velvety. Smooth tart fruity taste, light acidity, not harsh. Nice malt, with oak. Great fruity malt finish with light bitter after.
Had another sample from ’96 bottle courtesy of santoslhalper. Just as fine as I remember it being from several years ago. The numbers stay the same.

A light, subtly cherry aroma. This is amazing. Just amazing. Sweet cherries, slightly coating, flavor is just top notch. Not too frutiy, just wonderful.

1996 bottle shared by psprings at hellbilly’s hellraiser 3.0 tasting. Somewhat fermented fruit aroma but did detect a grape note present. Gold body color. Fruity and sour flavor and seemed like the tart had subided abit. Thanks Paul another one from want list.

Hazy amber coloured body with a small white head. Aroma of pure tart cherries with a great sour scent...makes the mouth pucker without even taking a sip! Medium-bodied; Very tart taste with a great maltiness-not overpowering at all. Aftertaste shows a pleasant sweetness and a good finish to a great beer. Overall, this one was a very fine example of a flemish sour-tart but still showing some sweetness. Great to try...attempt to get your hands on this one! I sampled this 33 cL bottle at the November RB party at Founder’s in Alexandria, Virginia on 20-November-2004.

Bottle shared by moejuck and spector at Columbus tasting 4.0! Thanks for sharing this one guys!!! - Pours dark amber and cloudy with a short offwhite head. Aromas of big cherry, caramel, and sourness. Flavor is lots of cherry, caramel, raisin, and a touch of chocolate with a hint of oak there as well. Palate is silky smooth and easy to drink.. Fantastic beer.. Glad I got to try this one..

33 CL bottle drank 11/02: Pours a medium red orange color with floaters, quickly ending head. Stunning acidic sweet cherry vinegar aroma. Starts a bit sweet and then gets really sour. Lip puckering good. I enjoyed this much more than the Grand Cru.

Sampled August 2005
Well thanks to some serious begging and pleading, I was given the opportunity to try this beer one more time. The beer pours a brilliantly clear ruby-cherry-red color with barely a wisp of a head. The sediment was so compacted in the bottle that I was able to pour the entire liquid contents out with nary a speck of sediment. The aroma smells strongly of enticing cherry with a mix of sweet cherry meat, tannic cherry skin, and a tart acetic note that melds so well with it all. My first impression, this has lost a lot of the sweetness up front, but quickly gains a rich meaty, malty cherry skin note to it. The finish is lightly tannic with a slightly puckering note to it that is a combination of wood and a tart-sour character.

This beer has held up far better than the Pre-Palm Rodenbach Grand Cru. The cherry, it seems, has acted as a preserving influence. This really grabs the palate towards the end, it is mouth coating and malty with a very nice interplay between rich malt and cherry notes. As it warms up a bit the acetic light vinegar note really starts to come forward. The cherry note almost gets bigger (though not in a cloying or expressive way) and sort of spreads itself throughout the beer. What an incredibly well balanced beer this has turned into. The finish is long and gripping with notes of tannic cherry skin, yet still satisfyingly fruity with lots of cherry meat and a bit of balsamic character. This is quite exquisite, I so would love to have more of this. I find it really hard to not give this beer a really high score, it was very enjoyable, and the sweet cloying cherry character has really dropped out, just the opportunity to try this beer is almost a perfect experience.

<font size=-4>Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Sandwich, San Gabriel, CA<font size=-1>

12 oz bottle, via Styles I believe. Pours a clear dark copper to amber with a reddish tinge under a one finger fizzy beige head that retained as a foamy covering. The aroma is just mouthwatering. Equal parts Flemish Sour and pure raspberry essence. Reminds me of a raspberry eiswine. Just a slight foreshadow of tartness. Really great tart raspberry flavor. Just like fresh picked off the bush. How is that possible after this many years? Tart slightly acetic bracing finish. Lots of sweetness, but not cloying at all. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a nice drying acetic finish that kinda sucks the saliva out of your cheeks. A world class beer. A shame that they took it away. Amazing to think that this is "old".