Rodenbach Alexander

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

Oh how I have been waiting to try this beer. I was going to try it a few weeks back in celebration of the re-discovery of the <a href=http://www.ivorybill.org>Ivory-billed Woodpecker but I had a horrid cold. So now I drink it in celebration of a milestone totally unrelated to beer and instead to birds, namely I saw my 200th life bird today, a Nashville Warbler, in my yard no less. What a beautiful bird.

Thanks to both CaptainCougar and Eyedrinkale who each sent me a bottle on a trade. One for now, one for later.

Clear brownish red with a small but lasting foamy light tan head. The aroma is all Rodenbach. The aroma exhibits tons of vinegar, cherry, and hints of wood, though it has clearly faded out a good bit over the years. Not a hugely complex aroma but very pleasing nonetheless. The flavor is dominated by cherries; even the vinegar takes a back seat. It is much sweeter than I expected, the acidity is really tempered by the sweetness. There is some puckering but it melds with the thick sweetness to produce a very interesting sensation in the mouth. Medium-full body, flavors are around long after the swallow. A great beer, and a travesty that it is no longer produced.

330 ml bottle that I had saved for a while. This brownish-red ale poured with no head at all. The flavor is tart cherry with a lot of oak influence from the cask. There seems to be a spicy ingredient that I can’t identify. Great brew!

Fresh cherry and d sherry aroma, a little leathery, slighlty vinegary. Initial suggary cherry sweetness that's consistent throughout but just meets some sourness in the latter half. Becomes a little more puckering and sour as it warms.

11.2oz bottle, no date. Clear ruby orange with a thick ring of big bubble of off-white head. Smells quite a bit like the regular Grand Cru--not as sour though, and a bit of a syrupy sweetness. The sourness consists of lemony notes and light funky leather, and dry oak. Flavor is still fairly tart with some lemony notes and the leathery funk. A little bit sweeter than the aroma. I think this is a little past its prime as some paper oxidation is present. Dry oaky finish--bitterness peaked around a 2. Medium body with light carbonation. Plenty good--very good, actually--but I don’t think it would be rated as highly if it weren’t rare and retired.

Bottle best-by 1995. Looks good. The beer in the glass copper-brown, small head. Fruity aroma. Starts very, very fruity with woody notes, cherry, also quite sourish, but soft at the same moment. Really goes down like velvet. Incredebly drinkable. An awesome beer!

Enchanting ruby in color with a firm, well-densed head of light mocha that shows spotty lacing. Very fruity and strongly vinous aroma with a huge dose of cherry puree, along with a light hint of wood. Flavor is absolutely bursting with cherry goodness, while remaining lightly vinous, lightly acidic and extremely complex. Beautiful intermixing of sweet and sour flavors, with an underlying hint of red apple. Just a beautiful beer.

Crisp saltine aroma, heavy on raspberry champagne vinegar. Very refined and tawny, edges of sherry. Many dripping cherry notes, with sweet crisp juices and dry pits. Very elegant and silky, but seems a little reserved and almost too straightforward (keeping it down 0.2 in the aroma). Flavor is damn near insanity. It’s pure lubricious delight of all kinds of cherries, schaarsbeekse, montmortenci, rainier and Door County. All sweet, bright and lucious and right in front of me. So unique and rich. A truly original coalescence of creative flourish and tangy delight. The sharpy sour notes are incredibly enlightening, with blending notes of astringent fire. The palate and finish could have had a little more moment, except that ti’s sweetness paris with the crisp cutting acidit to create nice balance and increasingly dry finish. Distant hop cone thoughts. The oak really brings some nice touches of vanilla cherry sugars. Overall, a true masterpiece and a crying shame that it’s no longer produced.

33 ml bottle, thanks to moejuck for this ’extra’ in a trade. Pours deep, mostly clear mahogany color with a small off-white head. Aroma of dark and fruity malts, a bit of sourness and tannins, pie cherries, caramel and toastiness all delightfully mixed together, heavy with fruits. Sweet, tart flavors, pie cherry and wood, somewhat vinuous, with a hint of umami. Medium to full body, gently tingly carbonation. Slightly oxidized after all these years, but still deep, complex and very enjoyable.