Rodenbach Alexander

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

Sour cherry aroma with restrained beer scents. Effervescent, tangy and tart with acetic feel.

I need a bottle of my own, snuck a quick sample from a glass at a lacal tasting .. wow, cherry and slight fruity musk ... amazing mouthfeel, still full .. age, what age?, a class act all the way .. seriously, anyone reading this who has a bottle for trade, i’ll make it worth your while ..

1200!! Pours an amber brown color with a white head. Aroma is cherry, apple, sugar, and tart acidity. Flavor is sugary, cherry, tart acidic fruit, brett, funk, and tart finish.

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.

KSBF 04 Thanks to EDA for this sampling! Small tan head, good retention with some sticky lacing. Hazy light amber, red hued brew. Surprisingly cherryish nose, earthy, fruity. A thinner body than expected. Sour cherry flavors but not overly, light mustiness, oak, vinegary and some malty grainyness. Dry, lightly tart finish, interesting. Would like to try this one again, alot going on here. Thanks mike!

#1000. Bottles provided by JCW and EDA. Disclaimer: I can’t do this beer justice in a review, should have employed one of the great writers on the site. Dirty reddish/brown with a few bubbles here and there. Very oily, coats the glass. Initial aroma has a huge vinegar kick, but in a good way. As it warms, fades into a nice sour cherry, with woodsy tannic notes. Mouth puckering to say the least. Initial flavor sour cherries with lots of wood, light vinegar. Finishes sweet and sour, mouth puckering, leaves you salivating for more. One of the few beers I could drink anytime, anywhere, well if it was available anyway.

Bottle from CaptainCougar. Huge Thanks Tom! I think Tom said he bought this in 2003 or so. I found with some research that it wasn’t produced since 1999 when the brewery was bought by Palm in 1998. I think it was brewed in these huge 5000 gallon wooden barrels with extremely low oxygen absorption rates: http://www.babblebelt.com/newboard/brew_resource/R These large wooden barrels are increasing rare, but still used for great beers, such as La Folie, which is rumored to made by one of Rodenbach’s past brewers.
http://www.brewery.org/brewery/library/Rodnb /> The Alexander is supposed to be a blend of Grand Cru and Cherry juice. http://www.sallys-place.com/beverages/beer/red_bee /> Very nice lactic sweet cherry aroma. Great mouthfeel. Thick, a bit syrupy, with a little bit of a slick mouthfeel, possibly from lactic acid? Amber color. Very easy to drink. Kind of caramel sweetness I associate with aged barleywines, which makes me wonder if the high quality of this beer is partly due to the aging. Clings and coats the glass as I swirl. Some carbonation, but a beer of this magnitude needs none. Heavenly. I could drink this everyday. I’m tempted to give it a perfect 5. Tried at fordest’s tasting with ibrew2or3, fordest, padrefan98, toncatcher, and others.

1996 bottle shared by psprings at hellbilly’s hellraiser 3.0 tasting. Pours a dark amber with a few bubbles for a head. The nose is sweet malt, maraschino cherries , wood and light vinegar. The taste is sour cherry juice, ripe grapes, white grape vinegar and more candied cherry. Medium bodied. Sweeter than I anticipated but very good. Thanks Paul – never thought I’d get a chance to try this one!