Rodenbach Alexander

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

Bottle at DHVL. 1992 vintage. Pours clear reddish chesthut coloured with a thin yet lacing off white head. Aromas of sour cherries, oak, almonds, balsamic vinegar and mild sherry notes. Fresh and clean flavour with notes of wood, sour berries, balsamic vinegar and a semi sweet finish. I didn’t expect that this beer would be so tasty after all those years in a basement.. Tasty stuff!

Thanks to Eyedrinkale for pouring this at the KSBF tailgate. Pours brown. Aroma is of malt, cherries, and wood. Flavor is wood, cherries, sweet malt, and a slight spice. Deep, rich, balanced, excellent.

Very tart, astringent. Great aroma. Lots of cherries, a dry mouthfeel. Very interesting.

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.

1992 vintage, bottle into Rodenbach glass, Heeren van Liedekerke. Crystal clear ruby amber with off-white dusting of a head that extends its dense lacing up the side. Smell: is this a barley wine? Sensuous aroma of brown sugar and plums soaking in port wine and chocolate sauce, mixed in with a bit of the warm alcohol and cherry I was expecting to smell. The smell reminds me of Samichlaus too, in the chocolate and port elements. This bodes well, friends. The flavor: never has a beer had a more perfect warm cherry taste. Even after 14 years, this tastes fresh, like I plucked a cherry from a tree in the Garden of Eden; it’s still sweet, though not as sweet as it would be if fresh in the real world; it’s tart, but not sour. Everything in perfect balance, with sweetness and tartness only accents to the warmness of the fruit flavor itself. Wonderful. Tartness intensifies to low-level sourness right before and after the swallow, when the cherry flavor gets darker and mixes with chocolate on the sides of the mouth; there’s also a yeasty layer of soft bitterness, like a darker and chewier version of brett, which adds to the Samichlaus impression (because of the chewiness and it’s vaguely plumy character). Finish is a lingering sweet and sour cherry that’s only a little dry. Glittering gliding layer of lace not too sticky, but leaves an archipelago on the side when it does stick. Racing is quick but deep. I don’t know how anyone could think this isn’t delicious. Almost better than dope. Really close.

330 ml bottle. Poured slightly cloudy deep amber in color with a small off white head. Aroma of cherries, vinegar, and mildly sour notes. Tastes of grape skins, cherries, mild vinegar, slight artificial sweetener taste as well. Little oak also present. Very nice and I think this has held up pretty well for being over 10 years old.

Wow, I never expected to be able to try this. Pantanap cracked it open in the parking lot right before the winter beer fest. Happy 400th! Big aroma arose out of the glass. Great sweet and sour going on. Tart cherries at the front. Taste is big and delicous. Definitely sour, but doesn’t overwhelm. As I continued it somehow got more drinkable. I don’t know how time has effected it, but the taste really filled the mouth and heightened toward a perfect and lasting finish. Overall, a masterpiece of a beer.

Murky amber brown with no head. Nice cherry nose w/ sourness and faint oak. Medium mouthfeel with sour palate and dry finish. Flavors of sour cherries, vanilla, and light oak, in all a sweet flavor with powerful sourness that cleans the palate. Might be a bit old but heck I love it!