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.

In both ways sweet and sour. It works very well together. Well balance. Beautiful golden orange and amber colour. Some wooden and dry finish and aftertaste. Wood, citric, orange and green apple in palate. Fantalastic brew!

Vintage unknown... Pours a reddish brown color with no head or lacing. Aroma of caramel, tart cherries, and light musty horseblanket. Sour cherries and sweet malt, various skins of different fruits. A very delectable Flemish Sour, thanks hopsrus!

At De Heeren van Liedekercke, 1992 bottle with the label falling apart. Clear ruby body below a thin layer of big bubbles. Intense aroma, smells like opening an oak chest containing a cherry pie. Strong barrel character, like licking the inside of an old beer barrel. Sour cherries dipped in toffee. Alexander The Great #2.

Huge thanks to wetherel for sharing this one. Nice reddish brown color with decent head. Aromas of tart cherry and vinous notes of grapes. Flavor was not as sour. Cherry Pie came to mind. Very very tasty. Thanks as well to Tom for letting this one come to us.

Thanks to eaglefan538 for the once in a lifetime opportunity! Pour was clear dark copper with minimal head/lacing. The aroma was tart cherry, vinegar. The flavor was smooth velvety sour cherries with hints of oak, ash and vanilla. Super sweet, but didn’t strike me as overly so. Fine, fine example of the style.

Bottle shared by moejuck and spector, you guys rock for bring this one: Red pour with no head. Aroma, cherries, and a tartness to it, my words don’t describe it well enough. Flavor, very tart up front, with some sweet cherries, and a subdued sour acidity. You can taste the oak for sure, just a beautiful beer.

Bottle from the excellent tetrik.

I’ve wanted to try this beauty ever since the day that I joined the site. I started it out at refrigerator temperature. It pours a gorgeous red that flashes ruby as the sun shines through it, no head but the sunlight illuminates each of a thousand tiny bubbles rising in the liquid and all glowing yellow from within the crimson heart of the beer. From an oblique angle the orange-brown caramel tones emerge along the surface; complex and beautiful.

Big complex woody nose: tons of oak, sweet cherry juice, balsamic, hints of warm caramel, sherry, just a faint and very pleasant hint of musty stone-lined cellar. With the flavor, there’s so much going on in every sip. Of course the sourness, lemon juice over green apple, but it’s very restrained, one immediately picks up the sweet cherry juice again, all natural cherries, not syrup, but surprisingly sweet with caramels coming through to join the fruit. Funky Flemish sour flavors, recalling Duchess, but ever so much better integrated into the whole of the beer. Splendid dry/tart turn of tannic wood and cherry pits on the late end balances out the lingers sweet and sour leaving the palate overwhelmewd with breadth of flavor. The mouthfeel is really nice, not too sticky but plenty full, not bubbling but with enough micro-bubble carbonation to keep it lively.

I’m incredibly lucky to have tried this beer. Thanks, tetrik. I owe you one.