Rodenbach Alexander

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

Bottle, thanks Henrik! Pours a deep reddish brown with a nice soapy tan head. Cool color and look. Extremely vinegarish on the nose, so much so that it’s difficult to pull out anything else. Somme essence of wet wood and cherries floating about. Whoa, what a powerful, strange mix of flavors. Red wine vinegar, oak, deeply rich malt. Sweet cherries and oak unfold. Really strange, lovely progression. Endlessly complex. Deep, earthy, and a bit herbal. Almost hard to take the intensity of this. Perfectly bubbly, fine carbonation, sharp enough but soft enough. This is incredibly unique, much more complex and diverse than any Flanders Red, and more deep and rich than any sour I’ve had. Cherries and raspberries really start to come out as it warms. Killer stuff, absolutely blows everything else by Rodenbach out of the water.

25cl bottle, dated July1991, with a huge thanks to kappldav123 for another awesome rarity! Pours a clear copper with a minimal tan head that settles to some whisp and a thin ring. Aroma starts out in a less than positive way, with an almost wood stain aroma, but fortunately starts to settle out with some air. Regardless, there are a lot of nice notes of oak, fruit, and port, but stay mostly hidden behind the less appealing aroma. The flavor on the other hand is stellar, and very surprising considering the nose, with lots of oak, vanilla, and robust dark fruits; nicely sour and tart. Drinks much, much younger than the aroma alludes, which saves this one from being out and out over the hill. The aroma and flavor couldn’t be more opposite on this one, but overall a nice experience. Thanks again David for the chance to try something I thought I’d never see, much appreciated!

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.

1996 33 cl bottle shared by psprings at Hellbilly’s Feb. tasting - Pours a hazy amber color with no head or lacing. Aroma is tart fruity esters and a hint of vinegar. Flavor is much of the same and it actually tastes pretty good. Not as sour or tart as some of the others I tried. Medium body. I don’t know if it’s the quality or the age of the beer, but this is one of the better Sours I’ve tried. Thanks Paul.

Thanks to mcbackus. Sweet aroma of cherries, honey and red wine vinegar. Fruity flavor with a smooth and low carbonated mouthfeel. Very tasty.

Bottle moejuck: pours pretty still no head beautiful cherry brown color. Aroma rocks woody, cherry, malty, slight tart. Holy shit this flavor is fantastic full of cherry and the wood flavor is great. Tartness is near perfect.

#700 - Bottle shared by the South FL crew. HUGE thanks! Vintage 1989. Poured a murky red/brown. Nose is ripe fruits, fig, grapes, over-ripe cherry, some earthy wood, lactic sourness, funk, basement, musty and vinegary. Flavor was insane! So complex. Ripe fruit, tart cherries, sweet malt, burnt sugars, cinnamon, wood, musty earthy cellar, oxidation, tart acidity, apple cider vinegar, fig, and prune. Unreal!

1989 bottle and holy mother of sours. This is amazing. Still wonderful after 20 years. Wow. Copperish pour. Aroma is fruity as hell, light fruit vinegar, sweet tarts. Flavor is so clean, so tart and sweet at the same time. Cherry, wood...holy shit is this stuff amazing. Really truly amazing.