Rodenbach was a brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 and a brewing family from Roeselare

Roeselare

Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke....

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. The brewery is now owned by Palm Breweries

Palm Breweries

Palm Breweries is a brewery company. It owns several different Belgian breweries.-History:As early as 1597, records can be found in Steenhuffel's archives detailing a manor named Den Hoorn....

. It is noted for its production of barrel-aged sour beers

Sour beer

Sour beer is a beer style characterized by an intentionally acidic, tart, sour taste. It is Category 17 of the Beer Judge Certification Program Style Guidelines...

 in the Flemish

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 tradition.

Brewery

In 1821, the four Rodenbach brothers (Pedro, Alexander, Ferdinand and Constantijn) invested in a small brewery in Roeselare, in the West Flanders province of Belgium. The brothers agreed to a partnership for 15 years. At the end of this period, Pedro and his wife, Regina Wauters, bought the brewery from the others and Regina ran the business while Pedro served in the military. Their son Edward later took over the brewery (1864) and, it was during his directorship that the brewery saw great growth. Edward's son, Eugene, took over in 1878 and, in preparation for this position, travelled to England where he learned how to ripen beer in oak barrels and then mix old and young beers. It was this that became the method of producing beer that Rodenbach became famous for. As Eugene produced no male offspring, a public limited liability corporation was created and most shares remained in the hands of descendants of the Rodenbach's until 1998 when the brewery was sold to Palm Brewery.
After the take-over, Palm quickly stopped production of Rodenbach's Alexander beer, a cherry-flavoured beer. However, in recent years, Palm/Rodenbach has produced and distributed, first, Rodenbach foederbier, which is served only from cask, and is unfiltered and unblended. It comes straight from an oak riping barrel and is not processed further. More recently, the brewery has produced Vin de Céréale, sold only in bottles. This is similar to foederbier, but has been in the barrel longer (about three years) and has been formulated for more alcohol. Foederbier is usually 5-6 percent, while Vin de Céréale is 10 percent.

From 1980 until 2000, Rodenbach supplied the yeast and bacteria culture that provided their distinctive taste profile and sourness to De Dolle Brouwers

De Dolle Brouwers

De Dolle Brouwers is a Belgian brewery, based in Esen in the province of West Flanders. The name means, literally, "the mad brewers" and this attitude is reflected in their whimsical graphics and adventurous brewing style....

 in nearby Esen

Esen

Esen is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a deelgemeente of the city of Diksmuide. It is the home of noted artisanal brewery De Dolle Brouwers.-External links:**...

 for use in some of their beers. They had historically also sometimes supplied yeast to Westvleteren Brewery

Westvleteren Brewery

The Westvleteren Brewery is a Belgian brewery founded in 1838 inside the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in the Belgian municipality of Vleteren, not far from the hops-producing town of Poperinge and the medieval city of Ypres. The brewery and its beers are usually referred to as...

 and Brouwerij Felix in Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Welden, Volkegem and a part of Ooike.From the 15th to the 18th...

.

Beers

There are three different types of Rodenbach beers:

• Rodenbach Original (5% ABV
  Alcohol by volume
  Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
  
  ) blended from aged and young ale (25%/75%);
• Rodenbach Grand Cru, a rich winey beer (6% ABV) which, although blended, contains less young ale (67%/33%) (in the past this beer was unblended aged beer from a single cask selected for its qualities by a tasting panel. This type of beer has now been renamed Rodenbach Vintage beer and is available in limited quantities);
• Vin de Céréale, an aged beer that is 10% ABV.

External links

• Rodenbach Brewery (in Dutch, English and French)