Another Eduard von Grützner painting and another pour of beer. He’s a happy looking monk isn’t he, well so am I, and so are bishops, monks don’t just have all the fun. And yet when it comes to reaching the Lord, of course, he, she, it, them remain forever out of reach despite voices in our heads, visions, and speaking in tongues, no the almighty remains ever out of reach, and a good thing to, for those who have approached without the right name or DNA circuitry twitch on the ground, fried to a crips by the fire of an agoraphobic god . . . who doesn’t like visitors . . . who likes to guard castle . . . stand ground . . . so he, she, it, them may live in Texas. Writing of Texas, let me present the second in our series, another Texas brew, Saint Arnold Brewing Company Bishop’s Barrel #21 in the famed Bishop’s Barrel Series.
First of, where I buy this bad boy and all my other crafty beers from Premium Draught in the Heights. Behind an unassuming storefront opens a wonderland of beers and ciders. Besides bottles and cans, they also have a number of beers on draught which you can walk home with in bottles and growlers. Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! Much easier to negotiate than God’s throne which gains much of its majesty by being hidden, obscured, indecipherable, unimaginable, who did we think we are presuming to even understand the divine, so says the Mighty One to Job.
Then the LORD replied to Job out of the tempest and said:
Who is this who darkens counsel, Speaking without knowledge?
Gird your loins like a man; I will ask and you will inform me.
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? Speak if you
have understanding.
Do you know who fixed its dimensions Or who measured it with a
line?
Onto what were its bases sunk? Who set its cornerstone
When the morning stars sang together And all the divine beings
shouted for joy? (Job 38 1-7)
On the nose bourbon and cherries, roasted malt and chocolate, candied oranges and vanilla, caramel and molasses, and last but not least, maple syrup. On the tongue ginger, so many cherries as in a cherry pie, Woodford Reserve all around, a creamy feel, with another hit of ginger on the finish and a slight hint of fudge, slight sassy sourness as well. Overall my mouth feels like it’s just taken a dive into a chocolate sampler with so many candied fruits wrapped in dark goodness. Starting off with a Belgian Quadrupel lights the fuse with all that darkness, creaminess, spiciness and high abv, and then they age for fifteen months in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels. My sense of taste leaves this earth and soars through blue and clouds with all these flavors tumbling and twisting through my body. The divine may remain distant, but in this atmosphere I’ve touched a bit of heaven. Cue The Cure. Bon Appétit!
