Since my new beer a day thing is done, I thought I'd just rate some of the beers from my cellar. I'm not expecting this one to get better with age, so I'm drinking it right meow.
The Bishop Barrel series from Saint Arnold in Houston, TX is one of my favorite series of beer from Texas. Not all of them are great, but the ones that are transcend to truly great. They brew beers specifically to put into a barrel of some kind and age. Some of the beers they put into these barrels are beers they brew regularly, while others are brew just for the occasion. The don't always use the same kind of barrel (for example, bourbon or red wine).
Bishop Barrel 12 is a "Christmas Ale aged in Sauvignon Blanc Barrels with Cherries and Brettanomyces". I'm really not sure why I bought this one. I'm not a huge fan of Christmas Ales: the spices just aren't appealing to me. I've never liked anything aged in a Sauvignon Blanc barrel: the sour notes are not pleasant to me. I'm not a fan of cherries in beer: they either make the beer sour or too sweet. And I'm not a fan of brett: it tends to make beers sour.
Having said all of that, this beer was not bad. Some of the cherry flavor comes through, and it tastes tart rather than mouth-puckeringly sour. I can't really taste any of the Christmas Ale flavors. I rate it 3/5 on Untappd.