The base beer for Bishop’s Barrel No. 14 is a cult favorite, the Russian Imperial Stout recipe used for both Divine Reserve No. 5 and 15. The original beer is rich with chocolate, toffee and roast. With BB14, we wanted to explore the complexity of balancing these flavors while going a bit further and adding a new element, coffee. To do this, we first aged the beer in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for eleven months, where it picked up notes of oak, vanilla, coconut and bourbon. After this, we partnered again with our friends at Java Pura to find a roast that complements the flavors. After several trials, we selected the Espresso blended roast. The completed blend with the coffee addition subdued the overwhelming alcohol heat that is typical of the Russian Imperial Stout and brought balance to a style that is usually defined by being unbalanced.