Each year, Public House Brewing Company releases our Barleywine Ale during the Annual Ale-Iversary at the Rolla Brewpub. As part of this tradition, we ask local clergy to perform a blessing for our establishment and for the beer.

This is an age-old practice born from a long history of trial and error when producing wine or beer. People understood fruit and grain could produce wine or beer when left to sit in a container. They simply didn’t have the knowledge as to why it would happen.

Superstition took hold if a batch of beer was unfit for drinking. The poor quality was mystically blamed on evil spirits referred to as brew witches or beer witches. To ward off such forces, brewers would request the services of priests to perform blessings on the liquid and brewing establishment.

Below is the annual blessing performed during the Public House Brewing Company Rolla Brewpub Ale-Iversary and the inspiration for this year’s Barleywine Ale – This Creature Beer. This ale has a warming quality to it and is described as very rich and malty with a caramel-like aroma. Stop by the Rolla Brewpub on Saturday, January 12 to take part in this tradition and to taste This Creature Beer for yourself.

ABV: 10.5% | IBU: 45 | SRM: 16

Prayer:
Almighty God…ever present…Father of all

Your watchful care reaches from end to end
And orders all things in such power
That even the tensions and tragedies of life
Cannot frustrate your loving plan for us

Bless this Brewing House and those who inhabit its environment
May it provide a place of comfort and communion to all who enter

Bless the Doorway of this place.
May it be a threshold to hospitality and good fellowship
May all who enter here do in safety and goodwill

May your Holy Presence reside within these walls
So that it may be filled with your grace
And enjoyed by those who seek its harbor

Bless the Common Room of this Public House
May it be a gathering place
Where acquaintances become friends
And friends grow ever closer
In their affection and respect
For one another

May your goodness fill the hearts
Of those who are her patrons
And those you have called to provide her care

Bless, O Lord, this Creature Beer,
Which thou hast designed to produce from the fat of grain;
That it may be a salutary remedy to the human race,
And grant through the invocation of thy holy name
That whoever shall drink it
May gain health in body and peace in soul

We ask these blessings in your name

Father…who is for us
Son…who is with us
Holy Spirit…who is within us

Amen