I have been relatively quiet on the beer front for a few weeks. I am waiting patiently to let my latest bottling, the Golden Wheat Red Ale bottle condition a little longer. The temptation to sample is easy at the moment. I am about 12 time zones away from the beer and the temptation! Oman is a long ways from Texas.  This quote from “The Wizard of Oz” comes to mind – “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.” I stood on top of a sand dune last night, about 30 kilometers from the UAE border just inside of Oman and said this to my buddy Gary,  “Gary, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Texas any more.”

Let me add, the Omani people are an absolute pleasure to work with, converse with and share with. Yes, we are guests in their country but I have never felt so welcome in a foreign country. The hosted a “BBQ”…..really a large grill filled with kabobs and fortunately for Gary the selection did not include goat. I haven’t convinced Gary that goat can be very tasty. As we sat around under the cabana, a young man named Ali spent 30 minutes showing us some of the beauty of his country…and yes it can be very beautiful! I am looking forward to a future visit with more time to explore!

YES – it is very dry here…..not much rain and in many places the beverage selection is pretty restricted! The hotels in Muscat do serve alcoholic beverages as they cater to a very diverse clientele in this country. A walk on the beach shows the diversity in the cultures and languages all around you. On one walk we heard, German, Italian, Hindi, English, some sort of a Scandinavian dialect, Lebanese and Arabic – probably a few more that I had no clues about.  I am looking forward to a return trip with more time to explore the country and meet more of the wonderful people here!

Looking north-west from a top a dune adjacent to our humble camp of 7,000 people!

Drink Respectfully, Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop