Pelican Dorymans Dark Ale

Brewed by Pelican Pub & Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Pacific City, Oregon USA

Pours brown with a thin tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, chocolate, and maybe a touch of smoke. Decent flavor, ends with a touch of bitterness. Good brown ale, but the style is a not my favorite.

Sweet carmel and chocolate are joined by grapefruit and strong jammy fruitiness in the nose. Clear ruby brown body is topped by a shy tan head that recedes rapidly to a thin partial cover and ring. Nutty up front along with some chocolate character. Burnt and grainy dark malts are apparent in the aftertaste along with tealike tannins after moderate to strong bitterness. Plenty of citrus hop flavour. Somewhat astringent medium body with prickly carbonation. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle (hand-written #4 in marker on the bottle cap) purchased at Brewery Creek in Jun-09.

April bottling: Deep crimson. Fluffy dirty-white ring of head. Yeasty (cellar, pistachio) and fruity nose with dusty malt, grapefruit pith, and plum jelly scents. Faintly tealike and vegetal. Firm pricks of spacious carbonation. Leafy hop bitterness delicately clasps the tongue before being absorbed by sweet plum esters. Wave of intensely nutty malt exhibits burnt toffee coupled with softer nut and honey-drizzled hay smidgeons. Loads of malt persistence and depth but borderline grainy, and not the most vividly defined either. Abundance of citrus swimming amongst the malty sweetness and increasingly tacky residual sugars and soupy Crystal remnants. Flabby body suffers from an overt paintlike yeast presence which also lends some astringency while weighing the body down. Limp finish is dull and tealike, with grapefruit pith clashing with overripe plums and medicinal hints. This bottle (freshly bottled and purchased at the brewery) is not remotely similar to the much cleaner bottle I enjoyed a few months ago (different batch). Lots of flaws with this particular batch. The 2008 biere de garde, which I opened last night, was also dull, sugary, and vegetal. Something is amiss at Pelican, it seems.

22 oz bottle from Sam’s South Loop (Chicago, IL). Another Pelican bottle! Pours a deep dark brown, like overdone iced tea, moderate light brown head that sticks around a bit, dies to a small layer, laces some. Just a bit hazy, light and coppery around the edges. Aromas are nice, nice toasty malts push subtle chocolate, caramel, some nuttiness, and a moderate display of citrus and floral hoppiness. Certainly means business for the regular Brown fare. Initial is a good medium bodied, there but not overbearing, with some good toast and roast, chocolate, nut, caramel, and very vague tobacco. Chocolate comes out more in the body and finish, with caramel and light vanilla, balancing with impressive bitterness for the style, citrusy grapefruit and florals. This beer certainly is well balanced, with good flavors, and lingering bitterness that show that all Brown Ales are not made the same. Cheers!

22oz bottle 4/17/09 (Sam’s Wine & Spirits)-Pours a dark brown with a msll tan head. Aroma of malt, hops, grapefruit, and soem pine. Taste begins with hops then the malt kicks in and it finishes with a nice mixture along with a little chocolate. This medium bodied brew is well balanced and quite tasty. Another good beer from these guys.

Bomber from the Binny’s in Orland Park, Illinois: This poured a deep, clear chestnut body with a tall, rocky beige head that pasted lots of lace along the sides of the glass. The aroma was pine and grapefruit zest over some toffee and milk chocolate. The hops get a tad more aggressive in the flavor, but there’s a solid toasty malt & chocolate backbone to support it. The finish is dry and moderately bitter. Good session stuff.

This dark brown ale poured with a thick beige head and a chocolate aroma. There is a flavor of roasted malt and chocolate with some light hop bitterness at the finish.

Brown color with tan head. Head dissipates to a thin halo and whispy belgian lace. Roasty, lightly chocolatey aroma. Flavor is smooth and roasty, light chocolate and mild sweetness. Thank god its not too sweet. Maybe some brown sugar and molasses as well. Body is creamy, decent. Pretty tasty.