Pelican Dorymans Dark Ale

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

This Dark Ale lacks the fresh approach the IPA seems to have. A malt driven beer, the malt is not impressive enough to carry the beer. Mildly smokey with a bit of pine and chocolate - just a touch of alchohol in the flavor and a bit bready. A nice beer, just not enough to blow me away.

Any first impressions?
-A veil of foam minimally laces above the obscure brown mahogany.
-A delightful, bold but organized union of nutty sweetness, roasted malts and perfectly chosen wooden, earthy, aromatic hops seduces effectively.
-A rather assertive wooden, leafy hoppiness surpasses the crystal malts in their participation, which might not be everyone’s cup of brown ale (although the roastiness makes it all work, imho).
-The body is healthy, but maybe a little too carbonated for my tastes in the style.

What if you dig deeper?
-Citrusy hoppiness soon appears in both the nose and flavor.
-Some milk chocolate and cherries accompany the hazelnuts in the sweet malt’s discourse.
-Although there is a rough edge to its leafy hoppiness, ingredients are blending beautifully.
-Another well-crafted beer by Pelican, full-flavored but never over the board.

Bottle from December ’05.

This tasted like burnt wheat bread crusts, very doughy and full of cookie and bread flavors. Kind of bland, but very well balanced and very easy to drink.

For a beer from an unremarkable style, Doryman is a rare find. The beer has a rich toffee charcther with some nice bitters. The beautiful brown head lasted for nearly the entire pint as did the lacing. I could easily drink this beer often, as it makes for a very relaxing drink.

Bottle at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Clear brown appearance with a frothy tan head. Strong but a bit too clean aroma of caramel, burnt sugar and chocolate cookies with lots of aromahops. Clean and caramely flavour with strong notes of burnt sugar, fudge and roasted malts, hints of red cherries. Clean caramely aftertaste. Lacks some soul.

Dark Brown Coloring with Light Tan Head. Nice Hop Aroma to it...Dry Rich Bread Notes, Bitter Hop Bite, Dry Dark Rye Bread Taste.. Medium to Heavy Mouthfeel. Dry Aftertaste. Wonderfully Dark and Yet Balanced Brown Ale.

Dark brown color with a thin head. Strong aroma of really earthy hops. Damn, smells delicious... Heavy on the malt in the taste with a bit of roastedness. Bitter finish, though it’s a good mix of malt and hop bitterness. Really high quality Brown Ale.

[At Stockholm Beer Festival 2005] A brown beer with a huge brown head. The aroma is sweet and slightly hoppy, while the flavor is just like an English brown ale, primary notes of roasted malt, slight note of caramel, with a dry end, and a thin body.