Pelican Elemental Ale (2006+)

Bottle from a friend who frequents Pelican. Not sure of when he bought this, but judging by the flavor I am guessing it is a bit old. Pours a cloudy orange copper with a huge white head. Grassy hop aroma with some malt and funk. Funky malt up front with a hella bitter finish. Not bad, but I will assume this is an old bottle. Probably much better fresh.

Aroma is wet skunky--sharp, vinegary, but not repulsive/ slightly cloudy orange-gold with a quick white head. on tap at the fresh hop tastival. htin & a little meltallic in the mouth. what at first tastes a little adventuous soon adds up toe being grapefruit wiht a little aluminum tang, a hint of honey

Draft at the brewpub. A totally unclear orange-golden-amber beer with a lazing white head. The aroma is sweet wtih strong notes of grass and alfa acids. The flavor is sweet with acidic notes of hops, like chewing fresh hops - just about too much.

This is the most pure hops bomb ever. Cloudy golden color, liquid grapefruit, citrus, piney nose. Massive hop bombs. Excellent malt backbone upfront, then the biggest hop bomb, no a hop nuclear explosions take place, with liquid hops sucking on the finish.

22 oz Bottle - I like what they are trying to do here but Holy Crap, the hops are truely overpowering. Very spicy, very grassy, very floral and not enough malt to back up the resinous, highly acidic brew. Bitter beyond anything I’ve ever touched to my lips. Maybe I should have let this sit at 55 for a 6 months or so before cracking it because it was way too over-the-top for me, and as a Big IIPA fan it takes a lot of IBUs to keep me away.

Poured a deeply hazy yellow-orange-golden color witha bustling creamy white head. With puissant Sterling hops this “dirty” and “dank” beer bidded a peerlessly herbal nose and piquancy. Gifting a sprucey, piny savor and numbing bitter residuals. LOVE THIS BEER!

3 pints in an hour at Redbones on 11/22/06
It’s like the most over-the-top beer you hated to love. Insane amounts of aroma and flavor hops to match the IBUS. Nope, never harsh like DA says. Improving upon the wonderful Rogue Impy pils. Less alcohol (much less) and more attenuation, with even better aromatics.
The color was a nearly opaque, light, strawberry-amber. Very hazy. Oh and the keg must have been conditioned, because even on tap the carbonation was tight and frothy, almost creamy, very natural.
Very Dry and not exactly balanced, but sterling hops seem a lot more tolerable in unbalanced amounts than high AA hops. Though I can’t help wondering how much more refreshing and drinkable it would be if they halved the IBUs....Malt wise, it adds a touch of honey, with ample texture, but it’s not really a factor of the malt being too much/too little. For this beer to remain at this gravity and be drinkable, there’s no way any malt bill could balance these IBUs. Needs less hops. It’s fun to put 420 lbs of hops in, but if you’re looking at it more as a well-brewed beer and less of a science/hippy project, I think it’s pretty obvious that far less hops would suffice.

On tap at the Hood River Hops fest. Suprisingly this beer isn’t as painfully bitter as they want you to think. Actually comes off very nice, very crisp and flavorful hop stew without an overwhelming bitterness. Citrus and spicy hops provide a beautiful display on the palate in the finish that just last as long as it takes you to take your next sip. Up front in the sweetness is a light malt base, but some citrus sweetness kinda fills out the body. Pours amber with a white head. I never found this beer to be harsh, very enjoyable.