Pelican India Pelican Ale

Brewed by Pelican Pub & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Pacific City, Oregon USA

On draft at Henrys Tavern in Portland. Arrived at the table a clear medium amber with a smal off-white head that diminishes slowly nad leaves amople lace. Good IPA aroma, with toasty malt, clove and oher floral notes along with plentiful piney and grapefruit hops. Flavor is wow, hop city! Initital sweet, fruity malts featuring orange juice and some caramel, is quickly totally overrun by the unabashed hop character, bitter and acidic with pine, grapefruit rind, lime juice and pepper in the finsh. Puckering and powerful. Medium body, and crispy, prickly carbonation. Mmmmmm, hoppy!

Bottle pours a slightly hazy golden, large foamy white head, extremely light carbonation, with attractive lacing.   Fresh, sweet hop aroma on this one.   Subtle pine/spruce notes as well.   Sweet & spicy hop flavor up front, but followed by some tartness and semi-sweet citrus like bitterness thats fairly reminiscent of a barleywine.   Fairly round body, good mouthfeel.   Finishes with lots of hop bitterness.   This one was somewhat malty, but not enough for my tastes.   If you like straight foward hop bitterness, this one is for you!

Bottle Pours a hazy light golden orange witha large dense beige head. Lots of clinging lacing. Very sharp up front pine like hop aroma. Flavorsa were not as hoppy as I expected but apropriate for the style. Not much of a malt backbone but a nice flavor overall. Palate was rich and smooth and there was a quite sharp bitterness at the end.

13-Dec-04 (22 oz bottle: $3.70 at Liquid Solutions in Tigard, OR) Oh yeah, now this is my kind of IPA, very flavorful and balanced with a strong malt presence to keep the hops in check, but not under foot. This beer has that brewery-fresh raw maltiness in the flavor and nose, and I’m such a sucker for that characteristic. Fairly sweet and moderately hoppy, with a bitter grapefruit and barleywine-like fruitiness coming out in the finish. The nose is actually quite malty and sweet, with less hoppiness than the flavor. Better than medium bodied, with a fairly substantial palate. Deep golden, amber color with a slight haziness. Off-white head pours an average size and the retention of a thin layer is also about average. Irregular patches of lace are scattered about the glass. I think this beer would be incredible if aged in oak. (8, 4, 8, 4, 17, total: 4.1)

14-Aug-05 (Draft: Horse Brass Pub in Portland, OR) So, fresh on tap rather than out of the bottle, the strong maltiness isn’t nearly as strong in either the nose or flavor, and in fact, this is a hops dominated IPA, bitter and grapefruit citrusy, in the west coast tradition. So not as good to me this time around, but that style of IPA, it’s exceptionally flavorful and freshly hoppy.

Bottle @ Stockholm Beer Festival 2005
Asked for a hop chock at the bar and I got it. A rich flowery and grassy aroma. Despite the high BU and aroma it is quite well balanced in the malts area. Long aftertaste.

Thanks to Juancho. I’m visiting Juancho in Atlanta an it has been a beer festival. Great brew, perfect hoppiness and a very clean taste.

Rating 1000; 22oz Bottle: Had an aroma of dry citrus peels. Dark golden body with off white head. Flavor had a good citrus hop bite with some spicy flavor in the background. Cool and crisp on the palate. Good brew

Bomber straight from the Oregon Coast...thanks Marc! The aroma on this one is very malty and would prefer having a bit more citrus. The head on this is lovely and lacy. The taste is where thing begin to pick up. Malt, pine and grapefruit come though and a stiff bitterness follows. This is a well balanced beer that is big for an IPA.