Pelican India Pelican Ale

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

22ouncer courtesy of KenB. Yum. My favorite IPA that Ive tasted is Racer 5, and this stuff is equally good. Nose is familiar-floral hops, a little fruit, sweet malt. intense hop flavor that balances well with cirtus accents and a light yet present malt backbone. in other words, great balance. My new favorite session ipa. But I cant get it in NC, or Racer 5. :(

From a 22 oz. brown bomber bottle with a blurb on the back, no bottled/freshness date. Made a very good appearance, poured a cloudy reddish copper orange with a fluffy white head that settled into a thin lacing, minimal amount of sticking, good carbonation. Had a tasty nose of caramel malts and citric zesty, spicy and floral hops. A crisp, nicely hop textured and smooth medium bodied mouth feel, easy AIPA drinkability. Delicious tasting, citric zesty and spicy, a pronounced, but rolling hop bitterness on the tongue, not a coarse taste killer, but slightly numbing, a struggling caramel maltiness that stays just below the hops, and a dry hop resinous and caramel malty finish with a citric leafiness lingering in the palate. One of the best AIPA I’ve had the pleasure to sample, easy to see why this is a award winner, if you’re a fan of IPA’s, then this is a must try.

Bottle via adam from BA. Pours a beautiful, lightly hazy, copper color, with a dense pillowy beige head. Aroma is nice mix of pine, floral, spicy, citrusy hops, light caramel. Flavor is again floral, spicy, musty, piney hops, decent caramel backbone. Palate is medium bodied, medium carbonation, finished sticky and nicely bitter. Great stuff, just what I needed!

Bomber. This is a great IPA! Pours deeply red with lots of copper overtones. Sudsy white film over the top of that. Big pine blossoms on the nose, softened with an almost palpable creaminess...vanilla? I don’t know where that note is coming from or how to describe it. Maybe one small part of this beer’s mission was to wake me up to the realization that it’s best when having something *good* about a beer be the part you can’t put your finger on. It’s not like I was in any danger of thinking I knew it all, but this beer has a pleasant mystery to the fragrance. The taste is unambiguously great. This is probably my favorite of the pine-dominated IPAs (if there is such a grouping of beers). At least, it is for the foreseeable future, which is never very long with beer. There’s plenty of softness to the body, but it’s not watery at all; it’s rich and even a bit raw at the end. Some bubbly harshness at the back of the throat is perfect for a beer with such a nicely dried, bitter finish. I could not only drink this beer all day, I’d set aside a day to do it.

Shared with my pals DrBayern and doboy @ Matts house. Pours from bomber rather a hazy orange that settles down. Nice foamy head, lacing is terrific. Aroma of pungent pine resins, grapefruits and wet forrest. Flavour was explosive, hop hammer bitterness delight! Pine resins, hops, caramels malts and grapefruit. One helluva IPA, would love to try it on tap. WOW!

From a 22-oz bomber, via traded with kenb pours a hazy orange amber brew with a good sized off-white head that has good retention and lacing. Aroma of spruce/pine, grapefruit zest, some caramel malt and a touch of toffee. Taste is over the top piney/grapefruit. Character has medium body, very light carbonation with flavors of strong northwoods pine, grapefruit, and a touch of tart fruit. Finish is very hoppy and tart bitterness. The grapefruit aftertaste lingers around for a while. This brew will keep the west coast hop-heads happy!

22oz bottle. Pours clearish orange amber with a moderate size white head, some lace. Smells nicely balanced with some slightly resiny, citrus hops up front and a solid, slightly sweet, cereal malt backbone. Tastes nicely balanced as well. Nice citrusy hops up front with some slightly nutty, sweet malts on the finish, coats the mouth a bit. Medium body, good carbonation.

Bomber, purchased at Belmont Station. Snifter. Pours reddish gold. Big fluffy head. Good lacing. Spicy hop aromas. Flavor is big, strong, and bitter. This tastes more like a DIPA, which must be why I like it so much. This beer has a heavy feel to it. Not watery. Light on the carbonation.