Pelican Brewing Expands Its Barrel Aging Program
Pacific City, Oregon (October 26, 2016)—Pelican Brewing Company crafted a sensation when it released Mother of All Storms bourbon barrel-aged barleywine in 2009 (originally called The Perfect Storm). It soon became a highly-coveted collectable and has been named one of the Top 100 Beers in the World and Top 25 Barrel-Aged Beers numerous times. Now with a nod to the popularity of ‘Mother’ and a vision for creating new recipes that combine beer, spirit and barrel flavors, Pelican launches a quarterly barrel-aged series.
The first up in Pelican’s new collection is Captain of the Coast, a Scottish-style Wee Heavy ale aged in Washington Wheat Whiskey barrels and available now in 22 oz. bottles. Next, the 2016 vintage of Mother of All Storms is scheduled for release in November, and new Pelican specialties coming in 2017 include Father of All Tsunamis, an imperial version of Tsunami Stout aged in whiskey barrels and Queen of Hearts, a saison aged in gin barrels.
“Mother of All Storms has become highly sought-after and sells out almost immediately after it is released each year. With folks owning multiple vintages and laying them down to age to perfection we think the season is right to introduce an ongoing collection of barrel-aged creations,” says Jim Prinzing, CEO, Pelican Brewing Company. “We have experimented with other barrel-aged draft-only beers through the years and are excited to introduce them to market in the 22 oz. format for the first time.”
Welcome aboard!
Captain of the Coast represents a commanding version of MacPelican’s Wee Heavy. Pelican brewers took the award-winning Wee Heavy and laid it down in Washington Wheat Whiskey barrels from Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane. What emerged was recognizably Wee Heavy, but with added notes of chocolate-covered cherries, toasted oak, spice and vanilla in the aroma. The first sip produces flavors reminiscent of malted milk balls and crème brûlée with a silky smooth mouth-feel. Continue on your bottle voyage and you’ll find dried apricots, sherry-like flavors, and dark marmalade.
Captain is brewed with a delicious combination of Golden Promise malt, light and dark crystal malts, flaked barley, Willamette hops, Magnum hops, pure local water and pure ale yeast.
ABV: 9.5% IBU: 25 PLATO: 22°
“What’s exciting about expanding our barrel series is the opportunity to further explore the possibilities of marrying richly flavorful beer with the unique character from barrels—different barrels give remarkably different character so matching them with the right base beer is key to creating the correct balance and expression,” says Darron Welch, founding brewmaster Pelican Brewing Company. “Our goal with each release in this series is to have that tantalizing combination of flavor that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Pelican celebrates Mothers’ Day in November
Pelican also releases its 2016 vintage of Mother of All Storms next month with a Mothers’ Day Brewers’ Dinner celebration at the Pacific City brewpub on Saturday, November 19, 2016. Mother of All Storms Dinner guests will be the first to taste the coveted bourbon barrel-aged barleywine and eligible to purchase up to a case of this limited production elixir. For reservations, call 503.965.3674.
As Pelican beer drinkers know there are many storms out there—all of them perfect in their own way—but there is only one Mother of All Storms and it only happens on the Oregon Coast. Based on Pelican Stormwatcher’s Winterfest English-style barleywine, Mother of All Storms spends a year aging in Kentucky bourbon barrels. At its peak for beer drinkers in November, Mother of All Storms delivers deep flavors of toasted malt, bourbon and oak. The finish rewards with whispers of vanilla, toffee and caramel— best enjoyed with winds in excess of 60mph.
Born at the Beach
Pelican was born at the beach 20 years ago as a small, stand alone brewpub in a small town on the Oregon coast—Pacific City. Pacific City is still a small town, but with consistent growth and demand for its products, Pelican sales are up more than 500% from 3,500 barrels in 2013 to 18,000 barrels this year. The company recently doubled its brewing and bottling capacity at its Tillamook facility and opened a new brewpub in Cannon Beach. Pelican also recently won a bronze medal at the World Brew Cup℠ and eight medals including Champion Medium International Brewery at the Australian International Beer Awards.
About Pelican Brewing Company
Pelican Brewing Company was founded in 1996 by Jeff Schons and Mary Jones in Pacific City with Oregon’s only oceanfront brewpub. Celebrating its 20th year, the brewing company has created masterpieces like Kiwanda Cream Ale, India Pelican Ale, MacPelican’s Scottish Ale, Tsunami Stout and Doryman’s Dark. With the vision, creativity and brewing expertise of founding brewmaster Darron Welch, Pelican Brewing has won over 300 awards including the 2014 World Beer Cup© Champion Small Brewing Company and Brewmaster of the Year. Pelican Brewing currently distributes 22oz bottles, 12oz bottles in 6-packs, a new mixed 12-pack, and 50 liter and 20 liter kegs via a network of distributors in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii and Vermont. The company operates brewing and brewpub facilities in Pacific City, Tillamook and Cannon Beach.
For more information, visit Pelican Brewing Company.
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