Pelican Stormwatchers Winterfest (2005+)

Brewed by Pelican Pub & Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Pacific City, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle at Pelican. Pours dark brown, thin ring of khaki head. Some slightly toasty bitterness in taste. Aroma of fig, dark fruit, some caramel, some toffee. Floral hop bitter finish, big malty middle. Full body, slick, light carb. Not special for the style, though. Still inherently tasty.

Bottle pours dark brownish-red with one finger frothy brown head. Malty aroma with a little musty old ale scent. taste caramel, toffee, dark and stone fruits. Thick palate with alcohol burn. Finish of sweet caramel and alcohol burn. Massive in-your-face beer I liked quite a bit. Alcohol very apparent.

Shared by JCB, ’08. Clean sharp ruby brown pour with one finger of sandy yellow head. Burnt sugar in the nose with notes of caramel, earthy malt, dried dark fruit, and a bready component. Bitter/biting in the mouth with an astringent finish. Notes of treacle and an herbal/earthy hop note. Full body and warming. Past its prime.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a head of frothy fine to medium sized bright brown colored bubbles that were very quickly diminishing and left behind a no visible carbonation opaque dark black colored body and no lacing. The almost non-existent aroma was black malt. The mouth feel was very tingly at the start and at the finish with a burning vinous aftertaste. The intense flavor contained notes of vinous burnt malt and bourbon.

pours a dark brick red with a thin tan head that goes away quickly, and very little lacing. smell is of toasted malt, toffee, and a touch of floral. taste is smooth, malt, a roatiness, and some hops. ends creamy and strong.

In short: A monster fruity-caramelized dark ale with a whole lot of resinous hops.
How: Bottle 22oz, 2010 vintage, consumed when around 2 years of age.
The look: Near black burgundy body topped by a tan ring of foam.
In long: Nose is relatively laid-back for such a monster beer, proposing roast, tree sap, fruity notes, some alcohol fumes. Taste has a nice sweet mashed red berries dipped in luscious overcooked caramel, a surprising assertive resinous wooden hopping with strong peppery notes. Alcohol is a factor but provides and overall warm sensation without the bite. The generous hopping does marvel hiding the sweetness, I was amazed at how this monster beer really didn’t feel very sweet at all. Surprisingly drinkable for a 12% beer, I enjoyed it quite a bit even if not exactly my style of beer, drinking the full bomber was not a difficult task at all. This was a very sweet beer, but I’m not worried about my calories intake, I just burnt 4,000 calories just a few hours ago as I often do (I overbaked my burritos again).

Bomber of 2012 Vintage. Appearance is a dark amber and mahogany color capped with light brown foam. Aroma is a mix of molasses, black cherry, raisins and tobacco. The flavor starts with a hefty dose of brown sugar, toffee and cherry liqueur followed by some date, plum and grape juice notes. Also some chocolate, fig and currant in the background. Mouthfeel is thick and syrupy with soft carbonation and more malt and booze in the finish. Overall, a sweet and potent English style Barley Wine with a unique blend of dark fruit and malt flavors.

Bomber from the brewery, years back. 2008 vintage. Super clean ruby pour, some carbonation and a silky head after a good, vigorous pour. Big potent nose of burnt sugar, toffee, deep boozy malts. There’s not a massive amount of burn, though, for such a huge beer, and that’s all to the good. Loads of sweet caramel, biscuit malts, almost all trace of hops gone. Massive sticky dark fruit, grain, and booze. If it’s this aggressive now, what must it have been like with a mere 2-3 years? Okay but just not my thing these days.

Deep mahogany pour under a tan head. Garnet highlights. Sweet aroma, raisin and brown sugar. Sweet complex flavor profile.

On tap at Brouwer’s Hard Liver 2013. Pours a dark cola brown, with a tan head. Pretty. Dark malts and booze on the nose. Flavor is big and boozy -- definitely an amped-up winter warmer -- but there’s just not much complexity to it. Meh.