Pelican Stormwatchers Winterfest (2005+)

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

Serve in Snifter

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(PPSG09, bottle) Medium tan head, cloudy mahogany body. Aroma is moderately sweet, raisin/plum, caramel, some grapefruit, light cherry, alcohol. Taste is sweet, raisin, chococaramel, grapefruit. Sticky full body, minimal carbonation.

2011-01-29. Dark brown body with a modest creamy tan head. 4+ Richly malty flavour, sweet malt, sort of hazelnut like accents, touches of vanilla. Modest alcohol throughout. 7+ Aroma is alcoholic at first over a malty core, sort of wood like touches, sweet caramel accents. 7+ Smooth average plus to medium bodied palate. Enjoyable. Bottle from Bailey’s Taproom, Portland

Bottle shared by shigadeyo. Poured reddish brown color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy dark fruit, toasted malt and alcohol aroma. Medium to full body with a thick smooth texture and flat carbonation. Moderate to heavy complex sweet flavor with a medium to heavy sweet and alcohol burn finish that was of moderate to long duration. This is a complex beer that needs age to balance.

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).

Bottle at Kingcecils Birthday Tasting. Thanks Hopscotch! 2011 edition. Pours hazy deep amber with a medium beige head. The aroma is heavy malty with notes of biscuits, ripe fruit, swet caramel and chocolate. Smooth. The flavour is loads of sweet malt, sweet barley, sweet caramel and just a wiff of hops. A malt bomb!

@Pilsner Petes East Coast Gathering-22oz bottle–pours a tan head that laces and amber/brown color. Aroma is brown sugar-medium malt, dark fruit-raisin/plum. Taste is brown sugar-medium malt, dark fruit-raisin/plum, some hops/alcohol bite. Nice, big. Thanks rciesla for sharing.
Earlier Rating: 6/6/2008 Total Score: 3.2
bottle@Pauls Hoboken#1-thanks goldtwins–pours a tan head and mahogany/red color. Aroma is dark fruit-plum/cherry, dark malt-molasses, secondary spice/sharpness, alcohol. Taste is alcohol, big. Dark fruit-plum/cherry, dark malt-molasses, secondary spice/sharpness. Occasional, sipping.

Reddish brown colour with a little head. Aroma of malt, caramel and rye, sweetness and alcohol. Flavour of sweet malt, alcohol and caramel. Ends up bitter and with a nice warming finish from the alcohol.

Bottle at SBWF 2010. It poured a dark hazy brown liquid with a minimal head. Complex and intense flavour of caramel, dried fruit and brandy. Also fairly sweet. Nice Barley Wine.

Bottle shared with marcus. Has a really dark color. Has a slight coffee aftertaste. Aroma is slight alchole.

Tasting at Papsø
Hazy red-mahogany color; nice creamy head, persistent. Caramel and malt aroma. Sweet caramel flavor, nutty, with darker caramel; too much alcoholic, burning; the final is quite boozy; strong bitterness. More unbalanced than the 2007 version tasted in parallel. This Barley Wine kisses boredom.
Earlier Rating: 4/23/2010 Total Score: 3.7
Tasting at Papsø
Dark mahogany color with red shades; small sized creamy head. The aroma shows some signs of oxidisation; some malt and caramel. Sweet sticky body, strong caramel flavor; strong bitterness but also a bit too much alcohol and burning feeling; the final is quite boozy. It’s a nutty Barleywine, saved by being sweet, but without much complexity, and going downhill.