By Iron Chef Leftovers
The Pelican Pub and Brewery is located in beautiful Pacific City, OR, and has been around for 15 years, although there beers are just starting to show up in the Seattle market. We sampled the Kiwanda Cream Ale from a 22 oz. bottle. Kiwanda clocks in at 5.4% ABV and 25 IBU. From the Pelican website:
Inspired by one of America’s traditional 19th century beer styles, Kiwanda Cream Ale is pale gold with a fruity, floral hop aroma. A sweet malty flavor and a smooth snappy finish round out this tasty, refreshing brew!
Kiwanda shows as very pale in color with very little head. There was almost nothing on the nose – a minimal amount of grain, but that was about it, which was very disappointing. The first few sips were drier than I was expecting from a Cream Ale; almost to the point of being tannic. There were hints of cream and barley but it was subtle and you almost had to go searching for it. I kept hoping that the flavor would develop as consumption progressed, but it never really developed beyond subtle hints. We even tried some food to coax flavor out of this beer, to no avail. I kept hoping for a Boddington’s but got something closer to a Bud.
Kiwanda was a real disappointment as I tend to like Pelican’s beers. This beer had absolutely nothing going on and really wasn’t something I have any inclination to go back and try again. Pelican Brewery’s Kiwanda Cream Ale flies out of here with just 1 Pelecanus erythrorhynchos out of 5.
FlatbreadGarden 