Pelican Brewing Company wins Gold and Silver medals in the newest craft beer awards event 

Pacific City, Oregon (February 2, 2017)—Pelican Brewing Companysnagged three medals at craft beer’s newest awards event, Best of Craft Beer Awards held in Bend, Oregon last weekend. The awards event is the newest homage to the best in craft brewing with 35 states and 145 breweries taking home medals for exceptional craft beer. Pelican scored honors for:

GOLD             American-Style Pilsner                  Five Fin West Coast Pilsner

SILVER          British-style Barleywine Ale         Stormwatcher’s Winterfest

SILVER          Golden/Blonde Ale                         Kiwanda Cream Ale

A Gold win for Five Fin brings an added bonus for Pelican: a portion of proceeds from every barrel of Pelican’s new west coast pilsner sold will be donated to the Salmon Superhighway—an unprecedented effort to restore access to almost 180 miles of blocked habitat throughout six major salmon and steelhead rivers of Oregon’s North Coast.

Inspired by the crystal clear waters of the six Tillamook County rivers and named for the five ocean-going species of fish benefitting from the salmon recovery effort, Five Fin is a uniquely ‘west coast’ take on the classic Pilsner beer style. Bright and zippy with a bold hoppy flavor and aroma, Five Fin is crafted with a unique blend of Centennial and Sterling hops from the Pacific Northwest and Mandarina Bavaria hops from Germany.The pilsner marries the hop-driven flavors of tangerine, pineapple, and lemon zest with classic spicy, floral notes, all balanced against a toasty malt character:  ABV: 5.3% | IBU: 45 | PLATO: 12º.

“Winning three medals at the Best of Craft Beer Awards is a great start to the year for Pelican—especially with one of our newest beers, Five Fin Pilsner, earning a Gold medal.  We believe in the beer and have worked very hard to perfect it, so earning this recognition from our peers is tremendously satisfying.  On top of that, to have Stormwatcher’s and our flagship Kiwanda Cream Ale win silver medals is equally gratifying.”

In its fourth year, Best of Craft Beer Awards saw a 50% increase in growth this year with 84 award categories, 1,755 entries from across the country and beyond, and 245 medals awarded to 145 breweries. A professional cadre of beer industry experts including Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Certified Judges and industry-respected professionals participated in the judging.

“This awards event is an opportunity for brewers to make sure their beers are to style according to the Brewers’ Association guidelines and to get honest, objective feedback and notes from fellow brewers with expert sensory analysis training,” says event organizer Miles Wilhelm, Oregon Gravity Events. “We have been working with the Brewers’ Association to ensure the same judging categories and guidelines as other national competitions. Our incredible growth this year is testament to the valuable evaluations brewers are getting for their entries.”

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 20^th 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.

Contact: Claudia Johnson, Public Relations, 503-799-2220.