Pelican Brewing Company awarded 10 medals and Champion Medium International Brewery

Pacific City, Oregon (May 18, 2017)—Pelican Brewing Company last night snapped up 10 international awards including its third time as Champion Medium International Brewery at the 2017 Australian International Beer Awards, the largest annual competition of its kind in the world judging both draught and packaged beer. Pelican pulled in honors for:

CHAMPION              Medium International Brewery

Gold                            Kiwanda Cream Ale

Gold                            Mother of All Storms English-style Barleywine

Silver                          Beak Breaker Double IPA

Silver                          MacPelican’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale

Silver                          Stormwatcher’s Winterfest English Barleywine

Silver                          Father of All Tsunamis Imperial Stout Ale

Bronze                        Dirty Bird Northwest IPA

Bronze                        Umbrella New World IPA

Bronze                        Tsunami Export Stout

Bronze                        Captain of The Coast Wee Heavy Ale

The brewery has consistently been recognized by the Australian International Beer Awards and was named Grand Champion Beer there two years running in 2004 and 2005. This is the third year in a row Pelican was named Champion Medium International Brewery.

The Australian International Beer Awards are presented annually by the Royal Agricultural Society (RASV) in partnership with Federation University Australia.  The Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) is the largest competition of its kind in the Asia Pacific region and is renowned for celebrating beer and brewing excellence in Australia and around the world.  The AIBA provides brewers with an opportunity to benchmark their beers against international industry standards and aims to create greater consumer awareness of the quality and diversity of beer styles available in Australia and internationally.

“Thanks to our fellow brewers and industry colleagues, especially those who serve on the judge’s panel.  As a fellow brewer and judge, I know firsthand what goes into this service.  As members of the brewing community, I am proud of the camaraderie and collaboration that marks our industry.  I hope we never outgrow it,” said Darron Welch, founding brewmaster at Pelican Brewing Company. “The real credit for our success has to go to the team at Pelican—we remain a small, local brewery that is family owned.  From the servers, bartenders and sales staff who represent our brewery every day, to the chefs and cooks who create beer cuisine and elevate both the beer and the food, to the men and women wearing the rubber boots every day.  The dedication, passion for quality and attention to detail that they demonstrate every day is what we build our brewery and our brand upon.”

Born at the Beach Pelican was born at the beach 21 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 has recently expanded to double brewing and bottling capacity at its Tillamook facility and opened a new brewpub in Cannon Beach.

According to Welch, Pelican has always been focused on creating as wide a range of beers as possible:

• designed and brewed with innovation and craftsmanship
• showing our customers and fans the many possibilities of flavor in the world of beer
• dedicated attention to detail in the pursuit of quality and consistency

“Many years ago—it doesn’t seem so long ago actually—Pelican was fortunate now for the third time in a row 12 years later by the judges here in Australia,” says Welch.

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 450 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.

Pelican History at AIBA In addition to several class trophies and dozens of individual medals awarded Pelican since 2003, the brewery has also won AIBA honors for:

2004: Grand Champion Beer

2005: Grand Champion Beer and Champion International Brewery

2012: Champion Small International Brewery

2015: Champion Medium International Brewery

2016: Champion Medium International Brewery

2017: Champion Medium International Brewery

For more information, visit Pelican Brewing Company.

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