One of Pelican’s most-decorated brews Kiwanda Cream Ale secures another beer industry nod last night at Oregon’s Academy Award of beers 

Pacific City, Oregon (March 1, 2017)—Pelican Brewing Company last night earned another Gold medal for its popular flagship brew Kiwanda Cream Ale at Oregon’s Academy Awards Ceremony for beer, the Oregon Beer Awards.  Kiwanda Cream Ale, one of Pelican’s top-selling and most-decorated brews with 45 medals, won a Gold in the German Kölsch category—a clear, top-fermented beer with a bright, straw-yellow hue. 

The Oregon Beer Awards select and celebrate Oregon’s top beers in 22 categories, and honor Oregon’s exceptional breweries, bars and festivals in seven additional categories. It is the only statewide double blind beer tasting competition in Oregon. Last year, OBA recognized 42 medalists in 14 categories out of 525 individual entries by 78 breweries in 25 cities. In 2016-17, 974 beers were entered by 112 breweries in 34 cities.

Inspired by one of America’s traditional indigenous 19th century beer styles, Kiwanda Cream Ale is a nod to Pelican’s founding brewmaster Darron Welch’s love of history and reputation for brewing beers as they are intended to be. Pelican is the first known craft brewer to revive the pre-Prohibition style of American Cream Ale.

Made of all local, hand-sourced ingredients, the Kölsch Gold medal winner Kiwanda Cream Ale is pale gold with a fruity, floral hop aroma, golden color, refreshing body and clean, snappy finish. Two-row malt, flaked barley, Mt. Hood hops, CaraPils malt, pure local water and pure ale yeast combine to make Kiwanda Pelican’s flagship and fastest selling brew:

·         ABV: 5.4%

·         IBU: 25

·         Plato: 12°

“It is an honor to have accepted this award on behalf of Pelican—we’ve been brewing Kiwanda Cream since the brewery was founded 21 years ago and the fact that it still tops the charts is a thrill,” says Maia Chong, Pelican Brewing sales representative. 

If you love Pelican’s flagship beer, you’re not alone—Kiwanda Cream Ale is now available in 12-packs in the grocery craft beer aisle as well as 6-packs, 22 oz. bottles and on-draft.

“The beauty of Kiwanda is it is so delicious you can just enjoy and not have to think about, or you can sit back and sip it slowly and savor the complex malt flavors and hop aromas,” says Jim Prinzing, CEO, Pelican Brewing Company. “Kiwanda is a rare beer that both craft beer aficionados and casual drinkers can enjoy equally and in many ways it is a lot like the Pelican Brewing—approachable and not pretentious, but with care given to every detail.”   

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, PR, 503-799-2220