Pelican Brewing Company Scores Gold Medal for Queen of Hearts at World Beer Cup℠

From Pelican:

Pacific City, OR  (May 4, 2018)—Hear ye, hear ye: Pelican Brewing Company’s innovative Queen of Hearts is exalted with a Gold Medal at the 2018 World Beer Cup℠—long considered the international ‘Olympics of Beer.’ Her eminence takes the top honor in the wood- and barrel-aged beer category this week at the global beer competition that evaluates beers from around the world and recognizes the most outstanding brewers and their beers. Queen was also bestowed with a Silver Medal earlier this year at the 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards.

The Brewers Association (BA)—the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American craft brewers—announced the results of the 2018 World Beer Cup awards. The largest competition to date, the awards were presented at the conclusion of the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® at Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn.

“Beer brings people together,” said Charlie Papazian, founder and past president, Brewers Association. “The World Beer Cup showcases the breadth of the global brewing community and winning an award symbolizes one of the greatest brewing achievements. Congratulations to all the winners on this remarkable accomplishment.”

What makes Queen so majestic?

The original Saison du Pélican is exceptional on its own but when aged in local gin barrels from master Oregon distillers at Ransom Wine and Spirits, it takes on a whole other dimension of flavor. The fruity and spicy aroma of the farmhouse Belgian yeast, herbaceous Goldings hops, and the well-rounded malt character of Saison du Pélican pairs exquisitely with the huge botanical infusions imparted by Ransom Distillery’s Old Tom gin barrels. It has been said that Ransom distillers only bottle the ‘heart of the hearts’—the best portion of distillate, which is why Pelican dubbed its Saison ‘The Queen of Hearts:’

ABV: 6.5%  |  IBU: 30  |  PLATO: 13º

According to Pelican’s highly-decorated founding brewmaster Darron Welch, Queen is not so much a revival of an old beer style as a completely different type of barrel-aged beer—made possible by the imagination, creativity and skill of the Pelican brewing team.  The Ransom Old Tom gin barrels are full of outstanding complex flavors, and the aromas and characters of Pelican Saison create a synthesis of flavor that is truly regal.

“It is a huge honor to win gold at the World Beer Cup—the sheer number of entries is staggering and the quality of the competition is extremely high,” says Welch. “Everyone here at Pelican is thrilled with this fantastic result!”

Beers were judged during six sessions over a period of three days by an elite panel of 295 judges from 33 countries—72 percent of whom were from outside the United States. Judges evaluated 8,234 beers—a 25 percent increase in the number of entries from the 2016 World Beer Cup. Of the 2,515 participating breweries, 807 were from outside the United States.

Like all Pelican beers, Queen of Hearts is born at the beach by a team of award-winning craft beer makers known for brewing styles of beer that they themselves love to drink. She is expected to make her annual come-back later this Spring. Cheers!

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 22^nd 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 a Silver Medal at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival, 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, Utah, and Hawaii. The company operates brewing and brewpub facilities in Pacific City, Tillamook and Cannon Beach.