Berried At Sea Volume 1 (Tsunami Stout with Currants and Blackberries)
Pelican Brewing Company

I am going to sound like a total looney, which many already think of me as being anyway, so fair dinkum. My meanderings have steered me away from what I was planning to drink next & back into the realm of the Bottle (!) Backlog! I got sidetracked with those Odd Side CANs, especially the Mango Peach Dank Juice.

From the Bottle (!): "Born at the beach"; "Lone Pelican Small Batch Series"; "Pelican Brewing since 1996 Oregon Coast, USA"; "Volume 1 Tsunami Stout with Currants and Blackberries"; "45 IBU"; "The Pacific Northwest is home to the finest berry growers in the world. When Pelican Brewing set out to create a new take on fruit beers, there was only one compass heading: massive quantities of flavorful fruit with perfectly matched beer. Volume I of Berried at Sea creates new complexities of flavor while charting a course to the darker side of fruit beer; it begins with our legendary Tsunami Stout and evolves with the addition of Northwest-grown currants and blackberries. With an aroma reminiscent of dark chocolate and ripe berries, the first sip sails across the palate to finish with tart fruit and a pleasing cocoa-like dryness. Enjoy before it’s lost at sea."; "Deep Purple Head * Tart Blackberry and Currant * Dark Chocolate-Like Finish"; "Lone Pelican Series - Like the lone pelican flying independently from the flock, this small batch series flies in the face of convention. Our Lone Pelican Series takes traditional beer styles and ingredients and reimagines them to demonstrate the vast spectrum of flavor experiences in this wonderful beverage."; "Cheers Fellow Fanatics!"

My visit to the PeliCAN Brewery in 2007 was probably one of the best EVAR! They have a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean with Haystack Rock on the horizon with an abundance of surfers & sunset is NOT to be missed. HIGHLY recommended!

I started by Pop!ping the cap on this bomber, followed by an extremely slow, gentle C-Line pour, given all of the visible lees on the punt/kick. It still evinced a pseudo-cascade before settling into two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, vermillion-brown (!) head with excellent retention. Color was coal Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose had a rich berry & dark chocolate smell, like a high-end truffle! 8=O I am not big on sweets, but when one of those is offered, I will partake! It was not raspberry, instead, it was more towards tart & while I knew what the fruit adjuncts were from the label, I could not identify them on the nose. Mouthfeel was medium, but a bit light for the style. The taste removed any question of the addition of at least blackberries! Definitely blackberries & bittersweet chocolate + something else with a fruity, bitter tartness that was above & beyond blackberries. I could not tell you the last time that I had currants, so I am not going to make things up. However, it did make for an odd interpretation of the style.

Style Guide Dept: " Higher in alcohol with a very pronounced roasted character. Expect moderate to high roasted grain and malt flavor with a coffee, chocolate, or lightly burnt grain character, although without a sharp bite. Moderately dry with low to medium esters and medium to high bitterness. Moderate to no hop flavor, can be earthy, herbal, or floral."

Definitely roasty, check to chocolate, slightly sharp bite in terms of the fruit's bitter tartness & I suppose that the fruit could be considered "earthy/herbal". Hmm. It was a tricky one to quantify. Would it have fared any better as a Fruit & Field Beer? Perhaps, but given that it is retired, it is kind of a moot point. Finish was dry, IAW the style. I think that my bomber was satiating. It may stay retired, IMHO. YMMV.

 

 

This sounds so ambitious, but it doesn't make for a jolly quaff. Light body for a big stout and it feels like the malt has been drained out of it. Is there coffee in this? Dark stuff with a cocoa-colored foam. A little berry in the nose.

Currant flavor is distinct, complete with that tart finish. I don't taste the blackberries as much. But there lots of dry fruity flavor with just a touch of caramel. Overall it's quite interesting but I actually wish it had more malty sweetness. Still, it's refreshing more than the usual heavier Stout. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Elizabeth Station.

 

 

 

Though it appears at first glance to be as pitch black as a starless night lost in Davey Jones' Locker, there is an eerie colorful aspect to Berried At Sea lying in the depths. Above as well, actually. The foamy and rocky pillow on top flaunts an interesting pink/red/purple hue within the initially percieved dark brown cap, and its intricate webbing of lace shows it off just a bit more. And as the glass is swirled, those colors shine like waves of blackberry juice.

And as subtle as with the colors, the berries and currants exist beneath the base stout qualities once again. Roasted grain, charred bread, and an earthy damp soil splash around with a slightly metallic aroma before getting those raw, sweet, and tart berries to pop from below.

Then the opposite. Fresh, ripe berries, with an burst of sweet, then a lingering tartness bring in the first wave. Dark chocolate and heavily toasted bread follow. There is a percieved oakiness to it as well, though no indication on the bottle of such treatment. Kind of a red wine tannin if that helps.

Speaking of wine, this has a similar feel as a typical red table wine. Slightly thin for an export stout I would say, but it works well with the fruit additions. As mentioned before, this is sweet and tart, but hugs the line of bitter on balance due to the roasted character, and its 8.0% abv goes unnoticed in the long, very dry finish.

This might not be for everyone. I'd barely suggest it's for me, but it works. I enjoy it, though I don't think I would again. It seems more like two separate beers than one harmoniously blended, and to be perfectly frank, I'm just fine with the original Tsunami Stout. Cheers.

Served in shaker pint glass. Poured a solid black color with 1/4 inch of tan head, that had a bit of a reddish tint to it, and had moderate retention and light lacing.

The aroma had a basic "stout" scent, some roast notes, a bit of malt sweetness, nothing that said "berry", and was fairly neutral.

The flavor profile is where this beer really went south. There was a tart, sour flavor, and a funkiness that likely wasn't intentional. And if it was, it was a poor choice.

The body was on the thin side of average for the style, but not egregiously so.

Drinkability was terrible. It was work to choke down the pint. If I had been home, this would have gone down the drain. Overall, not a good brew. I cannot suggest trying this one.