Bird-Day Volume 1
Pelican Brewing Company

 

500ml bottle from Brewers Haven. Near black pour, patchy beige head. Chocolaty aroma, some fruity notes, like chocolate covered cherries. Not cherries though, passionfruit, tropical to and floral flavors with the cocoa sinking into the background. Light roasty elements throughout tapering off to a small dry, bitterness at the finish. Happy Anniversary, Pelican!

 

draught
Tan, mildly rocky, lasting head. Black, with an occasional glimmer of auburn, in strong light. Slightly spiced roasted malt/grain on the nose. Very smooth and heavy roasted malt flavor, trailing off to a fading toasted malt/grain finish. Medium heavy body.

16.9oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Very dark pour leads to an opaque black liquid in the glass with a small ring of mocha head.

S: Very roasty and 'dark' smelling with a present richness; the cacao nibs are apparent to me with a dusting of cocoa-like chocolate character without much sweetness. Just a hint of fruitiness emerges as it warms; don't think I could have identified it as passion fruit though.

T: Follows the nose with a rich malty character that's pretty roasted; cocoa, mild coffee and espresso and even char at times; there is some dark fruitiness as well as a kiss or 'twang' of tropical juiciness.

MF: Creamy and fairly rich at this abv. Finishes with a pretty textbook dryness for a porter as well.

O: Pretty enjoyable porter that doesn't go off the deep end with the passion fruit or get sour in any way. The roasty character is nice and the cacao nibs are quite enjoyable.

 

Bottle from Whole Foods.

A very dark brown with a dense, brown head with excellent retention and lacing, this looks excellent. The nose is a weirdly fruity porter, as described, with the tropical passionfruit notes prominent against the backdrop of cocoa, roast, bitter coffee and a little dark fruit. The palate opens bitter and grainy with burnt coffee, grain, roast, earth along with a weird fruity flavor. Not particularly discernible as passionfruit, but tropical-ish and estery. Full in body, lovely creamy carbonation, long, bitter finish with grain and coffee, along with some fruit. This one is rather weird IMO.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a one finger dark khaki head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt with light biscuit, cocoa, unidentifiable fruit. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, cocoa and passion fruit or kiwi. Lightly charred toasted malt and slightly tart kiwi fruit in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess, nice mouth feel. The aroma was somewhat reminiscent of a Baltic porter because of the fruit notes, although the nature of the fruit isn't clear. Flavor delivers exactly what the description promises: a solid, flavorful porter with mildly tart fruit notes that lingering into a toasty and slightly tart finish. Tartness is not something I look for in a porter or stout, but it is mellow enough that the passion fruit added interest while maintaining a solid porter finish. Passion fruit is a chameleon of a fruit and in this porter had some classic passion fruit as well as melon and kiwi notes. This one grew on me as I drank it. It's brave to push the envelope for an anniversary beer, but this one turned out worthy and interesting.

16.9oz bottle (no date) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a solid black color with an inch and a third of light brown head that had very good retention and very light lacing.

The aroma featured nice, rich malts, soft fruit, and light chocolate.

Similar on the tongue, with the fruit and chocolate being more noticeable.

The body was fairly typical for the style, smooth, and had a medium finish.

Drinkability was good, I split a bottle with friends yesterday, and had no trouble quaffing this bottle solo.

Overall, a pretty nice brew, certainly worth your time if you see it.