Graham Slam
Pelican Brewing Company

Poured from a 16.9 ounce bottle dated 10-21-21 into a tulip glass.

Look- Amber brown, moderately hazy, visible particulate, medium brown creamy head, below average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Sweet malt, apple cider, toffee, honey, vanilla, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Sweet malt, honey, toffee, vanilla, highly sour, mildly sweet, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, highly sour, mildly sweet, moderately creamy, moderately mouth watering finish, no mouth warming.

Overall- This beer had an okay appearance, but head retention and lacing were below average. The bouquet was sweet malt, apple cider, toffee, honey, and vanilla. Flavor was sweet malt with highly sour and mildly sweet character around honey, toffee and vanilla notes. Feel was medium bodied with a high amount of sourness and no mouth warming properties. Overall this beer did not have the toasted malt flavor or graham cracker flavor promised on the bottle and it was much more sour than expected. This beer was not a match for my palate.

Very lovely deep ruby red color with adequate foam in the goblet. Plentiful spritz and a malty body. Just slightly sweet. I don't detect much aroma, but there is a whiff of cookies. Alas, the first taste is alarming, and it goes downhill from there. I didn't taste vanilla, exactly, but there is some peculiar flavor like burnt molasses. And then the bitterness. You can almost taste what would have been graham crackers, at least in the aftertaste, but the overall flavor is so powerful and so revolting that it's undrinkable. From the 500 ml bottle.

I love winter warmers, so when I discovered this at my local beer shop, the description promised a beer that was warm toasty and malty, with hints of toffee and vanilla. It poured like a classic winter warmer. However, the "hint of vanilla" turned out to be somewhat like sipping vanilla extract and was completely overpowering. Sadly, I made it through two or three sips before dumping it (something I have not done in years). Thankfully, this wasn't an expensive beer, but I think Pelican needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.