Flock Party is the newest year-round IPA from Pelican Brewing, billed as a “modern IPA” by the brewery, designed as an approachable and sessionable IPA to share with friends (your “flock” as it were). This new beer is brewed with Bravo, Centennial, and Strata hops with a simple malt bill to highlight the hops.
With 6.8% ABV and 55 IBUs, it’s a bit strong for “sessionable” by my reckoning, but that’s a minor quibble considering Pelican’s flagship is Beak Breaker, a 9% double IPA. The company sent me samples to review, and from what I’ve tasted so far I think it’s a nice addition to the lineup.
Here is the brewery’s description:
Get ready to gather the flock—Flock Party IPA has landed! This modern IPA is brewed for good times and great company, delivering a bold yet balanced blend of classic and contemporary hop flavors. Bright citrus and pine notes take flight alongside dank, berry-like aromatics, creating a fresh and dynamic profile. A toasty malt backbone supports a crisp, clean, and snappy finish. Flock Party IPA brings everyone together with great flavors and good times.
It’s available in a 15-can pack as well as on draft. Here are my review notes:
Appearance: Pale golden color, a bit of a straw yellow tint, with a slight residual haze. Decent white head.
Smell: I’m getting some melon, berry, a bit of citrus peel, along with a freshly-kilned hop/lupulin powder punch that gives it a mildly dank, savory note. There’s a bit of alfalfa hay and dried grass, a touch of pine or maybe even cedar, and a light onion skin.
Taste: This has a nice and big hop punch right up front, with that fresh and powdery lupulin character I get in the aroma, with a solid bitterness that lingers on the tongue with a bit of pine bark. There’s some green gooseberry character with bitter melon, which amplifies the bitterness, and I get a juicy note at the back, a fruit note I can’t quite identify—pear? pineapple?—but it’s mellow and offsets some of that hoppiness.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a solid line of bitterness that coats the mouth and tongue and lingers long into the aftertaste. Smooth with that almost-oily hop character and clean finish despite that lingering bitterness.
Overall: This is a solid, bitter entry into Pelican’s IPA range, it’s a nice drinker especially if a properly bitter IPA is what you’re craving—not bitter for bitter’s sake, but well-handled with a clean and satisfying finish.
