Pelican Brewing Company Freshens Award-Winning Beer Cuisine with New R & D Chef

Pelican Brewing Company freshens its pioneering beer cuisine with the culinary creativity and pairing prowess of a new research and development chef, Anne Haerle. Haerle will lead the design of the Pelican menu for a new twist on how the award-winning beer is both incorporated into the foods and paired with meals.

With an extensive resume in the food industry including leadership roles at Pallino Pastaria, Herbfarm and Whole Foods, Haerle brings to Pelican a deep passion for bringing the same focus on flavor, aroma, texture and experience that the brewery brings to every beer it crafts. In addition to multiple Master's degrees, Haerle also holds a Culinary Arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America.

"I'm so impressed with the talent, level of care and expertise that Pelican masterbrewer Darron Welch brings to his award-winning beers-I am eager to bring that same level of care to the food," says Haerle. "We're thinking about what our guests want to eat when they're at a Pelican brewpub drinking a beer-we'll focus on an experience- and ingredient-driven menu design. And the freshness and quality of the food-just like Pelican beers-will speak for themselves."

Pelican enjoys a solid history of sold-out brewers' dinners and a reputation for some of the most creative beer cuisine available. The brewery looks to Haerle to amplify that reputation and bring out the best from its kitchens and how its beers work with the food.

"Anne brings a cerebral approach to food-a commitment to fresh, quality ingredients and to letting those ingredients shine without over-complicating the food. At Pelican we're not complicated. We're not fancy. We've got a grounded approach to ingredients, presentation and cuisine in general," says Ken Henson, co-owner and director of restaurant operations at Pelican Brewing Company. "Anne excels at taking fresh, natural products, respecting their innate character and flavors and letting them shine on their own. It's exactly like the beer we brew. Anne's culinary creativity, expertise in wine and beer pairings and marketing background bring a whole new potential to Pelican."

Pelican guests can expect many of the same menu items in addition to new seasonal offerings with which they can pair their favorite Pelican beers. Haerle starts with Pelican on December 1.

Born at the Beach
Pelican was born at the beach 20 years ago as a small, stand alone brewpub in a small town on the Oregon coast-Pacific City. Pacific City is still a small town, but with consistent growth and demand for its products, Pelican sales are up more than 500% from 3,500 barrels in 2013 to 18,000 barrels this year. The company recently doubled its brewing and bottling capacity at its Tillamook facility and opened a new brewpub in Cannon Beach. Pelican also recently won a bronze medal at the World Brew Cup? and eight medals including Champion Medium International Brewery at the Australian International Beer Awards.

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 20th 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 300 awards including the 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, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii and Vermont. The company operates brewing and brewpub facilities in Pacific City, Tillamook and Cannon Beach.

For more information, visit http://www.PelicanBrewing.com.

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