[Update: this beer is available as of 11/21/08!]

(Pacific City, OR) – Pelican Brewery will release a Bourbon-Barrel version of its Stormwatchers Winterfest Barleywine called, The Perfect Storm, later this year. From Ken Williams late this past summer:

” […] We are barrel conditioning this [past] years Barleywine in a bourbon barrel for 3 months. 1 month in and it is absolutely incredible. We will have some Stormwatchers ‘Perfect Storm’ on tap but will bottle the majority of it for sale at our front host desk.”

Judging from the label, it looks like there were four 1998 Evan Williams bourbon barrels involved in this project. And considering it has been five months since the beer went into barrels, this will definitely be available this winter. With the new Pelican Brewery kiosk in the Washington Square Mall in Portland, it could potentially be your best bet to try this, but with it so limited, it is more likely that it is brewery-only.