Pelican Lite IPA is here, and it’s Pelican Brewing Company’s first low-calorie, low-carb beer. The Oregon coast brewery announced it on Oct. 15, 2026, in the middle of its 30th-anniversary year, describing a 5.4% ABV IPA with 122 calories and 3 grams of carbs per 12-ounce serving, per the release carried by New School Beer + Cider and MyBeerBuzz.
The Pacific Northwest takes its IPA seriously, and this correspondent has observed that Earthlings there do not forgive thin beer easily. Pelican is betting it can cut calories without that penalty.
Pelican Lite IPA by the numbers
| Spec | Pelican Lite IPA (per Pelican) |
|---|---|
| ABV | 5.4% |
| Calories | 122 per 12 oz |
| Carbs | 3 g per 12 oz |
| Formats | Six-packs, 12-oz cans, 50-liter kegs and 1/6 barrels |
| Markets | All Pelican Brewing locations and select retailers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Northern California |
| Brewed and packaged | Pelican’s Tillamook production brewery |
The release says Pelican Lite IPA “is already hitting store shelves” and points shoppers to the Pelican beer finder. No price was given. As of this transmission, pelicanbrewing.com promotes it on its homepage (“full flavor, lighter carbs”) but doesn’t have a dedicated product page yet.
What Pelican says it tastes like
Per the brewery, Pelican Lite IPA features “notes of crisp citrus and pine, with a clean, dry finish and vibrant hop character.” The six-pack carton in Pelican’s own product photo is a little more specific: “Crisp Hoppy Character,” “Notes of Sweet Pine and Grapefruit” and “Effortless Drinkability,” under the words “FULL FLAVOR.” The Bureau has not tasted Pelican Lite IPA, so those are Pelican’s claims, not ours.
The release also says the beer has “just a fraction of the carbs and roughly half the calories of traditional IPAs,” and calls its 5.4% ABV “an anomaly in the light beer category” that gives it body. Pelican says it experimented with several variations before landing on the recipe.
“We set out to craft a light beer that would hit all the marks of a traditional IPA, from the first sip to the last. Cutting carbs and calories didn’t mean we had to scale back on the flavor experience, and as a result, beer lovers now have a wider choice in how to cap off their latest Pacific Northwest adventure.”
— Darron Welch, Pelican’s Founding Brewmaster
The light IPA field, from orbit
Pelican Lite IPA is not the first attempt at a lean, hoppy beer. The Bureau has logged earlier specimens like Mind Haze Light IPA and Stone Features & Benefits IPA. The light category as a whole is drawing money too, as our report on Garage Beer’s $20 million credit line showed. Calorie claims on beer labels are voluntary and regulated, which we covered in a TTB ruling explainer.
What sets Pelican Lite IPA apart, by the brewery’s own account, is strength. At 5.4%, Pelican calls it an outlier among light beers, and the bet is that the extra alcohol carries the body that calorie cuts usually take away. Whether that works is a question for the glass.
Thirty years at the beach
Pelican Brewing was “born at the beach in 1996” and calls itself Oregon’s only beachfront brewpub, with more than 450 awards. It runs coastal restaurants in Pacific City, Cannon Beach, Siletz Bay, Rockaway and Yachats, plus the Tillamook production facility and taproom. A light IPA in year 30 is a sign the flock is still trying new things.
And there will be more: “Light versions of other Pelican favorites will join the lineup in 2027,” according to the release. Which favorites, the brewery has not said.
/// Carb count verified on the carton. Flavor verification pending... ///
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