Pink Sabbath
Great Notion Brewing

2026-03-28
16oz can served in a wineglass. Bought it yesterday at The Glendale Tap. Drinking it in a shitty hotel. Hotel fridge probably has cooled it more than it should have, so I'll be very hands-on with the glass to try and warm it up. Suffered a fall yesterday in the parking lot, but seems to have done no more damage than a serious ding.

Pours black with a small head. Just a thin, bone-white ring. I think I see some active carbonation, but it might be a hallucination. Smell is pine, charred caramel, roasted grains.

Taste is molasses and pine, toffee and grapefruit rind. Mild coffee note.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth, a bit still. Overall, it's pretty good.

16oz can

Pours three fingers of fluffy tan head into my Willi. Retention is quite nice. Lacing is solid. Body is pitch black. Looks good.

Nose has a nearly perfumy hoppiness, fruity, slight pine, maybe some roast underneath. Smells decent.

Flavor is snappy, but no big hop flavors. Chocolate and roast come out towards the end of the palate, along with some fruit notes, and subtle pine. Tastes good.

Medium bodied. Carbonation is medium. Nice, bitter hop bite. Small, welcome sweetness. Overall a great, balanced mouthfeel that does some work here.

Drinkability is good.

At first the hop flavors are a little underwhelming, but this style doesn’t usually have too many “clear” hop notes, it’s more the sum of all parts, and this comes together really well. Bitterness does drown out the palate once the beer warms though.

Taster flight at Great Notion NW. Dark brown pour, ring of beige head, rings of lacing. Light roasty aroma. Taste features elements of chocolate, dark toast.

Look: Pours a dark brown and looks black in the glass where a frothy light brown head rapidly forms and slowly settles to a pillow, leaving intricate webs of lacing behind

Aroma: Pink grapefruit, tangelo, crushed fir needles, pine, light roast, chocolate, toasted bread, and earthiness

Taste: Comes out swinging with a barrage of citrus fruits coupled with citrusy fir needles that hit hard and start to develop depth. As that punch subsides, nice chocolate and light roast present themselves before mixing in and bready malt is more evident in the middle before citrus, conifer, and earthiness carry through the close

Mouthfeel: Full, clean, medium-high carbonation, and just a kiss of dryness on the finish

Overall: This is some good stuff. Black IPAs/CDAs are one of my favorite styles and I won’t hesitate to try anyone’s take on one, which brought me to review this delightful brew, as I’d never heard of it before seeing it. A tasty Black IPA with good balance and no harshness or clashing flavors some are prone to, plus it’s a P.B.S. collab, so also quite cool. My can was 4 months old and still shined – would love to try a fresh one

Dark brown/black in color with a thick tan head. Head is super thick and left lots of foamy lacing. Nose is slightly malty. Taste, best way to describe is charred pine. Nice bitterness on backend with a burnt caramel backbone

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a very dark mahogany brown with little light transmission in the glass and a one finger light khaki head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of dark toasted and biscuit malt, citrus hops and a hint of cocoa. Flavor is dark toasted malt, citrus and piney hops, coffee, orange, grapefruit and pine. Solid assertive bitterness, pine and coffee in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Glad to see this style from Great Notion. I haven't picked much up from them for a while as they have a lot of styles I'm not that excited about like sours and hazy IPAs. Even my favorite styles, like stouts are often a bit too sweet for me. Now this is a favorite style that is quite uncommon and always welcome and they did the expected fine job with it. Good sturdy toasty, roasty malt fortified with a fine West Coast style hop bill with lots of citrus and pine. Coffee notes, probably from the malt are a welcome addition. This is a solid, enjoyable Cascadian IPA that I'll be thrilled to see again.