Notch Brewing (2019)

Picked up some of the Voll Projekt Harvest IPA. Not sure what a “Harvest IPA” is supposed to taste like, but after one can I wasn’t very impressed. I haven’t had any IPAs from Notch that I thought were great.

Psychocandy on the the other hand I thought was quite nice. Will be looking to pick up some cerne pivo.

 

“Remember your first IPA? We took the classic style and twisted in new wave Michigan C-hops (Cascade, Centennial and Chinook) to bring you a slightly more tropical West Coast offering. Aromas of orange blossom, sweet honey and a pine resin finish.”

If I had to guess it just uses hops from the recent harvest, so a “fresh hop” IPA like Celebration. I don’t think it’s a wet hop IPA though as there’s nothing indicating that.

I would say it tastes like Celebration because it uses the same hops, but Celebration uses caramel malts which gives it a prominent caramel taste/backbone to balance things out.

Red Headed Stranger uses Golden Promise.

I absolutely loved it though.

@ChrisLohring

 

I believe Michigan hops of those varietals are supposed to be fruitier than their PNW counterparts.

 

Sounds good in theory. I will reserve final judgment until I make my way through the rest of the four-pack.

I think my favorite offering this year from Notch was Who Loves the Sun? Blonde Ale. Just so tasty and easy to drink.

I also like Fodderstompf a lot. Their Zwickel and Pils are great standbys. And cerne pivo is very good as well.

 

Who Loves the Sun is low key one of their best beers and a redux of Dragon Lady, for those who remember it. I believe it was brewed not by Chris but by one of their other brewers, which don’t get enough cred for how much they contribute to Notch’s beers.

 

To answer some of the things asked in the thread:

Correct, hops from the recent harvest and the Michigan grown. They display different attributes than the NW hops. Brienne Allan, Notch's production manager, lead this beer in terms of development, but all Notch beers are developed as a team in some fashion, as was Who Loves the Sun (12 pack 12 oz cans in the new year), and most beers are brewed by every brewer.

While we love NEIPA, we like to make them brighter and drier than most others, and if you have a sweet-tooth ours will probably not appeal. We also make non-NEIPAs under the Voll Projekt (Red Headed Stranger and Not Made for These Times) that we know NEIPA fans will have little interest in but we are quite thrilled with.

Cerne Pivo gets canned tomorrow and hits distro next week, Tap Room this week. January will see our Kolsch in cans for the first time, and the return of our Kolsch night at the tap room (table service, Kolsch in Stange only).

Thanks All!

 

Best post I've seen on BA in quite some time.

 

Haha, co-sign. I saw Cerne Pivo in cans and thought, "Oh nice. That'll be a good addition for holiday drinking." To end it with Kolsch in cans was a nice little cherry on top.

As always, cheers to Chris, Brienne, and the team. Best team of brewers in the state, imo.

 

12 packs of Who Loves the Sun? Can’t wait!

I’m coming around on Red Headed Stranger. Would like to try side by side with a Celebration.

 

Picked up Psycho Candy last weekend - simply delightful beer, sad to be on my last can already.

Cerné Pivo hitting stores this week I believe?

 

Not sure how I missed this one...

 

Man, I wish they were in Allston already!

 

I think I’ll drink Raw Power all day tomorrow. Anyone else digging that beer?

 

Enjoying a fresh crowler of The Standard, picked up this Sunday
So very good
Cheers

 

Bought two 4 packs of Cerne Pivo so far. It’s been my favorite Notch beer for a few years.

 

A quick overnight in Salem and spent most of the time at Notch. Can I just say on top of the excellent Cerno Pivo, Zen Arcade, The Standard and Dunkel, it is the most chill taproom in MA and added many songs to my playlist to boot!

 

The rauchbier was so well balanced. Even the rice lager (collab) is herbaceous and vibrant. The lagers on tap at Notch are dynamite right now.

 

I have been twice and both times it was totally packed (like couldn't move and had to sit down the hall) with 10 min+ lines for pours. Maybe I went during busy times but it was definitely not what I would call "chill". Perhaps we have different definitions of the word. Are you talking strictly about the music?

 

What time of the year/day did you go? It can definitely get busy there. If he did an overnight in Salem in December, it probably wasn’t too crazy.

 

Def depends on when you go. I was there on Thursday afternoon and then again on Thursday night and it was steady busy, but easily got a seat and didn't have to wait for pours. Music was good too.