Great Notion

Well I hope that all of us here can do our part to help it balance.

I can only speak for myself when I say I won't be going back much if the prices don't come down.

 

Event today was fantastic.

Very well run, zero waits for beer, tons of great stuff on tap. I particularly enjoyed the Double Stack, which is arguably one of the best breakfast stouts I've had in the PNW, and one I hope to regularly visit. Reminded me quite a bit of Founder's Breakfast Stout with a ton of maple syrup on the nose and upfront on the palette.

We ordered food as well and sat out back, which is a great space. Food was tasty and service was quick/friendly. Bravo, Great Notion!

 

I guess I'll be the dissenting opinion here. While I like what they're trying to do, they have a ways to go to achieve their goals. I liked Juice Jr a lot. But Ripe and Juice Box don't hold up to Heady or Trillium D/IPA's. Both of which are similar styles, whether that's what they're going for or not. But really the disappointing beers today were the adjunct stouts. Choco Coco was not good, IMHO. Smelled and tasted like suntan lotion. And Double Stack tasted really artificial. Then El Chapo barely had any flavor at all. They clearly need to figure out an appropriate level of flavoring to add. And the base stout needs to be a little bigger, especially if you're going to add that much flavor to the beer.

I wish them the best of luck. But they're going to need to do a little better if their price point is going to be higher than Notorious or Fremont B-Bomb.

 

Definitely a nice event. I enjoyed most of what I sampled although comparisons to HT, Trilium, Hill etc. may have been a bit unfounded. I get that they're going for an "East Coast" style of IPA, but expectations may have been a bit too high in that regard. As far as some of the other styles I tried, they seemed well executed. I really liked the sour they had. At this point, I'll say they're a nice alternative to some of the other breweries around town. I think I'll be enjoying them more come summer time as Juice Box/Juice Jr. seem like the perfect warm weather IPAs.

 

Maybe it was the victim of high expectations, but Juice Box didn't do it for me. It's a good beer, but I'd go with Merry Dankster if I had the choice. I had a Melvin Shaolin later on at APEX, and that blew Juice Box out of the water. Take that for what it's worth though, since they're different "styles" of DIPA.

I agree with @oregonskibum on the stouts. The Double Stack had a super intense coffee & maple nose. Those flavors also dominated, but they were stratified and didn't play well together -- ended up with bitter coffee on the tongue and cloying sweetness in the finish. Also agree that the Choco Coco tasted like Hawaiian Tropic. I actually thought the El Chapo was pretty good, but there wasn't any spice to it as far as I could tell. The Blueberry Muffin smelled and tasted pretty much exactly like a blueberry muffin. It's interesting, but not something I'd drink very often.

Overall, it was a good event, especially for such a new brewery, but like mentioned above, they still have some work to do to dial the beers in.

 

Yeah I agree with the last to comments. Nothing mind blowing here, just different. I'm pretty sure I had the Merry Dankster the 1st time I was there and I thought the Juice Box was the same beer. Maybe I'm mistaken. Unfortunately they didn't have both yesterday to compare. It's also not the type of IPA I want all the time, but I can see myself putting back more than a few on a hot summer day. The Melvin Shaolin on the other hand, is the type of IPA I want all day, any day.

 

I can finally chime in here. Stopped in Sunday for lunch. The place was pretty busy, got one of the last few tables. I tried the following:

• Ripe - Loved this beer. The aroma was fantastic and was incredibly drinkable. I do wish there was a little bit more bitterness in the finish, but I also appreciate that's it's much different that the other NW ipa offerings.
• Juice Jr. - This was my favorite beer of the flight. It solves the problem I have with most session beers (being too thin). This has great body, drinks like an ipa with a lower abv.
• Juicebox DIPA - Again, I really enjoyed this beer, but like Ripe I wanted a little more bitterness. Regardless, I'd gladly have this again on draft or by a growler/crowler. Well worth the price.
• Double Stack - Whoa! All I could smell was maple syrup. After tasting it the coffee comes in part way through and helps make the beer not overly sweet. Loved the body too. It's truly unique and I'd gladly get this gain, although 12 oz might be a bit much for me, personally.

The food was really good too, enjoyed that they have waffle fries. We had good service especially for how busy it was. I'm definitely a fan and will be going back and looking for future beers.

 

Usually I struggle to drink an IPA. Most of them are pretty gross IMO. This was the first IPA in the PNW that I decided to get another glass because it tasted good and not to get hammered.

 

I had Ripe again last night. It's a pineapple/tangerine/apricot smoothie. Really good. But I really think it's a stretch to call it an IPA. There is virtually no bitterness. I wonder if these "NE-style" IPAs should just be put into a new category entirely. BJCP American IPA guideline says "medium-high to very high hop bitterness," which this beer does not exhibit at all. Maybe the American IPA category needs some sub-categories?

 

I had Trillium and Tree House for the first time last weekend, and I gotta say, GN is really miming that style well. This minimal mouth bitterness you guys are pulling from Juice Box and Ripe is very much what I'm getting from Trillium and Tree House beers (particularly Green and Melcher Street). Definitely a different style from something like Heady Topper or Sticky Hands.

The mouthfeel on a beer like Juice Box isn't quite at Trillium or a Tree House levels, but it'll be interesting to see how it evolves. It'd be cool to see GN showcase single hop varieties, sort of like what Trillium does, as I bet Ripe with big simcoe would be fantastic. Or even like Ex Novo and dynamic duo.

 

Reminds me of a friend in college trying to get a keg, "All you have to do is pay a little and drink for free".

 

I've thought about this quite a bit, actually. I don't mean it in a condescending way (at all) but a big part of me thinks that the blow-up of the NE style is that it's essentially IPA's for people that don't like IPA's (noobs?).

For the love of god though, can we stop using Great Notion and Trillium in the same sentence (or page, for that matter)?

 

Why? Trillium is a great example of something Great Notion is attempting to emulate, it only makes sense.

 

I'm just guessing here, but I think he's saying Great Notion isn't yet making beer that comes near the level of Trillium, and thus it's a disservice (if not an insult) to Trillium by comparing them.

 

If that's the intent of the post, fair enough. Though, obviously not being from the East coast, I'm not sure who better to draw comparisons with. Tired Hands or Bissell Brothers, perhaps? I'd say Block 15, but even something like Intergalactic or Hoppy New Year are still more akin to Heady Topper or Sticky Hands, as they still have that backend bitterness commonly associated with west coast IPAs. I could be off here, though.

I only mean to draw comparison because it's obvious they're attempting to emulate a specific NE-style of IPA; the criteria by which I judge or interpret their beer, then, is vastly different. I think we're past the label of just IPA or DIPA, sorta like regional wines. A columbia valley merlot is going to come across the palette differently than a French merlot.

This has probably been rehashed a million times over, though. Just my two cents.

 

They are definitely trying to emulate the NE-style IPA and have been pretty forthcoming with that - see page 1 for reactions to their website beer descriptions.

The Great Notion IPA's I had possessed absolutely nothing in the form of hop bitterness, which actually differs from my experience with Trillium where I was pleasantly surprised to find some bitterness.

Mostly I just want this hype train to derail off a cliff though, which I think is because, unlike a lot of these knockoff IPAs, I'm hella bitter.

 

Hey guys, this is James. Thank you for your feedback. I can tell you with 100% sincerity that we are not trying to emulate anyone else. We are home brewers turned pro brewers, simply brewing the beer that we love to drink. I grew up outside of Philly, but have been living on the West Coast for 15 years. I got tired of the IBU battles, and wanted to brew IPAs that were easy to drink, hoppy, but not bitter. I've definitely been inspired by the New England style, but we are definitely doing our own thing. We hope you will stop by for a beer. Cheers!

 

Not sure what "so very Un-IPA-like" relates to. I just stated it tasted good. I get it though. The IPA brand totally needs more gatekeepers.