I’ve had a love-hate relationship with this brewery, especially the pub portion, going back a long time, and I don’t ever envision their becoming my favorite local brewery. Nevertheless, the current owner really seems to be upping their game quite a lot in the last couple of years, and it's a trend that seems to be in the ascendant. I've been a couple times in the last month and had pleasant experiences both times (such a thing literally never happened to me back in the Northern Lights days). Here’s a quite recent write-up re: them - http://www.spokane7.com/blog/2016/apr/13/new-look-no-li/ …and some info about their new canned, Big Juicy: http://www.spokane7.com/blog/2016/jan/19/some-juicy-gossip/ Actually it’s been out for a while on draft, but it’s been released in cans this month for the first time. I’d describe it as being a mellow, fruit-forward IPA which lives up to it's name and that, while not really a session IPA (55 IBUs, over 6% abv), is at the lighter, more drinkable end of the style. I first had it at the pub a couple weeks ago and really dug it.
Well, maybe I need to give them another try. Like you (it sounds like), I've had so many disappointing experiences with No-Li, that I've pretty much given up on trying anything new from them.
While I find the beer has been occasionally inspired, and more often serviceable yet unremarkable, it's been the service at the pub over the years that at one point, thanks to the original owner/founder (a couple of years before they re-branded from Northern Lights to No-Li) led me to cut them out entirely. Right after that, the area started seeing the new wave of breweries open up, so I didn't really miss them. In the past year or so I've been easing my way back into them, and while I doubt they'll ever replace Iron Goat as my favorite, they really are much improved, at least in attitude.
Serviceable is exactly the word i would use as well, for most of the beers I've had from them. Here in the NW, that's just not good enough.
