Great Notion

Don't forget the Mrs Butterworths and butter.

 

I'M SO SICK OF THIS "HYPE" BULLSHIT

1. - I live in California

2. - Great Notion beer is awesome and I want to drink it when I return.

3. - The end

I don't give a shit about hype, I simply drink good beer and want a lot of it. And yes, I went to Great Notion twice while in town and drank everything on the tap list, some more than once but would still have enjoyed crowlers for later.

Why are you guys such agro haters about this?

 

So are we. But, I suspect our hatred of hype is different than yours.

 

You guys can hate on outsiders lining up for your local beer all you want, but it's only going to get worse. I have to deal with it in Oakland now and I definitely dealt with it in NYC when I lived there.

Being jerks about anything new and popular enough to draw a crowd isn't good for the brewery and it's not good for the beer community. Learn to live with it and realize that trends that don't go away aren't "hype" anymore, they're just the norm.

 

Resistance is never futile. A handful of people on one little website are not going influence the success or failure of any business. And, if you would look past the end of your own nose, you would see plenty of love for Grape Lotion here on this forum.

I've only had a couple of their brews, one I enjoyed very much, the other I found to be kinda blah, but plenty of locals love this brewery, and the lines are likely mostly locals. Just because you got pissed on in NYC and Oakland, doesn't mean you have to piss on us.

 

You are probably correct sadly.
We will probably see more overpriced ( from what we are used to up here) beers. There is nothing good about that.

 

My favorite brewery in town isn't Great Notion. Does that mean I'm a jerk?

I like some of their beers but not all of them. Does that make me a jerk?

I like their food. I like the food at a couple other places more. Does that make me a jerk?

I like different things than you do. Does that make me a jerk?

Portland has dozens of great beer places, which means that even a place as great as Great Notion is hardly the only game in town. Does that make us jerks?

Help me out here. It seems I'm missing something.

 

He probably thinks we are cheap skates that think $5-6 is the max for microbrews.
This is why we fight

 

If you disagree with GN's current stance on not having crowlers always available, you're a jerk.

 

Not everyone on BA loves Great Notion, you've figured that out, but GN's rapid rise in popularity and impending expansion isn't just happening because people from outside the state love it and come for their beercations. The idea that GN has no support from Portlanders is ridiculous.

I never responded to your original post about your disappointment in their crowler policy because I didn't want to be captain obvious, but unlike lots of East Coast breweries that live off of "release days" and are glad to blow out product til it's gone, GN is a neigborhood brew pub who serve food, have considerable staff to take care of and rely on having beer flowing for visitors. They've been clear about struggling to meet demand and have also mentioned in the past that they want to make sure there is beer available for visitors. Some of that info is probably further back in this thread.

By next year, perhaps, they'll be canning and all this inconvenience will be a distant memory.

Also, distantmantra above.

 

There. That's the fucking difference. Geography aside, there are breweries that only survive off hype. They think they are living off sales, but, as anybody that fishes knows, what them bass are hitting on today, might not be what they hit on tomorrow.

 

There is definitely more importance placed on releases here on BA and within our shared hobby.

What we tend to forget is that we at best represent maybe 10% of the craft beer business as a whole.

While releases certainly add to the bottom line, there isn't a brewery out that that has a majority of their business from releases or just their hype beers. No brewery is surviving only on hype, even the ones that feel like they are. Some may be capitalizing on a trend, but if the quality isn't there the long range business is not a secure one.

The bread and butter of the craft beer business is every day over the counter draft/bottle/can sales (for the majority, there are some larger exceptions who drive more distribution sales) so what we may see as hype on the surface is not truly where these breweries are really driving business, they have to have good everyday offerings, and good customer service as well. Hype helps in the marketing of the brewery, but that isn't what is driving the sales.

 

So true. I attended a grand opening of a start up brewery in Monroe, WA recently that specializes in sours. There on the menu was an IPA. I asked the brewer why? He said "because it sells even though it's not very good."

 

Who was it that came up with Grape Lotion again? Well, congrats

 

Some angry beer nerd!

 

Hahahahaha! Love this.

 

Whoever coined it should be sure to introduce themselves to the brewers when this beer is available and let them know. They can say it to them in person if they can say it on here.

 

I didn't realize they were the makers of 'America's best hazy IPAs' ... congrats to them I guess for that high honor.

" 'Gonna name my new brewery Grape Lotion,' wrote a beer nerd angry that Great Notion existed, and that drinkers loved their beer."

I don't recall anyone ever being angry that GN exists or angry that people like their beer. Plenty of other valid complaints/criticisms that people have expressed that could have been brought up in the article, but let's make something up instead just because.