Great Notion

Kegs too. It's become increasingly common to see GN beers on tap around town here in PDX. I think nearly every place in town has a keg of the recent collaboration IPA they did with Ruse (thought frequency).

Not that that's a bad thing, and I do think their beers are still well received and generally highly regarded, but I know what you mean. There's no denying that the increased supply seems to have slacked considerably the head over heels demand you once saw for their beers. Typically when I stop by the pub now, there are usually at least 2 or 3 beers in crowler format available, as well as 2 or 3 or 4 different 4 packs available. 6 months ago you would not have seen that.

 

The only reason I was bothered and puzzled by the restriction, was because there had been no purchase restrictions at the release event. If there had been a restriction to a couple of 4 packs at the release event, then I would have completely understood the current restriction at the pub.

In fact, I called over in advance to see if they had any DS left before I drove over. The employee I spoke to made no mention of any limitations, simply noting that they had plenty, as there had just been another delivery from the production facility earlier in the day. Also, there was no sign up at the pub about a 4 pack per person restriction (when I asked for two 4 packs, I was then told that there was a 4 pack per person limit for DS - but that they had plenty of peanut brother if I wanted some of that).

Not a big deal and I'll get over it, but you know... it's just one of those things you tend to keep in mind the next time you're thinking about heading over to GN. Though of course I'll probably try my luck next week when they put the BA DS on tap.

All that aside, I'm also glad you were able to pick some up during your visit today. Cheers!

 

Portland has laws against camping in the city? Who knew?

 

I hear you Ed, but I guess I see this as more than just a prurient, outsized interest in a single beer. If Great Notion is going to handle the upcoming release in this manner, then I think they should expect a little ribbing and sarcasm (which a lot of us on this forum are happy to provide).

Maybe there's more than one way to spin this, but this is how the situation appears to me:

It's bad enough (but not exactly surprising) that GN is charging a super premium price for this beer, but at least in my mind, making customers purchase unwanted (or at least unasked for) schwag along with the beer is a bit over the top. And as you know, that's even though they've never even made or released a BA impy stout before. Hey, but that's OK, we all know they're GN, and everything they touch turns to gold, so of course we need to take it on faith that the beer will be incredible and well worth the super premium price. In fact, yuck yuck, it's now clear we should feel damn lucky if we're able to obtain one of these limited release boxes, given how scarce, limited and valuable they are.

Given how relatively easy it is to find great BA stouts in the NW (without paying the GN premium or standing in line for hours), it's kind of hard not to raise one's eyebrows a bit over this release. I know that's part of the reason I find this whole release event hype a bit laughable... and yes, something I want to poke fun at.

Also... not that this is in any way GN's fault (I guess), but there really seems to be an inordinate amount of "shitlord" behavior going on over this beer. Aside from the ridiculous, over the top secondary market pricing alluded to above, I've been told that trade offers for this beer (a beer that hasn't even been released yet) are ranging from the absurd to the ridiculous. I mentioned in an earlier post that I didn't entirely agree with a comment made by @dphi, but the fact is that his comment is dead on. Anyone who obtains this beer with the expectation of trading one or both bottles at an exorbitant cost isn't going to provide an objective review on this forum. The beer could taste like warmed over puppy poo and would still get at least a 4.75 rating or higher from the owner (of that I have no doubt). That in turn, will likely pave the way for even more silliness on the part of GN. Given the success of this beer in the community (before even being released), I would expect the next BA release from GN to be even more expensive, with even more expensive "schwag" thrown in for good measure. Eh, why not?

That being said...

If most of the people attending the release tomorrow were going for the reasons @ChugChugPass is going, then I wouldn't have this reaction. However, based on the information I've seen on various trading forums and secondary markets, I think it's pretty clear that's not the case. So I don't think there's anything wrong in making a few disparaging comments about this behavior, and indulging in a good hearty chuckle or two, while enjoying a glass of reasonably priced coffee KDS in the comfort of one's own home.

(Not that there's anything wrong with standing in line for hours in the rain to buy a couple of bottles of a super expensive beer that no one has ever tasted or has any knowledge about)

 

The weekly Friday update:


Happy Friday / Happy Holidays!!
Beautiful day here in Portland for BBDS weekend. Thank you to everyone joining us from out of town for the first release of our Bourbon Barrel Double Stack. Here's your 3 Notions:


1. Draft Beer at Alberta: Come taste our newest hazy IPA brewed with an experimental yeast, Baby Dinosaur! We also still have on tap our lemon meringue pie-inspired Luminous 04 and Unbalanced Breakfast which has been a popular one lately. Imagine a sour version of our secret beer, Blueberry Pancakes, and you get Unbalanced Breakfast! We’ve also brewed 2 really cool beers this past week: Share the Fire - which is a liquid S’mores campfire stout and Dumpling, a new fruited IPA! Lastly, expect our Sierra Nevada Resilience IPA to go on tap next week, with all the $ donated towards the wildfires.



2. Saturday Can Release: At 11 am on Saturday, 12-15-18 at 2444 NW 28th Ave., aside from BBDS, you will also be able to purchase Mango Juice Jr and Return to Space. Mango Juice Jr (aka Mango Jr) is a beer we haven’t brewed for years and are super excited to see return, in can form! And then Return to Space is a blend of Galaxy and Enigma hops for a mix of some fruity bubblegum notes with the danky dank sticky icky good stuff. Blast off! Also of note is the sick new Chad Eaton artwork on that can too, with a little ode to Le Petit Prince if y’all remember that children’s book?



3. Saturday Bottle Release: At 11 am on Saturday, 12-15-18 at 2444 NW 28th Ave., as you all have probably seen by now on our Instagram and Facebook channels, we will be releasing BBDS to the world! 1 item not mentioned until right now for those of you who read our newsletter is that on Monday afternoon, we will be putting BBDS on draft at Alberta!

[[Sasquatch likes BBDS.]]]

BBDS is a blend of Double Stack transferred into freshly-emptied Bourbon barrels. A large portion of the barrels are from local friends, Bull Run Distillery, along with barrels from Woodford Reserve and Heaven Hill Distillery. After more than two years, we selected our favorite barrels and BBDS was blended and bottled.

BBDS will be sold in a collector’s edition holiday gift box and will include the following:

- A custom-built wooden box screen printed on a walnut lid with the Double Stack Sasquatch on one side a double stack of pancakes on the other

- Two x 500 ML wax-dipped bottles of Bourbon Barrel Double Stack

- A limited edition BBDS Stemless Sahm Sensorik glass imprinted with pancakes, the release year, and a gold-dipped rim

- A pancake pom-pom Double Stack beanie

- A Double Stack wood and stainless steel double-sided paddle bottle opener

There will be only 500 holiday gift boxes for sale (one per person) for $125 each. We will have a breakfast food truck if you wish to purchase food and also some complementary Clutch Coffee (used in BBDS!). Local beer drinkers will also be able to buy a limited amount of single bottles of BBDS at a future TBD date.

Please see the FB event page for further details on parking, tickets, line shares and more!