Great Notion

I was an East Coaster once and I have to say the BA fests really suck on all levels compared to the PNW festivals.

Nonetheless, hope Great Notion was received well. Bet no one would blink at eye at those crowler and draft prices out there

 

I remember sticker shock when they first started, but haven't heard more talk like that since. For those closer to GN, is their pricing still a sore spot in the local community?

I kinda assumed once the accolades kept rolling in, their pricing became less of a sticking point and one decided to either get past it or just buy beer elsewhere. I also assume their pricing hasn't influenced other breweries' price points much, but now I'm curious if anyone has observed a reaction from nearby establishments.

 

Early on, GN referred to their location and the lack of economy of scale in their brewhouse as factors in their pricing. I've been willing to take that at face value, however their recently announced expansion should provide an opportunity to put that story to the test.

Yes, it's a lot of new debt/investment required to expand, but other breweries manage to expand without it negatively affecting their pricing model. In this case, I think it should change, for the better. "Passing the savings on to the customer" and all that. If GN's pricing model doesn't change after gaining these economies of scale, I'll have a different opinion of their original argument. I realize my opinion will have zero effect on their business one way or the other, but it's an interesting opportunity to guess at the way they calculate their margin.

 

I'll be curious to see they'll charge for a 4-pack for cans of hazy juice IPAs. Hopefully they stay in the $15-16 range like we've seen with Holy Mountain, Fremont, Structures, Block 15, etc.

 

West Coasters laugh at the beer prices in the NE area while PNWers laugh at the prices in the bay area and the rest of the country. In the great words of Bruce Hornsby and the Range, that's the way it is.

 

And then Reuben's is able to sell six packs of their Crush IPAs for $10.

 

" As you can probably imagine, we'd like it to stay that way, and to the extent GN's pricing negatively impacts local pricing, of course that would be unpopular. Even if you're a huge fan of GN, I would think you could see that. So just telling us "that's the way it is," is probably not going to be a popular outlook."

My point was that's not going to happen, it's inevitable the beer prices in your area will increase. I'm not one to not like a brewery because their pricing negatively impacts local pricing. I wouldn't be able to drink Alvarado or Moonraker if that was the case and that isn't happening.

 

I would actually embrace this time as a PNW because of the inevitable happening. It's happened everywhere else in the country even at spots like Cellarmaker in SF (who I love) beer wise and it will eventually (while as much as you and everyone else in your area hates it) happen in Oregon and Washington so drink up while you can still afford to money wise and without losing your self respect.

 

I'll be the first to attempt to confirm (for who knows how many times, and starting long before I had an account on this site) that it isn't.

Personally, I like breweries, even--no, especially--small and up-and-coming ones, who make great beer and put that beer out at fair prices, relative to their local markets. I recognize this makes nothing easier for them, as a small business operating with tiny margins, but it's precisely why I like them so much. I like them even more when I like them "personally," too: by the public face they show and whatever I can gather about their various core commitments and principles behind the scenes.

I don't know enough about Great Notion to posit that they are not, in fact, great, by all these metrics. But I am supremely confident that anyone who knows the PNW beer scene well knows countless breweries, large and small, who meet that standard of excellence. So many had humble beginnings, proceeded humbly, and then by virtue of those facts subsequently earned their greatness, or are at least well on their way to it. If Great Notion has indeed become one of them, or is about to, they are just one of many here. Regardless, they are not the Son of Christ.

And what's more, if they also insidiously undermine the regional scene with their pricing, or anything else they practice as a business, and no matter whether it is deliberate or entirely accidental, that will almost certainly be a demerit on their record in the eyes of most. It won't, at any rate, serve as a reason to be indifferent towards them, and much less one to applaud them. Nothing about that is a "great notion," respectfully.

 

I stand corrected. Astral Projection was $20 for a 4-pack of tallboys. We've reached peak beer. Pray it doesn't get any peakier.

 

Typically naive and amnesiac for you.

With a name like "Astral Projection," the pricing of that beer when finally put into tallboys was destined to shoot for the stars. Now that they've been reached, there is probably no going back for anything which has hype and rarity as two of its primary ingredients. But great beer will always be readily available here, for less money and sans lines. So, save your prayers for things that actually matter...

 

As a Portland resident I'm fairly confident that Great Notion's pricing has not had a noticeable impact on local pricing overall, at least I haven't seen it. I'm no expert on beer economics, but I'd imagine it takes more than a single brewery's prices to change things that way. Otherwise I'd be more concerned about Cascade's bottle prices, Loyal Legion's $6 pint, and Growler Guys charging extra for a 32 oz growler fill. All of those are appropriate examples of pricing models that could influence the market that I haven't seen anyone bring up.

Now, when and if Portland sees a competitor brewing hazy NE style IPAs, maybe the pricing of a like-style beer would be set by Great Notion's prices.

I know the Great Notion narrative has taken many turns - some more objective than others - but I think this particular notion didn't turn out to be a concern. At least not for now.

 

I don't know Astral Projection but i do know that when i was last looking at the prices of Trillium and Tree House, it was in the range of $16-22 for a similar 4-pack. And that they were selling like hotcakes. Makes me thankful for some of the far superior beers i've had from the bigger breweries out there.

 

ha I was going to say the same thing. Trillium is easily $5 per can for the DDH stuff and Treehouse is a small bit behind that. NE people pay it because its that much better than most other stuff.

 

I'm not sure that it will happen eventually (to the extent it has elsewhere). Oregon and Washington are anomalous when it comes to a lot of things, but particularly beer pricing (draft, especially).

I've said this before, but few other places in the county do I get the sense that brewery and bar owners want to offer their beers at reasonable, affordable prices because that is what is best for the consumer. They're actually not trying to profit maximally, in fact, the vast majority of places charge far less than what the market could bear (GN being one exception). I'm really not sure that typical economic principles apply to beer pricing in the PNW. Would love to hear an expert weigh in. Especially because that's a pretty big statement and could just be naive, but having lived in Boston, Philly, the Midwest, and Oregon, I'm going to stand by it for now.