Great Notion

Not even the whole thread, just this page of it. And folks wonder why I sometimes get a bit testy.

 

Visiting Portland this weekend and I was wondering if/where Great Notion announces crowler releases? I see on their site they mention M/W/F releases around noon but couldn't find any info of regular releases.

 

I'm surprised they don't just stop crowler releases entirely until the new production facility is up and running.

 

They have posted on Facebook that they no longer announce crowler releases due to the demand when they do.

 

Haha yeah nothing worse than having a demand for your product! I was there visiting a few weeks ago from Oakland and all week they had no crowler release.

I was told by our server that it's only done for new beers hitting the taps but they still didn't have any for Super duper ripe or Over ripe the day they were put on.

Luckily I was there for the Peach punch collab release and left a happy camper! Those guys make AMAZING beers.

 

My impression is that they like giving everyone a fair shot at getting a crowler instead of announcing it ahead of time and catering to the crowd who will camp outside for hours and hours to buy them all up before your average person has a realistic shot at one.

I'd love to know the journey/average distance traveled of a GN crowler following it's purchase.

 

Started to type the same thing. I think this is a good move, silent releases result in fewer people flooding the comments with ISO posts and lining up - two things I have no issue with a brewery try to cut back on.

 

Exactly. Pretty sure John M knows that also, but just wants something else to bitch about.

 

My problem with that is, all you guys who live close enough to pop in and randomly happen upon a crowler release , most likely get to drink as much of whatever is being canned fresh from the tap anytime you go in. You don't need a crowler to take home in order to ever try the beer again.

I'm not a mule or a big time trader, I just wanted to get some Blueberry muffin to take back to California to share with my girlfriend. I understand people get annoyed with lines and crowds, I had to deal with that when I lived in Brooklyn, but c'mon, either post online when you're releasing crowlers or put up a big sign on the door saying "Locals only" if you don't want our money.

 

They still got your money when you got to enjoy their beers on tap on site. Shitlords are hard to fight against and this is probably the easiest way to do it. It's also an Oregon brewery, you're not entitled to anything if you're not from Oregon.

I live in Seattle. I've been there before and taken crowlers home and sometimes I just have beer with my food and have nothing to take home. It's all good.

I realize my entitlement comment sounds snarky, but it really wasn't meant to be. I just can't think of a better way to formulate it.

 

I'll try and say this in a less inflammatory way since my last post was deleted, but...

this is a joke right? I'm entitled to goods and services in other states even if i'm a visitor. Either make more product (which it looks like they're working on) or don't get your feathers ruffled and make it some secret townie club when outsiders start to line up for your product.

 

In regards to crowlers, you just have to get lucky and time it right. If you weren't allowed to drink their beer at all than I could understand your frustration a little more, but it's the brewery's decision if and when people can get them to go.

Holy Mountain makes lots of great beers that remain draft only and they never offer growler fills of them. It's just the way it is.

Isn't this similar to what SARA does in regards to bottle releases?

 

They took shit when they started announcing releases and they're taking shit for stopping the announcements. It's a no-win situation so I don't blame them for doing what they feel is best for their business.

Breweries release things unannounced here all the time, to the point where it used to be the norm. On the plus side, there's enough awesome beers made/bottled/canned/crowlered here (even hazy stuff!) that missing out on a GN crowler should be the last of your concerns.

 

I got a pro tip from a local that they'll still fill you a crowler if you ask for "The Grape Lotion."

 

Perhaps, but please allow me to say that you still could've, and should've, said it more kindly. John gives more of himself and his time to this forum than anyone, and that is worth respecting even if you don't always agree with him. He did well to turn the other cheek, but maybe you'd have done well to follow a similar impulse in the first place...

In other news, the ratio of crowler vs. (non-crowler) beer discussion in this thread continues to strike me as conspicuously out of whack. Since they've opened, GN has only ever been a tiny 7 BBL brewhouse, crafting some fairly unique and outstanding representations of some of the most coveted beer styles in a very thirsty city. Have they gotten everything right as demand has vastly outpaced their capacity to match it the past year-and-a-half? Of course not. Are they earnestly trying to do the best that they can under difficult circumstances? I hazard to think so.

Most of us already do, but let's all give them the time that they need for their expansion, and "err" (if that's the right word, which it isn't) to be grateful for some of what they've done so far. I know it's easy to complain about those of their release methods which do not cater to our preferences, and fun to allude to playfully pejorative sobriquets which we've assigned them, but these guys, who were no-name home-brewers not so long ago, pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, have done some great and widely-recognized things in a short period of time, and deserve our utmost respect, too. As they continue to grow, learn, and fine-tune their business/passion, I expect they'll deserve it even more.

And here's this, just because it suits the mood I'm going for, and belongs, because of the Kesey connection, on its own merits. Long live Chief Bromden and his spirit!

 

but they're missing that hype-flavor that is so coveted....