Notch Brewing (2024)

Going to Salem tomorrow for the 4th but probably leaving to watch the fireworks elsewhere. Can't wait to try that Hexen Stadt!

 

Hell yeah! Wish I could be there as well!

 

You know how every few months there's a Notch that's just head and shoulders the best beer they're making right now, and maybe the best beer on tap at the moment in Massachusetts? I'm here to tell you that the summer 2024 edition of this phenomenon is the berliner with either syrup - it's absolutely excellent.

 

May need to try this in the next few days. I also miss having the Berliner with syrup with Pete and Erol in the old Stoneface growler/tasting room. It was great they pushed this tradition in their infancy

 

Big fan of Notch.

Went to new Worcester location yesterday. $9.5 for a plastic cup of warm beer. I'll go back to Brighton.

 

yeah i'm wondering if the place is really a disaster or if mr. shiek just had a one-off bad experience. not many yet but all google reviews are 5/5.

 

No, just ranting on the prices, I know, I know...its like that everywhere.

I just prefer beer in a glass if I'm paying those prices. I think $9.50 is expensive for a beer in a plastic cup. Still love Notch in general.

 

i am absolutely with you on that.

lager culture is popular partially because
1- they embrace traditional beer rituals (proper glassware being one of them)
2- you can try more beer with typically less limiting intoxication

a $10 beer in a plastic cup goes against both of these.

AND it looks like beers down the road at wormtown are at least a couple dollars cheaper per pint.

my guesses? maybe they're seasonal and are trying to maximize warm weather profits?

it's only a 40 minute difference between here and brighton. as a fan of glassware, lagers, AND reasonable prices, i'd probably just head over to brighton. i'd more than make up the difference in gas money in my beer savings.

 

I was also very disappointed by my visit to Notch in Worcester (which is the only taproom of theirs I have been to). $9.50 per pint for beer in a plastic cup, served by someone lacking training in how to pour and serve beer, is way out of line with local standards, even moreso for a company that brands itself as making approachable session beer. If you can't put a $20 bill on the counter and get two beers (including tax and tip), then the product/experience is neither approachable nor sessionable. For comparison, pints at Jack's Abby, poured right in proper glassware, are $7.

Whether or not Notch is running the place, they chose to put their name on it and when you do that as a business, it's your job to ensure the experience reflects what you want your customers to think of you. That visit definitely knocked my esteem for Notch down a couple pegs (though I'll still give them a chance based on the love they get here).

 

I get that. But most visitors won't understand it, nor care. Just in my view, if they're willing to give control of their brand to people who gouge on price and skimp on customer experience, it raises questions about how far that fierce dedication to tradition actually goes.

FWIW, I don't drink out that much these days (two little kids make it tough for both time and financial reasons), but from what I see around Worcester, $7-8 for a pint is standard in bars and taprooms. I see that half-liters are $8 at Notch's main taprooms. That's a lot more reasonable.

 

1/2 liter is 9 in Brighton now fwiw.

As an aside, current batch of French Disko is the closest they’ve gotten in my opinion to that unreal first batch of Bier d Alsace. Extremely good!

 

If you skip everything else in Worcester and just go to Armsby Abbey, you will get a perfect and proper pour

 

Pitch-lined Pils on Friday