Great Notion Says “Hi, Haters” With a Grape IPA Called Grape Lotion

It may sound like a seriously geek thing judging by the name, but the Portland Pro/Am may actually be Portland's chillest beer festival.

It's held in a warehouse—this year off inner Southeast Division Street instead of up in NoPo—and features the people who made the beers pouring them for you and chatting about what they made.

There are 32 different beers to try, and you get to taste each and every one of them—though it takes some dedication to actually do that.

The vibes are great, the beers are interesting, and there's both good food on and retro videogames on site. I've had more than a few people tell me it's their favorite beer event of the year.

The best part, though, is the premise: Portland's best homebrewers team with commercial breweries to do something fun and crazy that neither would be likely to attempt on their own.

Enter Grape Lotion—that is, Great Notion's Grape Lotion.

Not so long ago, the guys behind Great Notion were themselves homebrewers. Brewers James and Andy teamed with money guy Paul and took over the old Mash Tun brewpub just off Alberta Street, bringing along the recipes from James' garage. And they changed the city's beer scene. Juice Jr. was named Oregon's Beer of the Year, and inspired once-reluctant local brewers to tinker with hazy, hoppy beers.

For this year's Pro/Am, they've teamed with homebrewer Dan Schlegel to do a grape IPA called Grape Lotion. The name is a shoutout to the online beer geeks who heatedly debate the brewery on the Beer Advocate forums: "Gonna name my new brewery Grape Lotion," wrote a beer nerd angry that Great Notion existed, and that drinkers loved their beer. "InstaHypeWalezBroBombz. Will sell the Lotion in baskets."

Schlegel is a regular at the brewery, and according to Dugan he makes "fantastic" homebrew.

"He tends to focus on IPAs, and brings many into the pub to share with us. We loved his beers, so we invited Dan to brew with us this year," Dugan says.

The beer is a sequel to last year's grape beer, Amprosia, which was a huge hit at the fest.

"Instead of a saison, this year we decided to brew an IPA with Southern hemisphere hops, and white wine grapes," Dugan says. "More specifically, Nelson Sauvin and galaxy hops along with Oregon grown Chenin Blanc grapes. We kept the beer light in color, with Pilsner malt and a touch of white wheat. All the hops went into the whirlpool, and the dry hop was focused on the white wine characteristics of Nelson Sauvin, with a touch of Galaxy."

You can try the beer and 31 others On October 14 for just $28. Tickets here.