Great Notion’s Long-Awaited New Brewpub Appeals to the Id in Every Beer Drinker

The shimmering wooden barroom is a beer-fueled echo chamber—and the beer is louder than the crowd.

(Laurel Kadas)
By Parker Hall

Unless you're recycling biodiesel or buying mountains of frozen seafood, you probably haven't explored the industrial tundra north of Northwest Nicolai Street.

Well, now you've got a great excuse.

But leaving your personal comfort zone is only one of the ways Great Notion Brewing's new 30-barrel production facility and pub (2450 NW 28th Ave., greatnotionpdx.com) demands an adventurous side.

(Laurel Kadas)

The sister location to its tiny Northeast Alberta Street brewpub, the new space looks like a modern art museum from the outside. Floor-to-ceiling windows and bright lights draw eyes inside an oblong wooden space that's been added to the front of a massive warehouse. Walk up the stairs, through an elegant entryway lined with coal-black wood, and that's where you'll encounter the most high-energy brewpub in the state. Hard-walled and packed with robust industrial furniture, the shimmering wooden barroom is a beer-fueled echo chamber—and the beer is louder than the crowd.

Bright purple sour ales, hazy yellow IPAs and jet-black imperial stouts flow from 24 taps into sleek tulip glasses, which dot the room in various states of emptiness like actual wilting flowers. Huge, fruit-infused hop bombs like the Pineapple Juice Invader, massively decadent dessert stouts like Moon Pie, and a sour ale designed to taste like a Costco blueberry muffin assault the senses, fists finding all id and no ego.

(Laurel Kadas)

The food is equal parts childish and mouthwatering. A housemade crunchwrap supreme filled with impossible burger beef ($16) is joined by an especially gluttonous interpretation of steak frites ($20), pairing a tender cut of Painted Hills rib-eye with crinkle-cut fries. The best way to finish off such a meal? A '50s-style milkshake infused with Double Stack Imperial Stout ($8), which tastes like what the angels serve at diners in heaven.

That's the thing about anything at Great Notion—if it sounds off-putting to every part of you except your inner teenager, then it's probably worth ordering.

Related: Great Notion is One of the Greatest Success Stories in Portland Beer.

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