E-Malt.com News article: USA, OR: Great Notion Brewing opening its fourth Portland-area location

Great Notion Brewing, the innovative brewery whose hazy IPAs and culinary-inspired stouts and sours became immensely popular after it burst onto the Portland beer scene eight years ago, is opening its fourth Portland-area location, this one on Southeast Division Street in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, the Oregon Live reported on June 13.

The brewery, which also has two taprooms in Seattle, plans a multi-phase opening in the former Ether Shoes building, which is at Division Street and Southeast 21st Avenue. The historic neighborhood includes numerous retail, dining and entertainment options, with Crisp Salads and Spielman Bagels on either side of the new taproom, and Scottie’s Pizza, Nuestra Cocina and New Seasons Market also nearby.

A beer garden will open first on June 24, with hours to be determined from Thursdays through Sundays. Later in summer, Great Notion plans to be open seven days a week, and construction on the taproom, at 2105 S.E. Division St., will start later in the year.

“The goal is to just get something up and running and iterate from there,” said Great Notion co-founder Paul Reiter said. “Picture a fun outdoorsy vibe with a food truck (TBA), picnic tables, pop-up tent, etc.”

The 2,400-square-foot location will have Great Notion’s beers from draft and cans with packaged beer to-go. Reiter said the owners planned to have an all-ages taproom after they finalize plans to have a food truck at the location, with outdoor seating opening up to Division.

“Our Southeast Division taproom will continue our mission to cultivate community and #KeepBeerFun,” said Ryan O’Connor, Great Notion’s chief operating officer. “Over the past several years, we have learned a lot about creating warm and inviting spaces. We’ve tackled a pretty wide range of properties, from repurposed industrial warehouses to brand new construction.

“This space is particularly exciting for us. There’s tons of potential here, and we cannot wait to bring the Great Notion experience to Southeast Portland.”

Reiter and his homebrewing neighbors, Andy Miller and James Dugan, in 2016 made a Great Notion flagship out of a beer that few West Coasters had heard of at that point – the New England, hazy or juicy IPA. The style, first crafted by Vermont’s The Alchemist brewery, offered a softer, rounder, fruitier IPA profile than traditional West Coast IPAs.

They opened their original spot on Northeast Alberta Street in the former Mash Tun Brewing space. Soon long lines would extend down the street for releases of beers such as Juice Jr., Ripe IPA and Double Stack Imperial Stout.

The latter was among sweeter fruited beers that also included Blueberry Muffin, and the offerings rankled some beer traditionalists. But Great Notion’s beers become all the rage and continue today to be immensely popular, as well as award-winning at the highest levels. Great Notion also offers a range of more traditional beers, including clear IPAs and lagers.

“We really just wanted to make beer fun,” Miller said during a 2019 interview. “Just wanted to have fun, do some of the stuff we were doing at home and bring it to a commercial level.”

In 2019, Great Notion’s popularity brought an expansion to Northwest Portland with a new brewpub and production brewery, then shortly after Great Notion opened a taproom in Cedar Mill, on the border of Portland and Beaverton. Taprooms in Seattle’s Georgetown and Ballard neighborhoods followed.

Reither said the team had long wanted to open a spot in Southeast Portland.

“We are very pumped to open up in Southeast,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “If other Portlanders are like my family and friends, it’s hard to venture out past your own neighborhood, especially in the world we’ve been stuck in the past couple of years.

“So for us to come down to a neighborhood that’s already popping and alive and across from arguably the best pizza in town,” he said, “it’s a real joy that we look forward to.”


13 June, 2022