Notch Brewing

Microbrewery in Salem, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Associated with 2 Venues

Established in 2010

Contact
283R Derby St, Salem, MA, 01970, United States
Description
Launched in 2010, Notch Brewing – named for the nick made to keep a record when you're having more than one – was the first brewing company in the U.S. to focus exclusively on session beer. At the time, we simply wanted to brew the beers we loved to drink because finding them was a challenge. Session beer has been enjoyed in every great beer brewing nation for centuries, yet in the U.S. it was overlooked. So we set out to brew the world’s classic session styles from the Czech Republic, Germany, England, and Belgium, as well as explore how session beer could fit with the U.S.’s hoppy beer infatuation. Over a decade later, we have a brewery built on the back of session beer and it’s proven two things: beer consumers like options, and session beer is a great one.

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7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Breweries releasing new beers with zero information about them....love it. Draught at Brighton, 8/2/24. Chill-hazed, muted peach-amber-rust. Small, dense, off-white head. Bready, hoppy (leafy, peppery, earthy) and with a shit ton of fruity yeast, even through its ice cold serving temp. Lightly buttery, bready, caramelly. Drying out with husky and toasty malt notes. Fruity, with a hint of raspberry. Very, very dry finish, a bit too much so, exposing the huskiness. But it's clean enough, though there's a buttery undercurrent throughout. Eh....

Tried on 02 Aug 2024 at 21:55


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Brighton draught, 8/2/24. Clear, raspberry-amber. Medium-sized, beige head, moderately-strong retention. Rich breadiness showing toffee-caramel and such. Strong underlying base malt. No roast. Pushing the lower boundaries of a dunkel, approaching a Polotmavy. Rich malts with a big base malt anchor. Light toffee, big honey, light bread. Balanced clean, refreshing, even. Just a touch of coffee-like character (or root flavor, as GDTRFB suggests) lingering on the very end.

Tried on 02 Aug 2024 at 21:45


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Brighton release Lukr (the gravity cask didn't carbonate), 8/2/24. Clear brass-golden-maize. Large, creamy, white head slowly falls to light cover. Minerally yeast character/hard water. Gently fruity, freshly-cut grass hop character adds complexity. Dough, biscuit and honey from the malt, very clean. Moderately aromatic. Almost juicy with a round bread dough character from the malt, lightly sweet. Appley character, light, from the yeast. Some bitterness, herbaceous, up front but very little hop character otherwise. Clean. This is solid but unspectacular. Bit overly doughy/bready and more apple from the yeast than I'd like. But it's malty, dry, clean, very drinkable.

Tried from Cask on 02 Aug 2024 at 21:21


7

Tried from Can on 02 Aug 2024 at 19:47


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

16 oz can from Half Time, 7/31/24. Pours a clear golden color with a white head and moderate lace. Grainy and bright. Herbal and grassy. Touch of lemon. Fairly dry. Flavorful. No complaints. 7/4/7/4/16

Tried from Can on 31 Jul 2024 at 20:58


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

16oz can. Poured a clear yellow color with a small, fizzy white head. Aroma was big crispy malts, light herbal and grassy character. Flavor was pleasant malt, biscuit. Crisp.

Tried from Can on 30 Jul 2024 at 03:35


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Brighton draught, 6/28/24. Lightly hazy/cloudy. Pale brass with a hint of peach. Small, white head quickly to ring. Heavy dough, lots of lemony lactic character and some softer, nuttier wheat. Juicy, very lemony. Tart but with nicely developed lactic character that isn't a bit austere or punchy. Chewy wheats and low but engaging carbonation. Less sought in the mouth. Nice lemon flavors and textures. Good depth and attenuation.

Tried on 28 Jun 2024 at 18:57


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Brighton draught, 6/28/24. Clear bright brass-golden. Medium-sized, white head steadily to cover. Crusty baguette, light honey. Dried herbs and a bit of grass with excellent minerality and a polished cleanliness. Malty as hell for its size, drying out perfectly with ample, herbal and lightly spicy hop bitterness to balance the honey and baguette malt character. Clean, snappy, bright and full of delightful yeast character on the finish. 8/4/9/5/17 Again on 10/2/24. Not nearly as good as remembered. Mostly just too timid on the malt. Floral, lightly bitter, just sort of crackery. Kind of a bit floury. 7/4/7/3/15

Tried on 28 Jun 2024 at 18:49


7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Pours clear gold into a willi. Bright white head with good retention recedes to skim surface. Cracker and meadow aromas. Soft and sweet with meadow, biscuit and mild sourdough front to back.

Tried on 26 Jun 2024 at 00:17


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

On tap at Churchkey. Clear amber, beige head. Toasted malt, caramel, brown bread.

Tried from Draft on 25 Jun 2024 at 14:36