I just couldn’t get myself excited about yesterday’s advent beer: Bluejacket’s own Midnight Flowers, a sour with black currants, blackberries, blueberries, plums, vanilla, and lactose. ’ll bet that beer is utterly photogenic, though, and I’ll crack it one of these days.

Today’s beer introduced me to Great Notion, a brewery in Portland, Oregon. Love the can art. (No credit to the artist on the can, which drives me nuts. Why don’t breweries credit their artists?!) In the graphic, the possum stands out, but the pine trees behind it are important, too, because this beer packs a wallop of resin.

Appearance: Pours like juice: hazy and yellow. Surprising amount of head, given how softly the can sighed when I popped its top. Doesn’t persist, though. Very light lacing.

Aroma: Resin and lots of it. A refreshing surprise and break from just juiciness. Pineapple, grapefruit, melon. Mosaic, Simcoe, Riwaka (the last, a hop new to me).

Taste: Moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Rich but not too coating. Not sure where that initially big head comes from, since there’s little carbonation in the mouthfeel.