EYELUVBEER: Giganitc Brewing

Finally! We made it! Saturday evening we conquered the impossible. We crossed East Burnside and entered SE. Destination --- Gigantic Brewing. For some reason NE Portland never wants us to leave. Yet, miracles occasionally occur, like the one on ice in 1980 when the U.S. defeated The Soviets at the Winter Olympics. In our delusional minds, we felt we beat the odds and went on to take the gold.

After days of driving (7.3 miles, 19 minutes according to Google Maps) we arrived at Gigantic’s industrial, pre-fab building, which brought to mind Amnesia Brewing’s N. Mississippi location. However, Gigantic’s location is actually in an area zoned Industrial. There are indeed benefits associated with this: parking was a breeze, the tasting room wasn't crowded, finding a seat was easy, and grabbing a pint was painless. The only drawback - lack of food. We would've stayed longer if Gigantic offered something to eat, or if we could’ve brought some food in from a non-existent, neighboring restaurant. In Gigantic’s defense, I did read the following on their website under FAQs:

“Do you serve food?
No, Gigantic does not have a kitchen and we do not serve food. You are welcome to bring a picnic, order a pizza or bring food over from the taco cart* across the street. BYO napkins and utensils, because we don't have any.”

“Do you plan to serve food?
No. We make beer for a living and have no interest in running a restaurant.”

*Taco cart not present on our visit.

Minus the lack of food, Gigantic is a must do. They make remarkable beer complemented by equally impressive, artist produced bottle labels. We sat near a wall lined with Buzz Parker’s fine creations, who’s the artist for Gigantic’s ’The End of Reason’, a Belgian-Style Petite Quad. End of Reason was also one of the beers offered on tap. I was tempted to order a pint, but being our first visit we did proper and ordered a taster tray. Of the seven beers we tired, our palates were drawn to three. We fancied their standard, but incredible IPA simply named, ‘Gigantic IPA’, a Bock, called ‘Kiss the Goat Black Bock’ and ‘The Time Traveler Porter’. The other beers we sampled were top notch, including End of Reason, but the Bock was my pint of choice. Note - there was an interesting standout taster that kept us sipping away. It was the ‘Ume Umai Black Rice and Plum Beer’, which Gigantic says is “an experimental haiku in a glass’. For more detailed information on this unique brew, check out The New School.

Buzz Parker's fine work.

Yummy Tasters!

We’ll return soon Gigantic. We won’t let a street hold us Northeasters back from your fabulous brew. We also can’t wait for the weather to become more temperate so we can take advantage of your patio seating. More importantly, we’re looking forward to seeing your friends; the wild boar-squirrel-like head, the double bit axe, and the antique-ish rifle.

Photo Gallery

(One day I'll own a nice camera)