Beer Guide 2014: Gigantic

By Martin Cizmar

 

Gigantic

5224 SE 26th Ave., 208-3416, giganticbrewing.com. 3-9 pm Monday-Friday, Noon-9 pm Saturday, noon-8 pm Sunday.

There is very little Champagne in the Champagne lounge. Oh, there is Champagne in the Champagne lounge. But you don't want Champagne, you want beer. And there is also beer at Gigantic's "taproom and Champagne lounge" which, the bartender says, pops about one bottle of bubbly per week. The joke? It's a Reedie thing, I think. Gigantic's jaunty Van Havig (Reed College, '92) left Rock Bottom Brewery when, as described on his official Gigantic bio, he "couldn't keep his mouth shut about some changes being made at the company." He teamed with ex-Hopworks brewmaster Ben Love to open shop in an industrial zone just west of the ye olde Renn Fayres passt. And everything has gone, well, pretty damned smoothly. The upstart's IPA is a bestseller at Portland bottle shops while the Most Premium IRS lands in our top 10 beers of the year (page 19). The taproom has wooden picnic tables, a garage door that rolls up to connect to a large patio, a leather sofa, poster-sized label art and little containers of Albina City Nuts ($3). Oh, and Champagne, if you want it. MARTIN CIZMAR.

DRINK THIS: If it's still around when you get there, Gigantic's Most Premium Imperial Russian Stout is warm and cuddly like a teddy bear.


Portland-Area Breweries from A to Z | Beer of the Year | Favorite Beers #2-10

Portland-Area Cideries | Top 5 Ciders of the Year | Beer Bars and Bottle Shops

Local Growler Makers | Surprising Growler Fills | Homebrew Shops

Restaurants With Great Beer | Local Beer and Liquor Pairings

An Oral History of BridgePort IPA | Beer Events Calendar | Beer Tours

Day Sips: North Oregon Coast, Hood River, Eugene, Seattle

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.