Gigantic Too Much Coffee Man

Brewed By: Gigantic Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon  

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Sheridan 'L' Longue in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Belgian Stout/Saison/Farmhouse Ale/Black Saison/wut, 8.2%

Reported IBUs: 25

I've been tempted to jump on Gigantic for a while now; their bottle art is catchy, and the logo and glassware is awesome. Tonight's beer caught my attention and pushed me over the edge. One, I love coffee. Two, the artwork reminds me of Megamind or The Incredibles. At any rate, about Gigantic: 

Gigantic Brewing Co. is a brewery based out of Portland, Oregon. The brewery was founded by Ben Love and Van Havig during sometime around 2012. And no, those aren't made-up names. But they are definitely great porn star names. Ben Love is Gigantic's Brewmaster, and Van Havig is Gigantic's Master Brewer. I'm not sure what the difference is, but I am intrigued. For more info, check out the their website or Facebook page.

Tonight's beer, the Too Much Coffee Man, is: "An experiment perfected! This beguiling blend of Imperial Black Saison and custom roasted cold pressed Coava coffee will have your olfactory zones erogenized and begging for more." This so-called Belgian-Style Black Ale with Coffee punches in at 8.2% and 25 IBUs. The bottle art is fantastic, and done by Shannon Wheeler. How could you pass this one up?

Gigantic Too Much Coffee Man

The Too Much Coffee Man pours into a dark brown/blackish body, kicking up a nice finger of funky, Belgian-esque head. The head is brown and sustaining. The beer looks like a Porter, with that Belgian-esque head. There's some good lacing, and good head retention here. Bright light doesn't betray the dark brown/black body, and the beer retains some nice opacity. Nice.

I'm not 100% sure about dumping this into the Saison category...the aroma reminds me of Belgian Stouts, with lots of roast, smoke, big coffee, and BIG chalky, charred notes. There is a lot of char on this aroma. It smells like barbecued meats. It's not a smokey/Rauchbier smell, it's totally unique to this beer and the style. I've smelled a lot of the notes on this beer's nose before. This beer reminds me of Jester King's Black Metal Farmhouse. The Black Metal also had some Fantôme elements on the nose, and you get those here too. I'm getting leather, smoker's jacket, chalky cacao, and deep, deep coffee. It's a fantastic aroma. 

The taste is a bit more Saison-like, but I still think this leans towards a Farmhouse Stout thing. I'm getting a lot of spice and funk on the taste, with heavy waves of coffee. The coffee isn't acidic or bitter, it's more like a note integrated into the beer. There are notes of dark fruits and figs, maybe some cherry, gentle coffee, big caramel notes, woody notes, char, and some peppery spice, clove, and Belgian funk. I shit you not, I'm also getting some green beans and unroasted coffee beans on the finish. This is really unique and interesting. I'm picking up some cocoa in here, a little lactose, and chalky mouthfeels. Those mouthfeels, man. 

Let's talk about this beer's perfect mouthfeel. This beer is GENTLE. This is like...a Milk Stout. The mouthfeel is medium-full to full-bodied, but damn! This smooths out with coffee and carbonation. The balance here is a bit towards the sweeter side, and that holds the complexity back just a bit. But the palate depth is fantastic. At 8.2%, this hides the alcohol with ease. I'm digging this. Up front: sweet caramel, fruits/figs/cherries, sweeter coffee; the mids roll into coffee, char, woody notes; the back end is spicy with some Belgian funk and clove. The lingering profile imparts woody-sweet coffee, and the finish is unroasted coffee beans and green beans. Weeeeiiird but good.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. As this warms up and I work my way through the bomber, I'm losing some of the complexity as the sweetness takes over. It's a bit one-sided in terms of where the balance is at. I should talk more about the coffee, since that's a big feature in this beer. The coffee notes present here are really good. They are well-integrated and sweet, almost in that hazelnut/mocha range. I like it. This beer begs to be paired with grilled or charred meats, and dry chocolate desserts. This is really unique and pretty damn tasty. I recommend this, especially at the price. 

Random Thought: I know the Black Saison style is about as ambiguous as ambiguous can be, but tell me this isn't a Belgian Stout/Farmhouse Stout.