The City Never Sleeps
Gigantic Brewing Company

The City Never SleepsThe City Never Sleeps
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From:
Gigantic Brewing Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Saison
ABV:
7.6%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.87 | pDev: 12.4%
Reviews:
27
Ratings:
76
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 05, 2019
Added:
Jun 27, 2012
Wants:
  11
Gots:
  7
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by laituegonflable:
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

3.68/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a dark brown colour, seems to have a reddish tinge to it, with cream-beige foamy head, sunk to a film of bubbles but nice clingy lace. Good.

Smells fairly roasty and dark, but wild with a slight sour edge. Hint of espresso, licorice and chocolate, with a dark cherry touch and maybe a hint of orange peel. Pleasant, but could use a bit more oomph to drive it home.

Taste is also dark: a little bit spicier with a touch of black pepper, star anise, all riding on a bitter chocolate wave. Fairly mild by the end with a touch of cola, nutmeg maybe, overall a little on the English, subtly bitter side. But pleasant, and pretty well-balanced, with sweet and spice in harmony.

Bit fizzy in the mouth, leaves a bit prickly and dry. Body is a bit vapid, so the bubbles are left unharnessed and they run wild.

Fairly straightforward, but nice spice notes keep me interesting.
Aug 04, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.99 by Pro_Magnon from Texas

Jun 05, 2019
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

3.94/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22oz bottle. Poured an opaque, jet black color with a small tan head of foam. It smelled of spices, wheat, yeast and bread crust. Sweet caramel and roasted malt taste with a spicy bite.
Apr 25, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Stengelfoot from California

Nov 06, 2017
 
Rated: 3.83 by tomb_ride from California

Nov 02, 2017
Photo of puck1225
Reviewed by puck1225 from Texas

4.29/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A somewhat underrated beer. It was poured from a bomber into a tulip glass. Rich dark brown with a reddish beige head and great lacing. A chocolate coffee smell. The earthy, smokey flavors remind you of a nice Porter, mingled with a some saison funk. Smooth as silk feel - very nice beer!
Oct 18, 2017
 
Rated: 3.94 by 2GOOFY from California

Sep 17, 2017
Photo of dave_ackbar
Reviewed by dave_ackbar from Hawaii

4.94/5  rDev +27.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Tried a 4oz. Sample of this the other night along with a few other darks. I immediately ordered 16 more ounces of this.

The color is a rich brown with a reddish hue.

The smell was hard to describe, but amazing.

Taste was smooth, with a dry finish.

I had this on tap, but purchased two 22oz bottles on my way out.

Best beer I've had in 2017
Aug 07, 2017
 
Rated: 4.08 by BeerForMuscle from New Jersey

Aug 02, 2017
Photo of Wasatch
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado

4.12/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22 oz. Bomber

Poured into a chalice a pretty nice black color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy/foamy one-finger light tan head, which leaves some nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, yeasty, with some light chocolate/toffee/licorice, very light banana/coriander. The taste is malty, yeasty, with some light chocolate/toffee/licorice. Nice little banana/coriander/spice note. Medium body, ABV hidden very well, nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, a pretty tasty brew, nice to see it back around here.
Jul 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.82 by BeerAndFilm from Oregon

Jun 20, 2017
 
Rated: 3.78 by Gagnonsux from Texas

May 27, 2017
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

4.06/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Appearance: The Saison yeast does its thing here, producing a full three fingers of sticky beige foam that impressively laces the tulip; underneath, the liquid looks like a stout, with a fudge brown color

Smell: Rustic and bready, with a toasted brown bread character; cocoa powder and a hint of licorice

Taste: Somewhat roasty, with cocoa powder and toasted brown bread, with a hint of licorice; through the middle, the Saison yeast adds a slightly phenolic tone, bringing a touch of white pepper; the finish brings a blend of the flavor progression

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: Glad to get a bottle from the re-release of this one -off as I missed it the first time around; an interesting beer that I wish had a bit more Saison character; still, I enjoyed it
May 07, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by Howlader from Canada (AB)

Apr 29, 2017
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.87/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
22oz bottle - an 'Imperial Black Saison', which is not a new thing to me, but rare enough that I'm mildly trepidatious about it.

This beer pours a fairly solid black hole, with very subtle orange cola basal edges, and three fingers of puffy, rocky, and chunky beige head, which leaves some decent tiered mitochondrial lace around the glass as it slowly but surely abates.

It smells of roasted wheaten malt, a mildly estery yeastiness, bittersweet cocoa powder, some lesser caramel/toffee sweetness, ethereal anise and mixed peppercorn spice, and very faint earthy, leafy, and dead floral green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, a lesser edgy wheatiness, kind of phenolic yeast, muddled citrus/pome fruity notes, medium-dark chocolate, still hard to pin down spices (maybe some clove, maybe some black pepper dust), and more rather weak leafy, weedy, and gently perfumed floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly laid-back in its insouciant-seeming frothiness, the body an adequate medium weight, and mostly smooth, but for a bit of yeasty interference making unwelcome waves here. It finishes off-dry, in a yeasty, charred, and fruity malt manner.

Overall, this is a pleasant enough blackened Saison, with a well-integrated 'Imperial' wowee sauce measure. Easy to put back, even if it does touch on a number of my least favourite parts of the beer spectrum - so that's really saying something, yeah?
Apr 29, 2017
Photo of ygtbsm94
Reviewed by ygtbsm94 from Utah

3.42/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
More of a porter/brown than a Saison! Molasses, plums, toasted barley, chocolate Taste is brown sugar, cherries, plums, coffee, vanilla, cocoa, herbal.
Jan 30, 2017
Photo of BeerAdvocate
Reviewed by BeerAdvocate from Finland

3.9/5  rDev +0.8%
From BeerAdvocate magazine Issue #69 (October 2012):

Blasphemy for some, creative dark juice for others, this “Imperial Black Saison” defies style. It’s all over the place and barely resembles a Saison. Style banter aside, this is a fun and flavor-packed beer that’s layered with interesting characters that might not normally come to play together.

STYLE: Imperial Black Saison
ABV: 7.6%
AVAILABILITY: Year-round

LOOK: Black, opaque, creamy, foamy, coffee colored head

SMELL: Citric, phenolic, fruity, esters, musty, roasty, coffee

TASTE: Smooth, creamy, semi-viscous, chewy, malty, blackstrap molasses, brown sugar, coffee, cola, citric snap, fruity, vegetal, earthy, dry
Oct 29, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by htdoerge from Texas

Aug 18, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by KAF from Iowa

Jul 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by GClarkage from California

Jul 08, 2014
The City Never Sleeps from Gigantic Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 76 ratings