Axes Of Evil | Gigantic Brewing Company

3.85/5  rDev -1%

From BeerAdvocate magazine Issue #69 (October 2012):

An interesting collaboration with Three Floyds in that it’s not some over-hyped whale of a beer style. It’s simply a solid take on an English Pale Ale with an Americanized hoppy twist. Flavorful, balanced and easy to drink. We’re definitely looking forward to trying more beers and collaborations from Gigantic.

STYLE: English Pale Ale
ABV: 6.0%
AVAILABILITY: Limited

LOOK: Semi-hazy amber, thick white foam head

SMELL: Floral, tropical, grass

TASTE: Crisp carbonation, light-bodied, stone fruits, tropical, citrusy, floral, malty, honey, caramel, bready finish

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3.5/5  rDev -10%

4/5  rDev +2.8%

4/5  rDev +2.8%

3.58/5  rDev -8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

22oz bottle - hmmm...based on the guest quote here, Lemmy & Co. must have lived next door to me (maybe in the old Polish lady's basement?) for a while before he moved on.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, medium copper amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly off-white head, which leaves some craggy old forest growth lace around the glass as it quickly sinks away.

It smells lightly of muddled tropical fruit, a certain hard water flintiness, mild ashy notes, gritty and grainy pale malt, a bit of buttered white toast, and more subtle leafy, weedy, and musky floral green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, a still hard to parse citrusy, exotic, and pome fruitiness, some wet stone essences, more lightly buttery toastiness, and some still plain herbal, grassy, and dead floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly meek in its workaday frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and generally smooth, but for a wee clammy pithiness that seems to be there from the get-go. It finishes off-dry, the blended malt, faltering fruit, and lingering forest floor detritus making a day of it.

Overall - I'm not really seeing where the big, bad American hop influence comes into play here. Maybe a bit with that tepid tropical attempt, but otherwise, this is a standard, well-wrought English version of the style, what with the focus on malt and unrequited hop love, as such.

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3.5/5  rDev -10%

4.07/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy orange-amber with a short, creamy head. Aroma of citrus (lemon especially) and pine needles. Wow -- big, sweet, juicy lemon on the tongue, with a smooth, full mouthfeel and a hint of balancing biscuit. Definitely an American take on the style, but the creamy light-bodied drinkability certainly remind me of British ales. Finish is nice and dry.

Not the most robust or complex beer I've had, but certainly enjoyable. I wish I could get it all the time.

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3.28/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A - dark orangish amber with a soft, short, white head

S - floral, citrus, ruby red grapefruit, bread, faint burnt sugar, medicine

T - floral, citrus, caramel, medicine, toasted malt, grapefruit, bread

M - smooth, medium bodied, well carbonated

I'm not sure what to say about this beer. It's all over the place. The hops are citrusy and forward. The malt bready and light. There are weird medicinal notes throughout and a citrus character that tastes like juice from concentrate. I won't be having this again.

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4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bomber - collaboration with FFF

appearance: served in a hiliards can-pint, dull orange-copper body, light beige film

smell: toasted bready malts, orange peel

taste: a great Americanized english IPA - really an interesting hop profile - orange zest, lemon, grapefruit matched 1:1 with bready toasted malt notes. Three floyds influence here is obvious - the best of the bunch from Gigantic thus far

mouthfeel: light, refreshing - light bitterness

overall: solid

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4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

4/5  rDev +2.8%

3.87/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured into an English pint glass, the appearance was a golden bronzed color with a fair transparency about it. Some carbonation found it's way rising to the top. Not much of a head, was just above a film and it left just a touch of clingy filmy lace.
The aroma had some sweet to bitter earthy and grassy hops up front enchanting some of the soapy malts cleanly and sweetly. A very low amount of tobacco leafiness slides in underneath.
The flavor was moderately sweet blending the sweet portion of the hops to the malts and bringing in a little bit of earthy spice. Smooth yet semi-earthy spicy and clean soapy malted aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a pretty good sessionability about it. Carbonation felt on par. ABV felt appropriate, though just a hair above than normal for the style.
Overall, pretty nicely done English pale ale that I could come back to. Pass the fish n' chips!

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3.5/5  rDev -10%

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

3.44/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

4.35/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle courtesy of DaftCaskBC. Thanks man! From an old fav and a new fav, how could this one possibly be less than excelent??

Appearance. Pours caramel-gold with a half finger of thick, white head.

Smell. Toasty malts, citrus rinds, some pine and tropical fruits.

Taste. Toasted malts, sweet citrus fruits, pineapple, very mild bitterness.

Mouthfeel. Medium+ body, below medium carbonation.

Overall. Awesome pale!! Easy drinking and some great, refreshing flavours. (Yes flavours!!! This review is coming straight outta' the great white north, yo!)

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3.5/5  rDev -10%

3.55/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

A dull amber orange body, and some minor cola like bubbles hit the glass. Quite a hazy appearance, with a three finger off white light tan head, some pretty good staying power and retention, and some big swiss cheese holes for bubbles.

Nose is really faint, a mild soft chew orange citrus hop is just trying to creep out. Faint peanut nut on this strangely too. Not bad but kind of uninteresting.

In the palate a mellow orange juice hop quality mixes with some rolling malts on the tongue nicely. Fairly decent body feel with an almost juicy rich coating, but just not getting there. Aftertaste brings some light toasty aromas of malt, some faint soda flat carbonation seems to pop out also.

Overall not too bad for a pale ale, easily drinkable brew.

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3.35/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From Bier Thirty for about $6ish... Poured into my slim tulip.. hazed
light orange with a good head and lacing.

EDIT: Just going to put this out there right up front... This is NOT
an English Pale Ale... A pretty cool mash-up from Gigantic and 3
Floyds.. but still... NOT an English Pale Ale.

Nose shows citrus blossoms and some background tropical fruity hops...
malt profile is mild caramel and hints of nutty/toasty malts..

Flavor is about the same.. nice American fruity hops and malts that
get punched in the mouth.. only hints of caramel or toasty elements...
nutty/toasty notes show up on the finish.. but even then the hops
steamroll anything from the English 2-row catalog.

Body is good.... Fairly thick for an APA, good for an EPA.. medium
carbonation...

Overall, waaaay toooo much American influence and it blows out what
little English input that may be there... Maybe if you let it age for
a while :-)

Decent American Pale ale... but pretty shitty English Pale Ale.

Meh... I doubt I will buy this again unless somebody wants it for a
trade.. Too expensive and too lackluster for anything other than a
one-time enjoyment.

3.5/3.5/3.5/3/3

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4.45/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours dark orange with a 2 finger white creamy head. Good retention and spotty lacing down the glass.

Bready caramel malt mixed with some pleasant American hops. Loads of citrus specifically orange along with a bit of tropical fruit.

Very interesting flavor profile. Not overly hoppy as most things FFF touch (not that that's a bad thing). Bready biscuit malt stands out and is perfectly balanced by the citrus hops. Neither too hoppy or too malty.

Fairly thick for the style with medium-low carbonation.

Very impressed by Gigantic so far. I feel this is a good blend of an English and American IPA that creates a unique flavor profile. Very enjoyable.

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3.77/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle from LetsPour.

Sweaty bottle, rounded pint glass. Admiring the depraved personas of the ratebeer chatroom while trying to plug in reviews on an otherwise ordinary weekend afternoon.

Clouded orange amber, brew. tall, but thin whitewash head.

Mild citrus rind; juicy. Leafy green. Faintly buttery. Toasty grain.

Taste is toasty grain upfront, followed by very sharp, bittersweet citrus/coriander. Beyond astringent, a wincing, sharp pith. So I corked the bottle & came back to it a few hours later. ... Mellowed, but still lingering. Lots of juicy fruit & bitter lettuce. Not traditionally bitter, but just coming from a different direction. Crispy carbonation. Body is a little itchy. Average alcohol. Finish is dry grain & lingering foliage.

"Kilned over Welsh Coal" - Yeah, totally picked that out. :P

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3.84/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

6% abv pale ale featuring English malts and kilned over Welsh coal... Clear, medium gold body, a few fingers of white foam atop... flowery and citrusy aromas followed by mild citrus and tropical fruits on the sip... Little bit o' pine resin tack on the tongue; moderate bitterness, subdued sweetness... Slim feel, modest carbonation, quick drinking... some tackiness lingers behind... Brewed again for Gigantic's fifth anniversary....

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3.92/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium coppery amber with a thin white head that dissipates slowly to a ring around the glass with slippery lacing. Light, but intriguing aroma of light toasted malt and aromatic light fruit leaning towards stone fruits like peach and apricot, maybe some pineapple. Flavor is dominated by similar fruit and citrus hops with a nice biscuit malt base. Citrus hop and residual fruit flavors in the finish. Flavors are somewhat subdued, but nicely balanced. Definitely interesting flavors and somewhat more citrus hops than I'd expect for an English pale ale, but then I feel this style could use a little eccentricity once in a while. An interesting flavor profile while providing the basics of an English ale. Medium bodied with a somewhat surprising hint of creaminess. Nice job.

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3.75/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

4/5  rDev +2.8%