Dark Meddle
Gigantic Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

22oz brown bottle purchased from Ales Unlimited in San Francisco, CA.

Pours a slightly hazed amber hue with an initially frothy head that settles out to a pale cream ring with some coarser bubbles. Body is fairly light, and the carbonation is very low. Some mild patches of lace. Looks okay, no better though.

Nose is like a mild Vienna lager. It has the characters you want, but it's quite subdued. Slight toastiness, a little spice (I get some aniseed), with a slightly floury grain character. Some vague yeasty tones come through as well. Again, it's really only average.

Taste is a little better, although still quite thin. Mild flabby malt forms the bulk of it, with grainy overtones and more of that floury note. Some spice makes itself felt a little, with some coriander root and mallow coming through. Back is fairly empty, although with a slight linger of bready grain to keep it a little dry.

Feel is thin for the most part, but with a slight uptilt towards the back. Not bad at all.

Overall, it's certainly not bad, but it's not: a) that interesting, b) that good a Vienna lager or c) up to the standard of the other beers I've had from Gigantic.

 

(Served in a snifter)
A- This beer is a slow gusher spilling a murky aged copper body with a violent swirling of microbubbles that fizz up to a lumpy beige foam.

S- The clean lagered plastic note leads to some dried out berry and grape seed aromas with a faint dry toasted malt note in the finish.

T- The lagered lightly toasted malt has some dry Munich malt notes come through with some toasted biscuit notes and some woody grape seed notes to follow. the nice soft green bite in the finish comes through after the fizz settles down a bit.

M- The medium-full mouthfeel has a scrubbing fizz that hides some of the flavor until it settles and no alcohol in noted.

O- The nice soft malt flavors are well lagered with a nice bit of depth to the beer once the carbonation slows down.

 

 

The clear coppery amber brew is quite handsome in the big chalice. Plenty of foam and lacing. A really nice aroma of dark malt with a whiff of perfumey hops. There is a rich and malty flavor full of roasted grain. Lots of caramel, but balanced by the crisp hoppy background. The warm, roasted aromatics with the Pilsener hops are really tasty and even more of a revelation after drinking a Trader Joe's Vienna Lager couple nights ago.

Really an full-flavored and highly drinkable beer. And for this category, it's far above the middling. I think Gigantic is making some very interesting as well as drinkable brews. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle.