Name:Gigantic/Half Acre Grimalkin Amorphotron
Style: Imperial Ale/American Double
IBU: N/A
ABV: 10.5%
“In a dark corner of the Uniplex there’s lies a region where disparate forces fold into and quarrel with one another; A place where energies blend into a deformity of unknown quantity…
Gigantic and Half Acre Present A Ginormous and Big Hugs Saga: GRIMALKIN AMORPHOTRON
A melded, single skinned war creature, half Mecha, half Kaiju, that lives to walk the dark lands. We offer you its liquid rite:
Some parts imperial stout, some features Double IPA.
A black beer north of the 10% ABV equatorial dividing line.
Munich, Pale and Roasted Malts mix with Naked Oats to embolden its torso.
Crystal, Mosaic and Simcoe hops empower its limbs.
A warrior’s brewhouse schedule paves the way for a time honored cellar regime.
A secondary layer of dry hops combs its coat to realize its exterior sheen.
Its yours now. Tame its wild nature and live within its power”
I have had this beer and been wanting to review it, but haven’t had a lot of time and I wanted to wait for it to cool down at least a little bit before taking on a big dark beer. It hasn’t cooled down too much, but it has enough. This beer was only brewed once as a collaboration between Gigantic Brewing in Portland, OR and Half Acre Brewing in Chicago, IL. Now anytime you get one of these rare beers you want to save it, but beers are made for drinking so let’s see how this beer turned out.
The beer pours a dark black with a slight brown hue and minimal head which quickly recedes. The nose is extremely odd, as it smells like a cross between an black IPA and an imperial stout.The scents start with freshly cooked bread that your took out the a minute too soon and cut into it, followed by hints of cocoa nibs, coffee and dried plums and at the back there are some nice floral notes. Taking the first sip is just a Wow! The beer definitely tastes like some hybrid cross between an imperial stout and an IPA, but it is more stout like than a Black IPA. The beers flavors coming opposite order of the nose, which the floral bitterness of the hops hitting your first followed by the roasted malty bread flavors and dark chocolate, but the bitters seem to linger long and are there on the end of each sip as well. I would probably put the beer in the medium to full bodied range with the chocolate and bitterness lingering. Overall, this is just a flat out great beer, however it is entirely different than most things I tried. I think it is what I always wanted a black IPA to be, but it isn’t truly a black IPA. It has a lot more body than a black IPA which better balances out the bitterness in the hops. I wish this was a regular rotation or at least seasonal beer from one of these two breweries because it is the perfect fall/winter beer and a great way to relax on a cool night if you ask me. It was released in April 2016, so if you can still find it. I highly recommend picking it up. Cheers!
