Life or Death IPA from two of Portland, Oregon’s finest breweries – Gigantic and Wayfinder
Portland, Oregon’s Gigantic Brewing has been around since 2012 and is now making their fourth appearance on Belt’s Beer Garden, and their first time since 2021.
But today isn’t just about them. Because the beer I found is a collaboration between Gigantic and one of my favorite places for lagers – Wayfinder Beer – which is also located in Portland, just about 3.5 miles north of Gigantic’s original brewhouse.
While Wayfinder and lagers go together like mac & cheese, Gigantic and IPAs fit like peanut butter and jelly. So it’s no surprise that the collaboration I have today is an IPA – Life or Death.
Life or Death was brewed with Cascade, Citra, and Strata cones with some Co2 Hop Extract for good measure. Each can has a 7.2% ABV and a four pack will set you back about $23.
This “new-school” West Coast IPA poured a dark straw color with some deep orange hues. Topping the beer off was about a finger and a half of bright white head that fizzled down into a thin ring around the edge of the glass within a minute or so. There was minimal lacing as it dissipated.
On the nose there were massive notes of oranges, tangerines, and other tropical fruits – such as mango and papaya. The aroma was light, fruity, and had just a touch of dank, resinous hops with some flaked grains sitting underneath. It smelled absolutely amazing.
Each sip began with soft effervescence that prepared the taste buds for the oncoming assault. As indicated by the scent, Life or Death begins with a massive onslaught of juicy orange and tangerine. Shortly after the initial burst, there was an additional dash of pineapple and mango that complimented the citrus quite nicely.
However, after the first few seconds, everything became much more subtle and soft. There was a pithy grapefruit rind bitterness that popped up midway through and a somewhat sticky resinous feeling began to creepy forward.
The grapefruit peel and resin weren’t overbearing, nor did they stick around too long but the later did linger on the palate for a touch longer. Overall, the finish of the beer was rather clean. Outside of that sticky resin, there wasn’t much to it.
The body was rather thin and, when combined with the subtle flavors, it made for a very easy to drink IPA with some great initial flavors. Plus that 7.2% ABV was completely hidden.
I knew that both Wayfinder and Gigantic made great beers individually, so it was great to see that their collab was just as tasty. My only complaint is those juicy flavors didn’t last nearly as long as I would’ve liked them to. But otherwise, it’s a very crushable IPA.
