Gigantic Brewing debuts 16oz Cans and new Year-Round Lineup
When Gigantic Brewing opened in 2012, they were one of the first breweries to recognize the evolution of the craft beer consumers desire to find something new to drink at all times. They were among the first to abandon the then standard format of 3-6 core year-round beers and 3-4 rotating seasonals, and launch with just one regular beer the Gigantic IPA and endless rotation of one-offs. It will have been 12 years in business this spring, and things have changed.
The changes began when Gigantic added Kolschtastic to their regular lineup in 2017, that was five years after they began brewing. They have now reversed course to the traditional model with six year-round beers including Gigantic IPA, Kolschtastic, Sassy Pony Pale, Mecha Red, LP Stout and their latest, Gigantic Pilsner will become a regularly available German Pilsner brewed with local grown hops and malt.
Their original sole flagship beer IPA was packaged in 22oz bottles from the start, but switched to 16.9oz/500 ml bottles in 2018, they then switched to the OBRC refillable bottle program along with breweries like Double Mountain and Buoy Beer in 2020. The choice to go to refillable bottles made sense at the time, it was already the same size of bottles that the industry seemed to be heading in with 500ml, and they were locally produced glass and reuse made sense for the community and environment.
“This May will be our 12th anniversary,” says Gigantic Brewing co-founder Ben Love. “We did resist the change to cans for a number of reasons. First off, we have an amazing bottling line that not only does a great job filling bottles, but we also have incredibly low product loss during packaging. Second, we loved utilizing the locally produced OBRC refillable bottles. Those bottles are made in Portland then shipped to us, we fill them, they are sold to consumers, then once drank they are returned to OBRC, washed and sanitized, then shipped back to us to be refilled. It is the closed loop system that we are all striving for. But at the end of the day, beer consumers prefer to purchase beer that is in cans more than beer that is in bottles, and for us to continue as a brewery we needed to transition to the package more people want, cans.”
After years of bottling up delicious IPAs and unique one-offs with amazing label art, Gigantic Brewing Company has taken the plunge and is packaging their beer in 16oz cans, sold primarily in the 4-pack format. Most importantly, they continue to make beer that is visionary and delicious, and still packaged with a commitment to sustainability. Now fans can enjoy Gigantic’s unique flavors in a convenient and portable format.
To go from bottling to canning required a crash course in new products from the can formats themselves, to can printing, paktechs, trays, lids, and mobile canning. All of Gigantic’s year-round labels needed to be reformated for 16oz wraparound packaging, which is quite different then the typical aspect ratio of a bottle. Gigantic partnered with Craft Canning to have their cans printed locally.
“The printed cans not only boast an impressive aesthetic appeal with a myriad of color options, metallics, matte finishes, and textures, but they are also entirely recyclable - aligning with Gigantic’s commitment to sustainability,” says Ben Love. “We are working with Cascadia Canning for mobile can filling, but plan to purchase our own canning line down the road, so we have already done the research so we can purchase the line when we are ready.”
Moving forward, the majority of Gigantic beers will be exclusively available in 16oz cans, while barrel-aged varieties will continue to be offered in bottles.
The initial canned lineup includes:
Gigantic IPA: True to its name. A citrusy hop confluence that continuously embiggens with each drink.
Kölschtastic: Refreshing and easy-drinking, a subtle balance of pilsner malt and Mt Hood hops.
Life or Death IPA: A seasonal collaboration with Wayfinder Beer that has a big citrus orange, tropical, and dank aroma, that finishes dry and refreshing.
Over the next five weeks, Gigantic will unveil a new canned beer offering each week! From brewery favorite Sassy Pony Pale, to new year-round offering Gigantic Pilsner, to seasonal releases Spirit Bomb IPA, Goblin Mode Hazy IPA, Mill Ends Red, and Tierra del Lager, these canned offerings will join Gigantic Brewing’s existing lineup of draft and barrel-aged bottled beers, ensuring that beer lovers have even more ways to experience the brewery’s craftsmanship and creativity.
Gigantic has long been known for their unique and colorful label art, which features artists both from Oregon and around the world. In switching to cans they chose to partner with Craft Canning, a Portland-based company specializing in printed cans. These printed cans not only boast an impressive aesthetic appeal with a myriad of color options, metallics, matte finishes, and textures, but they are also entirely recyclable - aligning with Gigantic’s commitment to sustainability.
Gigantic Brewing’s new canned beers will be available for purchase at grocers, beer shops, bars and bodegas throughout Oregon, as well as at the brewery’s three taproom locations:
The Brewery Taproom (5224 SE 26th Ave)
Hawthorne Pub (4343 SE Hawthorne)
Robot Room (6935 NE Glisan St).
For more information about Gigantic Brewing and its new canned beer line, follow @GiganticBrewing on social media or go to www.GiganticBrewing.com.
Join Gigantic and Wayfinder for the can launch of Life or Death IPA at Belmont Station on Friday, February 2nd from 4-7pm.
All three John’s Marketplace locations are featuring Gigantic Brewing’s new canned beers for the month of February. Stop in to your local John’s for weekly can releases.
Gigantic Brewing is distributed in Oregon: Maletis, Bigfoot, Summit, and Fort George.
Washington: Maletis, Stoup, and Dickerson.
California: Lime and Tomaso’s.
Texas: Flood.
Nebraska: Goodlife.
Japan: Farmers Company Ltd.sustainability.