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I posted about Slice & Pint from El Segundo Brewing expanding to a second location down the road in Redondo Beach, well in no time flat, they already have a special beer for it.
Naturally, it is an IPA. Now to find the right pizza for it.
El Segundo Brewing is throwing it back to the ’80s in both beer style and font with their Fresh Wave XPA, Extra Pale Ale. Like most monikers XPA is a bit weird give it is basically just word replacing. Session IPA is a bit cleaner and understandable.
That said, let’s taste the liquid inside and not get too hung up on verbiage. At 4.9%, this is low ABV but that first sip doesn’t give too much away because the hops come in the front door, loud. There is a second wave of malt where the lightness of the body shows up but at the end, it tastes almost like a hoppy Wit as a tropical burst comes in.
El Segundo Brewing’s Slice and Pint is expanding to Redondo Beach!
They will be taking over the Pizza Coast Hiway space before September finishes. So now those south of the South Bay can get their pizza fix and more importantly El Segundo beer without heading towards LAX.
El Segundo Brewing is up to their third collaboration with noted home brewer John Palmer. First was a Dunkelbock and second was a Czech Dark Lager and now their is a Smoked Altbier.
Altbier is a Düsseldorf classic but this has a smoked malt twist. Beechwood to be precise.
Maybe when they get to a fourth European style, they will do a mixed four-pack.
Throughout the month, I will be highlighting some Festbiers from Los Angeles ( and adjacent county ) breweries that will be readily available for your Germanic beer needs, here is post # 1…
Around the horn, clockwise, we have Oaktoberfest, a classic from Firestone Walker, Bear Ears from Brouwerij West, Huftgold from El Segundo Brewing and Das Hof from Hermosa Brewing.
Looks like there is a renaissance of branded beers much like in the olden days of craft beer. One of these is a new blonde ale on tap at Gelson’s fancy supermarkets that is brewed for them by El Segundo brewing.
Here is the brewery description, “made with 100% Tettnanger hops, contributing to its subtle floral and herbal spice notes. The malt profile, featuring Rahr 2-Row, Rahr Premium Pilsner, Flaked Corn, and Dextrin malt, creates a harmonious balance of doughy sweetness, white bread, cake batter, and honey.”
It is quite a light beer. I abhor the word crushable but this beer is one that will go down quick. It was served extra cold which both helps on a hot day but also dampens flavor. The malt is the lead act but even it is mild and the corn finish is what you will remember most.
You may think that El Segundo Brewing is just for big IPAs, bigger DIPAs, and biggest QIPAs but they can do just PA and surprisingly can do beers without a hop emphasis too.
So if you want to dial back the ABV…
…and if you want to do that and dial back the hops…
Or, if you are a Gelson’s shopper, you can fortify yourself before rolling through the aisles with Gelson’s Markets “first ever beer collaboration with ESBC, Gelson’s Summer Blonde Ale. Beer lovers can drink in sunny vibes with this expertly crafted brew that promises a summer getaway with every sip. It’s only available on tap starting today at Gelson’s wine bars throughout Southern California.”
Yes, El Segundo Brewing is known more for their use of hops but maybe they can multi-task with rice too. Harvest Legend Rice Lager is brewed with “100% California Calrose rice grown by VA Farms 4th generation rice farmers in Pleasant Grove, CA. VA Farms rice is a mark of excellence around the world, truly a Harvest Legend.”
In a little over two weeks, El Segundo Brewing will unleash their 13th anniversary upon Los Angeles craft beer fans so get that calendar updated either paper or digital or both.
Usually when I post about MadeWest Brewing Company and collaboration and IPA, I mean the latest installment of their Short Lived series. But Wave Pattern is different.
Yes, it is “an easy drinking IPA, over-flowing with aromatics of guava, bubblegum, ruby grapefruit zest and pine resin! And with a malt bill consisting of Rahr Northstar Pilsner and flaked wheat” but this is an El Segundo Brewing beer done with MadeWest and not vice-versa.
This new West Coast IPA is filled with Strata, Simcoe, El Dorado and Riwaka hops.