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The third batch of Bursted Single Hop IPA’s from El Segundo takes us deeper into hop varietal territory with Vic’s Secret, El Dorado and Denali. All of which are not as ubiquitous as your Citra’s and Mosaics but might end up being fan favorites.
At 9 bombers, this will be quite the horizontal tasting.
Time for the moment of truth, what is the review for the 2017 edition of Unity – The LABW beer.
This year hosted and bottled by El Segundo Brewing.
From the tap: the fruit added IPA pours a pretty clear and light orange color. I was wondering if this would be a fruit bomb or if the extra hoppy nature of ESBC would win the day. Turns out neither, really. It is for sure hoppy but it is approachable, dare I say lighter than the baseline for them. The citrus doesn’t come through as strong as I would think considering all the zesting the L.A. brewers did.
From the bottle: More citrus popped out in a few days old bottle. The orange peel bitterness was there, intermingling with the hops. The color is light and the beer is super easy to drink. 22oz is actually an OK size for this IPA.
For the 9th annual L.A. Beer Week, El Segundo Brewing has been put in the lead and hosted this year’s Unity brew.
It will not come as a shock that they went for their wheelhouse to do an IPA. But to add that extra local quality they had the brewers from the Guild attack local CA citrus and zest it by hand. That and the juice was added for this years brew.
And since ESBC knows how to distribute across the area in one (amazing) day, the new Unity IPA will be available pretty much everywhere on June 9th. Eagle Rock and Ladyface are good options and for a possible two-fer you can try Simmzy’s Burbank which will be pouring their 1st batch and probably Unity too!
#LABeer Come’s Together – Now More Than Ever
Coming on the heels of 6 Bursted IPA’s is a classy silver label from El Segundo for their upcoming 6th Anniversary.
Recently, El Segundo Brewing came out with their take on the single hop beer. They call it Bursted and the initial batch all clocked in at 6% abv and came in three different colors/hops.
I don’t know if this has happened to you, but I had all three bottles in the ‘fridge and I opened the Simcoe and was absolutely blown away by the aroma. It was as if a bunch of hop pellets had been dumped into my kitchen. I loved that beer from ounce 1 to 22. I was so jazzed to try the other two but, alas, the Mosaic and especially the Citra paled in comparison.
You open one beer and suddenly your expectations are raised to a point where the remaining beers have no chance of competing. But that Simcoe is an early contender for Beer of the Year. Bright and vivid aroma with a touch of spice.
Here is my order of the beers:
1. Simcoe
2.
3. Mosaic
4.
5. Citra
I am certainly intrigued to see how this series progresses.
The Glendale Tap is starting a new “brewery battle” night and for their first event, it will pit the newcomer State Brewing against old hoppy hand, El Segundo Brewing. Who will come out victorious? That depends upon you.
Head to San Fernando Boulevard on Wednesday, the 29th to place your vote.
The folks at El Segundo Brewing not only raise fresh IPA awareness with their Day 1 releases, this year they have added the Super Beer Bros. hoppy collaborations and now the Bursted Single Hop series with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe.
They are using all the hops they can.
Not content enough to make the logistical Day 1 IPA series, El Segundo Brewing is now embarking on level 1 of their Super Beer Bros. collaborative IPA series.
Up first is their work with the upcoming Washington State brewery, Grains of Wrath pours a reddish amber color. Doesn’t taste 8 percent. Red IPA? Good carbonation which leads to a quick palate bite. 2 days old. Subdued pine needles. Not quite grassy but the combo of malt and hops leads me to forest descriptors. Aroma is toward forest hike.
Having had a multitude of both SoCal and Oregon IPA’s, this bears the hallmark of both. Taming the sometimes harsh ESBC with the more restrained Oregon IPA.
Now this is a Valentine’s Day gift. Super fresh collaboration IPA’s from El Segundo Brewing and partners TBD.
Get ready for Level 1
You may have become blase about the Day One releases from El Segundo. I, for one, still marvel at the logistics of the endeavor on L.A. streets and am glad that I am not the delivery person.
For the jaded, there is a new beer (not 105) coming on November 11th. You will need a passing knowledge of The Simpsons to get the connection but even if you are more a Family Guy or live in South Park, you will want to taste this IPA.