Tag: El Segundo Brewing

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Review – Wet Hopped Mayberry IPA from El Segundo

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Mayberry.  Wet Hopped. The aroma just cascaded out when the bottle cap was popped. Big pine tree and spice notes that you could not ignore. I let a couple other noses smell and apricot and pepper were picked up as well.  Because it is a wet hop IPA, it is important to note that I bought it on the second day it was available and drank it on day four. El Segundo has tried their utmost to get their high hopped bottles out as fast as possible that the consumer needs to work (OK, it ain’t work) equally as diligently to drink them.

The spice, orange peel and pine extends to the flavor that really fizzes with bitterness on the palate. Regular Mayberry is big but there is an added pop to this version which is exactly as it should be. A Wet Hop beer should be the highlighted, extroverted version of the recipe it is built on. Trust the label when it tells you to smell first.

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Wet Hoppin’ in El Segundo

If anyone in L.A. would hold a wet hop fest, it would be El Segundo Brewing.  They are the lupulin pushers of the L.A. craft scene and last Saturday was no different.

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I started with the Simcoe Pale via Wet Hop after seeing that I could buy a bottle of Mayberry Wet Hop to-go.  And after seeing that Citra-Mongous was a big 9.0%.  Seemed like the sensible choice.  This was my first visit to the new taproom at ESBC.  The vibe is so much better due to the elbow room even on a busy event day.  A little breeze through the big door and the large L shaped bar made for a place where you could order up a taster tray and set it down and enjoy it.

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I had to go Citra next and it was worthy of the name.  Just a big hit of Citra and bitterness that lingered on and on (in a good way).  This is more of a sipper than even their Power Plant Triple IPA.  After that I chose to try their small beer IPA, Spark Plug.  Lo and behold, it was my favorite on the afternoon.  Light yellow and beautiful in the glass it still had a hop kick but was so easy drinking.  Since I was a fan of the Mellon Collie fruit IPA from year’s past, I thought about trying the blueberry Mayberry but my palate had been shot through so I took my Mayberry Wet Hop bottle for later and headed home.

But I will be back for a growler fill….

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From the Hop Fields of El Segundo

If you are bitter about the dearth of wet hop beers in California as compared to say, Portland then you won’t want to miss this hop driven event at El Segundo.
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Three different wet hop beers will be waiting visitors including:
Wet-Hopped Mayberry IPA with “200 pounds of Mosaic hops in the mash and kettle within 24 hours of picking to sexify this already amazing brew.”

Wet-hop Simcoe Pale with the “same recipe you’ve seen in the past iterations of this brew.. but sub in freshly harvested Simcoe!”

Citramongous DIPA “how is it we haven’t made a DIPA with Citra fresh hops yet.. seems a crime. Consider that resolved.”

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New Look for El Segundo

The beers of El Segundo Brewing were always the draw but I couldn’t help but notice that the label design had a huge hole in the middle where a little photo or graphic seemed swallowed up.  The labels were fine but the only one that really “popped” was the autumnal Smoky Hollow beer and the ghostly bagpiper with 3d smoke.  Well, now it is different.  Now they all pop.

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Now both the name and the image are there front and center.  Plus the name font and the beer style font match and pull the eye in.  Plus the color really makes these shelf eye catching compared to the blue and black of before.  Now the outside looks as good as what is inside.

And they have teamed up with Inside the Cellar for Freshies Club. Want fresh Mayberry but can’t brave the traffic to pick up a growler? Then get it home delivered. Much better than the alternative……

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Review – Sleek Zeke from El Segundo Brewing

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El Segundo Brewing is known primarily for their love of hops so a wheat beer seems like an odd choice.

But the Amarillo hopped Sleek Zeke wheat beer named for a surfboard just might be one of the best of the year. And I had missed it until now!

It pours a lovely hazy lemonade color and has a tart lemon aroma that really grabbed me. Like smelling lemons being juiced. The mouthfeel is just full of wheat. Thick on the palate with that note of citric acid displaying some grapefruit qualities. My bottle was over a month old so I presume the major hop notes had faded but that worked in its favor for me.

You don’t normally see wheat beers paired with desserts but this would really work with a grapefruit sorbet.

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Sean suggests for February 2014

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2 out of 3 of these beers were recently seen at the fabulous Sunset Beer here in Los Angeles.  And the El Segundo beer will probably be there soon because they had plenty of others from ESBC.  Check them out and see if you can make it past all the bottles to the draft list.

~LIGHT

Cismontane Brewing/ Malt Series – Vienna 5.1% ABV

“The purpose of the study is to understand the effects of various malts in the brewery, and the resulting beers. We will control all of the variables of the brewing process except the type of grain used. We believe that each grain will affect the following variables that we can measure in our brewery: extraction rate, change in pH, attenuation, and color. This will also affect many variables that only you can measure with your nose and tongue.”

~MEDIUM

Almanac Brewing/ Sourdough Wild Ale 6.5% ABV

“Brewed with a mash of raw and malted barley, oats, rye, spelt and lemon, this beer was fermented in used wine barrels with a blend of Brettanomyces wild yeasts and Marla Bakery’s San Francisco sourdough yeast. The finished beer is dry-hopped with tropical Mosaic hops. This unfiltered ale is alive in the bottle: drink fresh for a bright, passionfruit aroma or age to develop the wild yeast funk.”

~DARK

El Segundo Brewing / Mayberry IPA 7.0% ABV

You want a single hop beer from a hop specialist? Then pick up a 22oz bomber from El Segundo. Their Mayberry IPA is 100% Mosaic hop.

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Who Do You Hop Love?

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Do you like voting on something other than politics than this Saturday the 16th at El Segundo Brewery, you get the chance to have your VOTE heard!  Here is the info…..

Whichever beer Wins.. We brew next. 

The competition will be in two parts.

The Vote
$3 for a 5 ounce pour of each brew.

Vote for your favorite. Each vote counts as 50 points

One vote per guest.

The Volume
Every Ounce we sell of each beer counts as one point. Pints, growlers, bottles, tasters. Everything counts. So make sure to support your favorite!

Pints AND Growler fills all day long.

Winner gets brewed December 2nd and will be available after Christmas.

For those of you less inclined for DIPAs..
Tap list will also include:

Casa Azul
Vanilla Hyperion’s Stout
Smoky Hollow Scotch Ale (no growlers)
Blue House Citra Pale

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Up and Down the Hill

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El Segundo Brewing went from a bevy of great pale ales to Two Five Left, a double.  Now they circle back to a locally named Grand Hill IPA.  Here is what one of our LA “bitter” breweries has to say about the new beer, “Named after the hill you have to slog back up from El Porto.. since it is precisely what you’ll be looking for after a day in the surf and sun, and a 1/4 mile climb straight back up to town!

Nothing but base malt, Big Bitterness, 7.2% ABV, and a heavy dose of Amarillo and Centennial  hops make this India Pale Ale a nod to what has made the California IPA what it is today.  Bright presence of lemon zest in the aroma leads well into a base of pine and citrus in the palate.”
I will be checking to see what Rob has up his hop sleeve here.
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Bottled in El Segundo

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Here is the information from El Segundo Brewing:
“El Segundo Brewing Company sent its first production beers out to initial accounts in May 2011. In 2012 we brewed over 1,000 barrels (1 barrel = 31 gallons) and now have over 150 accounts between Santa Barbara and San Diego, and as far East as Redlands. We doubled our original 60 barrel fermentation capacity in June last year, and will be doubling up yet again in March.

We take the next big step, on February 1st. We will be releasing our first bottles ever, White Dog IPA and Standard Crude American Imperial Stout, in 22oz bottles at the brewery.

At 5pm.. The bottles will start selling. We will be tapping a cask of Rum-soaked and Oaked Hyperion’s Double Stout we have been sitting on for the occasion. We will have savory pies (meat and veggie) from El Segundo Catering.

We will be here, drinking and celebrating. Join us! And buy some of our first run of bottles!

White Dog IPA has been our best selling hoppy beer of the past year, and has garnered acclaim across Los Angeles. We use 50% wheat in the malt bill, and the Nelson Sauvin hop from New Zealand which give it a very unique character that our customers have come to love.

Standard Crude is an American Imperial Stout.. since, why should the Russians get all the recognition! All malted barley with just a sprinkling of oats for texture. This beer is roasty throughout with many deep undertones of blackberry, cassis, tobacco and leather. The layers of malt reveal themselves one by one as the beer changes in the glass. Take your time with this one. Enjoy now, or lay it down in your cellar for a few years! This is a once a year release, and the first from our brewery..”
White Dog Bottle