BEER BLOG ENTRY #1:
EL SEGUNDO AND SMOG CITY
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
Saturday was a great day in Los Angeles beer. It marked the five-year anniversary for El Segundo Brewing Company and Smog City's three-year celebration. And you're goddamn right I went to both.
The day started at El Segundo... and no, I did not leave my wallet there. Seriously, guys, that joke is getting so old. Show some respect. RIP Phife Dawg!
They opened up more space for the celebration and customers took advantage of every nook and cranny.
It was pretty damn crowded, but I managed to grab a pint of the Anniversary IPA El Cinco del Segundo, and goddamn was it tasty! Citrusy, a little dank and hoppy to hopth degree. If you get a chance to get down there, get a pint or growler of this shit quick before it's gone. I was a little late to the party due to some heavy traffic on the 405, so I missed a couple of the special anniversary one-time brews (which blows), BUT I did manage to grab some Hyperion Coffee Porter on nitro, and that made it all worth it!
I also met a man who seemed to be a fellow music lover, but after chatting for a while, he revealed his deep, dark secret... he was also a huge fan of Insane Clown Posse. What?? Man, that's like being a hardcore craft beer lover who loves the finest hops, barley and malts, but who also loves it when a homeless man pisses in his mouth every once in a while.
Then it was on to SMOG CITY...
I'm not posing. This is not my natural beer-loving look.
...and enjoyed the shit out of their Bourbon Barrel Aged O.E., which is just the barliest of boozy barley wines, and was also able to sample a few others, notably the Bloody Optimist-- a one-off of the ever-popular Incurable Optimist, with blood orange on the backend; the Kumquat Saison, which is one of the smoothest damn saisons I've tasted in a while; Mexican Vacation-- which is heavy on lime, and would be a nice hot summer drink; and California Drought-- a very, very dry, roasty Irish stout. Sometimes I really wish I lived in the South Bay, thanks to all these delicious beers that are brewed down there.
Then it was time for dinner...
Eat some cornbread and key lime pie here
I hit up HopSaint for the first time, and I must say the food was damn good-- I went with a pork sandwich, and the girlfriend and I split some cornbread.... Mmm. And then we got the best part, their key lime pie, for dessert. Did also get a flight of their beer, but the only one worth mentioning is their pale ale Pure Intentions, which reminded me a lot of Alpine's Hoppy Birthday! Their other beers weren't bad, it was just hard to compare when you just got back from two of the masters in El Segundo and Smog City!