El Segundo Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA

From El Segundo Brewing – A bad-ass 6.7% IPA designed by Steve Austin and ESBC for the working man & woman. It features Citra, Cascade, and Chinook hops to deliver big flavor with an easy finish. Now stop reading and start enjoying this awesome beer! Cheers! Steve

El Segundo Brewing – El Segundo Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA – 22 oz. bottle poured into a pint glass – 6.7% abv.

Appearance: Pours a hazy royal gold with a retaining thin white cap a top.

Aroma: Bright citrus/grass right from the get go. A bit of perceived fruity sweetness from the dry hopping.

Taste:  An initial burst of bright citrusy and grassy hops, very neutral dry pale malt. Orange pith. Finishes with sturdy lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, a little juicy and very lively carbonation.

Overall:  When this beer was being hyped prior to the release, it was framed up as an IPA that was lots of aroma but not too bitter. In my imagination, I thought it would be on the sweeter side like a Lagunitas IPA offering, which would be more approachable to a wider audience, but not necessarily in my wheel house of a dryer, lip smacking west coast IPA that I’ve come to love.  After half a glass, I was extremely pleased that this beer is exactly what I look for in an IPA and not an overly sweet, tame IPA.  To me, this stands tall next to El Segundo’s Mayberry IPA, and fits in with their hoppy portfolio of pales, IPAs and Double IPAs.  While Steve mentions the beer’s bitterness tappers off, you can definitely notice that bitter earthy Chinook finish, but not to the levels of a hoppy Stone Brewing Co. beer that lingers well after the sip and well after the session is over. While the aroma is already outstanding, we’ve been told by the brewer once the beer settles in the bottle for a week, the aroma will be even more intense, so I look forward to tracking that with the few bottles I have left.