El Segundo Brewing State of the Brewery
El Segundo, CA – 2013 was a great year for craft beer, and El Segundo Brewing was no exception. 1200 bbls in 2012 turned into 2100 bbls in 2013, with our sights on the 3,000 mark for 2014. 6 new beers were introduced to the market, each one with great success. Two full time employees came on board, one on the production side, and one on the sales side. We installed two 60 bbl fermenters mid-year, and put 6 of our beers in bottles with bottle sales increasing four fold through the year.
2014 looks to be more of the same. January has brought the filling of our first spirit barrels for a barrel aged release sometime this fall. Standard Crude in Flor de Caña Rum and Still the One Whiskey barrels. Hyperion’s Vanilla Stout is headed for the same rum barrels in February. We will be releasing more new beers (many of them hoppy) and putting more of our brands in bottles. And hopefully, we will be able to have an expanded taproom space so we can better accommodate the crowds during big releases.
Our current exciting project is our first IPA over the 10% mark. SF Beer Week is on its way, and for obvious reasons.. ESBC’s favorite event is the DIPA fest that served as the original opening event. Held every year for the past 14 outside the Bistro in Hayward, this award may be the Most Prestigious that a DIPA or Triple IPA can receive. All of California’s best hoppy brew producers are entering their biggest and best. We have designed brew schedule around our biggest IPA yet, Power Plant. We will be kegging Thursday, driving up Friday, and then the judging is Saturday February 8th.
We know its not exactly something new to brew big giant IPA’s, but we really love this opportunity to be able to compete with the likes of Pliny the Younger, Green Bullet, Hopocalypse Black Label, etc from the best breweries in the game. And what a challenge! To brew a beer so big (it fermented all the way to 11.3%), but have it drink light and easy. We have been successful with our many other lower ABV beers, and now, in closing on year 3.. we are up to the task. We are busting out all the big guns for this monster, a hop punch of Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra, Nelson, and friends will all be making an appearance in at least one of the several rounds of dry hopping. And honestly.. we just tasted it prior to dry-hopping and it already has huge hop character.
We will be releasing the Triple IPA at the taproom the same day it is judging at the Bisto. Saturday, February 8th. It will only be available at the taproom in pints and growlers, as well as at a few release events outside the brewery.
A big Thanks to all our fans and Supporters! It’s been a fabulous ride so far.. and we are looking forward to many more years.
Power Plant Release events
- ESBC Taproom – Saturday, February 8th
- The Bistro DIPA Fest – Saturday, February 8th
- Simmzy’s Manhattan Beach – Tuesday, February 11th
- King’s Row – Wednesday, February 12th
- Sunset Beer Co. – Tuesday, February 18th
- Toronado San Diego – Wednesday, February 19th
- Craft Restaurant Beer Dinner – Thursday, February 20th
For details, check event page. https://www.facebook.com/events/256187301211653/
Cheers!
Rob, Tom and the whole crew at ESBC
www.elsegundobrewing.com – @ESBCBrews – Facebook
