These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the El Segundo Brewing Company tasting room, where they held their annual El Segundo Christmas Parade After-Party. The event featured food from Saulitos BBQ, music by The Stocking Stuffers, the release of new beers (their 2022 Old Jetty Barrel Aged Barleywine and their Horus Aged Ales BOB 2.5 Barrel Aged Barleywine), as well as their “Christmas Break” Baltic Porter with ginger we brewed in collaboration with HopSaint Brewing, which was available on tap and “Poked.” They also had photo ops with Mrs. Claus, lots of donuts, and a return visit by our old friend, Bernie Wire.

So, because of the weather I did not make it to the actual parade, but made it to the after-party with my friends Phil and Deborah. While the parade is always entertaining, we were really there for the beer (poked and on draught) as well as an opportunity to see Bernie before he headed back to Minnesota.

If you are wondering what “poked” beer is you might want to reference my first few photos. Essentially you begin with a malty beer, such as a Baltic Porter and then you heat up metal rods until they are glowing red like a branding iron and then dip the hot rod into the beer. As you can tell from the photos, the heat caramelizes the sugars in the malt giving it a smooth, frothy head as well as adding a smoked flavor to it. It is an interesting technique that only makes me wonder who first decided to put hot iron into their beer and why.

All in all it was another fun event at El Segundo Brewing that only seemed to get better as the day progressed. I wish I could have stayed a little longer, but you know how that goes.

I hope all of you have a great Christmas/holiday season and a great 2023. See you next year and cheers!

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