Rating: 5.25/5

Power Plant by El Segundo Brewing company is an 11.3% ABV Triple India Pale Ale.

Picked up a growler after my first visit to the El Segundo Brewery in El Segundo California. A small facility with a giant power house of flavors. I tried several beers which I really liked while I was there like the Standard Crude in bourbon and oak along with the range of great IPAs, pale ales and porters. This is the second beer I review from them since I really loved the White Dog IPA, but this beer, was in another level altogether. First of all, I have never tried an IPA that is over 10% ABV (Barrel Aged IPAs don’t count). This one is 11.3% and I must say, it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Aromas: Grapefruit, melon, kiwi, oranges, dragon fruit, grassy, piney and floral hops, honey dew melon, strawberry, apple, pear, mango, peach, pineapple, biscuit bread, caramel, lychee fruit, prickly pears, passion fruit, papaya, apricot, herbs, lemon peel and tangerines.

Flavors:
Lots of tropical fruits like grapefruit, kiwi, pineapple, oranges, honey dew melon, mango, papaya, strawberry, apples, pears, peaches, lychee, prickly pears, passion fruit, papaya, apricot, passion fruit, biscuit bread, caramel, grassy, piney, herbal and floral hops, orange gummy bears, lemon, tangerines, raspberries and honey.

Aftertaste:
Tropical fruits aftertaste with very nice grapefruit hop resin, biscuit and caramel. No alcohol in the taste. Very smooth, easy to drink, crisp and refreshing despite the high ABV.

Overall:
Extra ordinary beer out for a limited time. This is one of the finest examples of great IPAs I have ever tried and is the definition of how great IPAs should be. I think it also helps that it is super fresh. If you have ever tried the hoppy wort left over from when making beer, it would most likely be very similar to the hop bitterness but ofcourse, the bitterness does not linger for too long and mainly the tropical fruits do. So if you get a chance to go, definitely try this beer out.

Anime Corner:
Ryuoko Matoi from Kill La Kill was the right pairing for this beer because I wanted to show that the height of power plant smokestacks (in this case a tower) represents the height of evil corporations (hype in the craft beer community) as well as how power plants pollute the earth and cause acid rain to fall (Beer Snobery). Ryuoko is there to represent this Triple IPA and to show that even at the height of all the IPA hype out there (Pliny the Younger, I am looking at you), one will stand up to it to bring it down. Like in Final Fantasy VII where Cloud Strife helped to take down the Mako power plants, Ryuoko would do the same and bring the level of “IPA Hype” away from the overly hyped brews and back into the roots of the local community microbreweries. YES! And this is why I chose this one