A swig of Broken Skull IPA for the working man

Fans of the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin podcast know his phrase “a swig of beer (or coffee, water, etc) for the working man. That’s how I came up with the title for this post. Austin is well known in the late 1990s as being a beer chugging, tough as nails WWE Superstar. He’s one of my all-time favorites. So in late 2015 when it was announced he would be releasing his own brand of beer, Broken Skull IPA by El Segundo Brewing, I wanted it.

When I did some homework on the beer, I learned quickly it would not be available in the Midwest. Ordering online was an option, but when I learned my buddy and fellow Craftbeerican Tom Harness was headed for California last summer I mentioned the craft beer to him. He brought back a couple of bottles and glasses with the Broken Skull IPA   logo printed on them.

After nine months, we finally did an episode of Craftbeericans reviewing the Broken Skull IPA. Oh, did I mention we did it on 3/16? We did and just for the reasons you might expect. For those who don’t know, Austin 3:16 says “I just whooped your ass.” It’s the catchphrase that made him a wrestling legend.

I’m not going to lie as I worried I would not like it and in my head thought Austin would somehow see our review. Who knows, maybe he will eventually see it. One can dream, right? Since the creation of Craftbeericans, I’ve learned that I am not a fan of IPAs. Most that I have tried are too hoppy and bitter for me.

We set up the show from Irons in the Fire in Carterville, with me wearing my Stone Cold tee shirt I bought in 1998. The table was topped with Austin action figures and the usual Craftbeericans table-cloth. I told a few tales about the WWE Hall of Famer and then we filled our Stone Cold glasses with the IPA.

The pour out showed us the beer is a little cloudy. In smelling it before the first drink we learned there’s a hint of citrus involved too. Then it was time to drink and much to my surprise, Broken Skull IPA finishes as the smoothest IPA I’ve ever had. You get a bit of hoppiness in the beginning but the overall experience is nothing short of a WrestleMania moment. I’m glad Tom picked up a second bottle as we will bust it out and have another swig for the working man in the near future. And that’s the bottom line because the Craftbeericans said so…