ABV: 8.2%

Ah, Los Angeles.  Main Street, mom and pop shops, and shuffle board courts. Or wait, LA has oil refineries and aviation? Yes and no. Enter El Segundo, quite possibly the strangest, most awesome small town in America and the home of a darn fine brewery.

They call El Segundo “Mayberry” because it’s so much like Andy Griffith’s fictional home. If not for the palms and sunshine, you’d think you were in small-town Ohio driving down Main St. Gundo is bordered on the south by a massive refinery and on the north by LAX airport, from which Two 5 Left gets its name. Two 5 Left is the the runway that “sends planes screaming right over El Segundo.”

Two 5 Left is an easy drinking DIPA. You’ll be down half a growler before you even put the meat on the grill (source: personal experience). Let’s not go around saying “sessionable” though – this beer packs a west coast hop punch that lives up to the jet-fueled name.

El Segundo offers a terrific lineup of hop-forward beers* and Two 5 Left is one of their best offerings. Head down the Imperial Highway and fill your growler up. Just don’t forget your wallet.

*For what it’s worth, I believe that ESBC’s Power Plant stands up to Pliny the Younger.