Long overshadowed by well-established craft scenes to the north and south, Los Angeles county is catching up with a handful of microbreweries worthy of recognition. Just beyond the crowded runways of LAX, you’ll find one of these pioneering outposts right along the quaint downtown stretch of El Segundo, California.

Brooklyn is rapidly becoming one of the great beacons for craft brewing in the United States. Here, in between the bustling neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Park Slope, you’ll find the inviting confines of Bierkraft (191 Fifth Avenue). Upon entry, any beer enthusiast would geek out at the sight of wall-to-wall coolers filled with exclusive brews from around the world. The extensive array of bottles range in price from reasonable ($2.75 for a can of Anderson Valley’s lip-smacking Barney Flat’s Oatmeal Stout) to absurd ($35 for a 25oz. bottle of an Italian barleywine brewed with absinthe). But the real fun starts when you walk past the coolers and belly up to the growler bar to fill up on any one of 17 frequently rotating choices of microbrewed magic. Part beer shop and part bar, Bierkraft gives you the option to enjoy your drinks on site or to go. Sure, you could [...]

One of the best aspects of beer—aside from, well, everything—is that it has so many diversified styles. Between ales, stouts, lagers, sours, IPAs, barrel-aged, hefeweizens, wheats, ambers, reds—you get the point. The possibilities are endless. But within these broad genres, modern craft brewers have been tweaking recipes and experimenting with subcategories that are both innovative and intensely flavorful. A personal favorite that has been seemingly ubiquitous as of late is the Imperial Stout.