LA Showdown
El Segundo Brewing Company

Handsome dark amber brew with abundant foam in the Saint-Martin tulip. This is quite malty with a sweet beginning to each sip. Flavors of woody resins and dark grapefruit rind. Then it has a musty bitterness that latches on to the tongue and seems to keep increasing. It's the aftertaste with a mind of its own. Enough, already.

Best feature is the lush, sudsy mouthfeel. I'm thinking of those old school Amber ales with the swaggering hop load. Good for a gulp but you do want the pretzles or Ding Dongs handy for a chaser. From the 16 oz can purchased at Bine & Vine. Dated 12/10/20 on the bottom.

Poured from a pint can dated Dec. 9, 2020 into a pint glass cup with a deep russet hue. Smell a bit dull with malt being the prominent component. Taste begins with strong malt followed quickly by strong hop backbone and quite enjoyable. Makes me crave crappy bar food in a great way! Feels untroubled on the tongue and gums, smooth and fizzy. Great sunset beer!

This is a weird one (and not exactly weird like the girl I met in my third year at State with The purple pony tail). Yeah, this one straight up poured a dark copper like a used penny (was not expecting that). On the nose and tongue upfront is straight up malts! Malts! Malts! And I suppose that’s ok, but Raul was rather hoping for West Coast! West Coast! West Coast! At the end of the day, it will still go down easily enough like Nate Robinson vs that YouTube dork. but I just wanted a bit more. Not bad, but just...

Be well, my minions.