If you did not know, May is National Burger Month. To kick the humble burger up a notch (or three) Bourbon Steak in Glendale has five new burgers on their menu, and since this is the craft beer column, they also have five recommended beers from Modern Times Beer to choose from.

$20 will get you a pairing of “Pho”nomenon with Lomaland Saison; Bulgogi with Fruitlands Passionfruit and Guava Gose; Little Tokyo with Booming Rollers IPA; LA ‘Deluxe’ Diner Burger with Black House Stout; or (finally) Redondo “Fun Fish” Surf and Turf with Fortunate Islands. MT tdibit – That last beer will soon be called a pale ale instead of hoppy wheat.

If you really want to up your game, order the ‘Jonathan Golden Burger’ which is the Chef’s choice of one of the above burgers dusted in gold leaf.

I did not go gold, but two pairings really worked well. The pairing of LA “Deluxe” with coffee integral to Black House Stout enhanced both items. The coffee tied into the bacon’s smoke while the carbonation helped to cut the savory Swiss cheese.

The Pho burger was my favorite of the night overall on its own (followed by the Surf and Turf) and the mint, cilantro and jalapeno did not overpower Lomaland Saison. The light barnyard funk cleared the palate well. In fact, Lomaland would have played well with most of the burgers on the menu. You have less than a month to try them all. Another MT tidbit – The Dojo of Dankness in DTLA is looking to be open in early July if all things progress well.

The CERVEZA of the WEEK comes from the new Brewery Rex. Cerveza El Whaler is Mexican Light Lager (though at 5.1% ABV, I would just call it a lager) brewed with over 30% corn. Tyler King and Brian White, the forces behind this new endeavor, even encourage people to serve El Whaler with a lime.

Your HOMEWORK is to check out the list of breweries pouring at next month’s L.A. Beer Week KickOff event. You will be amazed at the amount of logos that will pop onto the screen when you click on the L.A. Brewers tab of the website. 55 breweries all told will be tapping beers which is a tremendous total compared to just two or three years ago. Oh, and you might want to get some tickets while you are on their website.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.