L.A. Beer Week Returns This September, Celebrates 5th Birthday

It’s hard to think back to L.A.'s pre-craft brew days, when there were very few craft beer bars to speak of, let alone the growing number of breweries that grace our city now. Where it was once a blessing to find a Craftsman (or anything besides Bud) on tap at a restaurant, now there are entire beer lists curated by cicerones at local restaurants, avocado beer, and a place looking to brew along the once-defunct L.A. River. Which is to say there's a lot to celebrate about craft beer here in L.A. And the annual L.A. Beer Week aims to do just that.

The festival aims to showcase Los Angeles as a burgeoning craft beer destination by helping put together hundreds of events at venues all around town, with focused tastings, educational seminars, and beer pairing dinners for craft beer aficionados and neophytes alike.

It all starts with the official LA Beer Week Opening Gala, which will take place on Sunday, September 22 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the historic Union Station. The event has been hotter than blazes in years past, so this time around the organizers are moving it inside, where there'll be air conditioning aplenty.

Tickets to the Opening Gala are $70, and include four-ounce tasters of beer from over 50 of the world's best breweries. You can find out more information about the big party and surrounding events here. Proceeds from the LA Beer Week Opening Gala will be benefiting The Spero Foundation and the Los Angeles Brewers Guild.