Beachwood Brewing turns 4, with house beer and a pickle bar

Award-winning brewpub Beachwood BBQ and Brewing is turning 4, and you can celebrate the anniversary at Saturday’s blow-out party and beer release.

Getting things rolling at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Beachwood is offering an impressive, deep tap list of fan-favorite house beers, hourly tappings of extra special brews and the bottle release of the commemorative Hopernicus IPA.

There will be, as has become customary at Beachwood anniversary parties, a pickle bar from chef-owner Gabe Gordon and homemade sausages. You can also expect the customary crowd of L.A.’s biggest beer fans at the bar along with a lengthy wait to get a seat. But the tap list should be worth the queue.

Besides the impressively large collection of Great American Beer Fest medal winning brews like Mocha Machine Imperial Coffee Porter, Udder Love Milk Stout, Kilgore American Stout, Foam Top Cream Ale and Un Atout Belgian-style Saison, several of Beachwood’s recent collaboration beers will be pouring.

Beachwood will be pouring more than 40 of its beers, including an impressively large collection of Great American Beer Fest medal winning brews like Mocha Machine Imperial Coffee Porter, Udder Love Milk Stout, Kilgore American Stout, Foam Top Cream Ale, and Un Atout Belgian-style Saison.

A trio of recent collaboration brews also make the list, including last year’s team up with Belgium’s Brouwerij De Molen (De Molen With the Homies), this year’s collaboration with Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing (Electric Ladyhand ) and another entry into the yearly Star Trek-themed collaborations with Drake’s Brewing (Pavel Czechop).

Another brew that will be on offer is the new Hopernicus Double IPA. The anniversary beer is, as expected, massively hopped, intensely bitter and potent. The 10% alcohol ale uses an “intergalactic blend of hops” including such fruit-forward varietals as Galaxy, Equinox, Citra and Mosaic.

Bottles of Hopernicus will be available to-go for $10 on Saturday, and they’re sure to go fast. (A few cases of the anniversary beer will be sent to some local bottle shops, and the Seal Beach Beachwood location will have bottles to sell on Sunday if you miss the party.)

There’s also plans for special cask offerings, including Amalgamator with an extra dose of Mosaic hops, Full Malted Jacket scotch ale conditioned with scotch oak and two extra-hopped versions of Hop Jitsu IPA: one with citra hops, the other with Amarillo hops.

Beginning at noon and continuing every hour on the hour, the bar will tap the brewery’s lineup of sought-after barrel-aged beers. Jean Quad Van Damme starts things off at noon followed by 8 Buffalo at 1 p.m., then Barrel-Aged Full Malted Jacked at 2 p.m., Sadie at 3 p.m. and wrapping up with Rye Like an Eagle at 4 p.m.

All signs point to it being a craft beer party that won’t soon be forgotten — or possibly won’t even be remembered depending on how many of the barrel-aged treats you get to sample.

Beachwood BQQ and Brewing, 210 E. 3rd St., Long Beach, (562) 436-4020, www.beachwoodbbq.com.