L.A. Beer Week is back. Here’s how to make the most of it.

Los Angeles Beer Week, the nine-day showcase of craft breweries and their beers, is a great way to experience L.A.s bubbling beer culture. Organized by the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild, the eighth annual edition of L.A. Beer Week starts Saturday.

Whether you’re making your first visit to a local brewery tasting room, heading out on a craft beer crawl or exploring how beer and food interact, Beer Week is the perfect time to dive into the craft beer scene. Here’s a rundown of some of the ways to celebrate the biggest week for beer in Los Angeles.

Toast to Unity

Each year, the Brewers Guild organizes the brewing of a collaborative beer to release during Beer Week. Unity is the official beer of L.A. Beer Week, and dozens of brewers from across the county come together to make the beer at the host brewery. Previous batches of Unity have been made at Eagle Rock Brewery and Smog City Brewing, and the 2016 edition was made at Inglewood’s Three Weavers Brewing. Designed to show off a new experimental hop variety from the Pacific Northwest, the rye-tinged IPA is bitter, pungent and dripping with tropical fruit and melon aromas. Unity is available now in 22-ounce bottles for about $10 at local bottle shops, or you can sample it on draft at the Three Weavers tasting room or at special events throughout the week.Three Weavers Brewing 1031 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood, (310) 400-5830, www.threeweavers.la.

Drink your fill at a beer festival

The official L.A. Beer Week kickoff festival is set to take over L.A. Center Studios on Saturday. This year, there are more than 80 breweries pouring 200-plus beers at the event (see all the beers scheduled to pour here). Tickets are $45, and all proceeds support the L.A. County Brewers Guild and local nonprofit Food Forward.

Raise a glass at a signature Beer Week event

There are hundreds of Beer Week events happening across Los Angeles, including tap takeovers and block parties, and you can peruse the whole list on the L.A. Beer Week website. If festivals aren’t your thing but you still want to see what all the Beer Week fuss is about, start your short-list with these:

Father’s Day at Phantom Carriage: Mixing brunch (smoked chicken and waffles) with wild ales and the release of a new bottled beer (buy bottles via the presale), this is Dad’s kind of party. Bring your own vinyl records to play in the tasting room too. 18525 South Main Street, Carson, (310) 538-5834, www.phantomcarriage.com.

The Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit dedicated to helping woman advance their careers in the craft brewing industry, is taking over Three Weavers in Inglewood on Monday. The event officially starts at 4 p.m. Tickets are $30 (buy in advance) and let you sample six beers from breweries such as Noble Ale Works, Cascade Barrel House, Monkish Brewing and a dozen others. All proceeds go toward the Pink Boots Society scholarship fund. 1031 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood, (310) 400-5830, www.threeweavers.la.

The first two times Eagle Rock Brewery organized the Battle of the Beer Bands, a night of rock ‘n’ roll performed by bands of local brewers, it became the most raucous and fun night of Beer Week. This year’s battle is scheduled to go down Tuesday at the Echoplex, and 15 bands are set to take the stage to try to win your vote for the best beer band in the land. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door, and the Echoplex taps will be pouring local brews. 1154 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, (213) 413-8200, www.theecho.com/echoplex.

Every year, a group of established and up-and-coming brewers take the stage for panel discussion of the trials and tribulations of opening a craft brewery in Los Angeles. The panel is moderated by beer writer Tomm Carroll (who also teaches a course on craft beer for the UCLA Extension), and it’s a can’t-miss evening if you’ve ever dreamed of starting your own beer business. The event is to be held on the patio at El Segundo’s Rock and Brews restaurant Thursday. Rock & Brews, 143 Main St., El Segundo, (310) 615-9890, www.rockandbrews.com.

Explore food pairings at a beer dinner

Beer dinners are a wonderful way to experience how beer and food can interact, and there are several offered during Beer Week that feature the chef and the brewers working together on inventive menus and talking with diners about the process and their approach. It’s the best way to learn the ins-and-outs of elevating the dining experience with craft beer. Some highlights on the books for Beer Week 2016 are a composed and chef-y dinner at Eagle Rock Public House featuring Craftsman Brewing, a visit from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. founder (and godfather of the craft beer industry) Ken Grossman for the Beer Camp Dinner at Parker’s Lighthouse in Long Beach, a free-form breakfast-for-dinner extravaganza with Smog City Brewing and Almanac Brewing at Beer Belly in Los Angeles, and the always educational Brewmaster’s Dinner at Ladyface in Agoura Hills (this year’s theme is “drink beer like a Belgian�).

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