Last week, Beachwood BBQ hosted their second annual week-long Sourfest. Occurring once every two years, Sourfest 2013 featured a massive list of more than 150 sour beers, ranging from Russian River Brewing Company‘s Supplication American wild ale to Birra del Borgo’s Del Borgo Rubus Con Lamponi sour ale.

The festival took place at Beachwood’s Seal Beach and Long Beach locations. In order to get to try as many beers on the list as possible, Beachwood offered a free shuttle to and from the two locations over the weekend.

I attended the original Seal Beach locale on Wednesday night for their Firestone Walker Brewing Brewers Night. Jeffers Richardson, Firestone Walker’s Barrelworks Director and barrelmeister, was in attendance talking about the history of Barrelworks and the featured beers that were on tap that night. Opened to the public at the beginning of this year, Barrelworks is the hub of Firestone Walker Brewing’s live barrel-aged wild beer program. Richardson brought three of their crowning jewels: Lil’ Opal, Lil’ Mikkel (a collaboration with Mikkeller), and Agrestic Ale.

The highlight of the evening was the pouring of the Agrestic Ale. Just released at their Buellton location on Friday, August 30, it’s an experimental American wild red ale that has been aged in French and American oak barrels with a lot of oak up front. The sour brew was first unveiled at Beachwood’s Sourfest two years ago.

Upon arriving at Beachwood, the bar area was packed with homebrewers, sour fanatics, and craft beer enthusiasts alike – many wearing their favorite brewery shirts. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as bartenders yelled above the crowd, “Who needs a beer?” As you passed by each pocket of huddled attendees, you could hear faint conversations between homebrewers passing along tips and advice, and beer fans bragging about the latest beer they’ve tasted.

It was about an hour wait to get a table during peak dining time, but the food and brews were well worth the wait. The dining area was energetic and loud as people from all over Southern California sat gazing intently at the wall of beers being offered on tap. There were so many sour beers to try that the Beachwood crew had to start enforcing a two-hour limit at the tables to accommodate the growing number of attendees.

After several rounds of beers, a pulled pork sandwich, and massive bricks of cornbread, my friends and I left Beachwood BBQ feeling satisfied, knowing our taste buds had been fried from all the acidity we just consumed. When I read that Cascade Brewing was going to be featured on Friday night, I was already making plans to head to Beachwood’s Long Beach location to test my acid reflux tolerance with their rare sour beer collection.

The combination of good food, a fun atmosphere, and an eclectic group of craft beer and sour enthusiasts definitely made an impression on me. I will be sure to make Beachwood’s Sourfest a multiple-day journey for years to come.