Bag of Hammers will play an after party on the patio of Side A Brewing at 7:30 p.m. April 30.

LA GRANDE — Side A Brewing is having a birthday, and the entire community is invited to a block party on Saturday, April 30.

The brewery, 1219 Washington Ave., is turning 5. The block party will run 3-8 p.m. on Elm Street with a kids activity corner, lawn games, a “Paint a Pint” station with Art Center East, and booths from local organizations, including La Grande Parks & Recreation, Kevin Boylan Glass, The Sweet Stick, Gardenia’s Tamales, Blue Mountain Outfitters, Teahouse Bakes, Pixie Dust Creations, Pinedrop Designs and Oregon STEM.

At the ACE booth, visitors can learn more about art classes, exhibits and memberships. For the “Paint a Pint” project, no painting experience is necessary and all materials are supplied. Pre-register at artcentereast.org or purchase the glass at the booth on Saturday. Supplies are limited. Cost is $15 per pint glass or $25 for two.

Starting at 5 p.m., Staci & Co. will take the stage to play live for about two hours. At 7:30 p.m., an “after party” concert by Bag of Hammers starts on the Side A patio.

Side A will host a beer garden throughout the block party.

HistoryWhen Side A opened, the brewery didn’t serve its own beer.

“The process of converting an old firehouse into a restaurant is a serious undertaking, as well as converting a firetruck bay into a brewery,” said Caiti Burke, event coordinator for Side A. “So, at the opening of the restaurant Side A had 10 guest brews on tap as placeholders until we had our own beer available to pour.”

But the wait was only a few weeks, and Side A debuted Copper & Gold Strong Ale.

“Since then we have gone on to brew 75 different beers as well as our own cider, and even added two more taps to our bar to accommodate the growing number of brews that were being produced from our brewery,” Burke said.

For more information about Side A, and to stay updated on events and concerts, visit sideabeer.com or Facebook.