It’s high season for beers and brats, which means only one thing: Oktoberfest.

“It’s like St. Patrick’s Day but extended — for a really long period,” said Priscilla Gonzalez, laughing.

The 16-day event — give or take a few, depending on where you partake — is a boon for Los Angeles-area bars and restaurants that specialize in German beers and food, from hip eateries like downtown L.A.’s Wurstküche to the German Gasthaus in Silver Lake known as the Red Lion Tavern to the venerable kitschy Alpine Village in Torrance that is home to the largest Oktoberfest celebration in Southern California.

“Oktoberfest is hilariously fun,” said Manny Rosales of Los Angeles, enjoying a visit to Wurstküche. “What’s better than beers with friends?”

Priscilla Gonzalez, general manager of Wurstküche, watched over her crowded restaurant-bar a week before Oktoberfest’s official kickoff on Sept. 21 and said she couldn’t agree more.

A purveyor of craft beers made popular in the last few years, such as Belgian Tripels and the über-tart sour beers, Wurstküche continues to boast among the best authentic German beer selections in the area, as well as a far-reaching array of sausages.

“German beers are among the best beers in the world. They’re so traditional and so classic,” Gonzalez said. “The craft-beer movement is great, but German beers are simple — just four ingredients — and (they) don’t get distracted by what’s the trend of the season.”

The simplicity she mentions refers to the ancient Reinheitsgebot, the German “purity law” introduced in 1516 that prohibited beermakers from brewing with any ingredients other than barley malt, yeast, hops and water, according to the German Beer Institute.

The law lasted until 1987, when Reinheitsgebot was struck down for restraint of fair trade. Still, many German brewers continue to adhere to the tradition out of a sense of national pride.

Among the most popular German beers are Pilsners, which provide a hoppy bite; Dunkels, the dark lagers; wheat beers known as Hefeweizens; and Märzens, Bavarian pale lagers that have become the signature Oktoberfest brew.

“Germans are all about the swine and the malt,” said Otto Radtke, Alpine Village’s general manager.

And Radtke would know; his parents are German natives, and he’s attended all 43 of Alpine Village’s 46 annual Oktoberfest celebrations.

In its big tent during its seven Oktoberfest parties over 21 days, Alpine Village serves up two classic German brews: a Märzen Oktoberfest beer and a Pilsner.

Both are made by War­steiner, one of the country’s largest privately held breweries, set in a small town in the middle of Arnsberg Forest Nature Park and the heart of the country’s lush Sauerland region.

German beers are also regarded as the best beverages to wash down the country’s hearty staples, such as Wiener Schnitzel and Spätzle (egg noodles).

But for Oktoberfest, it’s all about the sausages, and Alpine Village offers more than 20 varieties, from German bratwurst to hot links like andouille.

“Germans knew what they were doing when they had their beers and brats,” Radtke said. “Pilsners, for instance, are dry with a hop kick that really cleans the palate after that bite of sausage that coats your mouth in salty, fatty goodness.”

He emphasized, however, that underneath it all, the annual event is about getting to know your neighbors, pointing to its roots as a royal wedding festival. “What’s cool about Oktoberfest is community involvement,” he said. “It’s nothing without the community coming together.”

Wurstküche doesn’t host special Oktoberfest celebrations, but “it’s Oktoberfest here every day,” Gonzalez said, pointing to the long communal tables that encourage strangers to sit next to one another. “If you people-watch here, you see friendships happening right before your eyes.”

And beer steins are a must. “People come in with their Oktoberfest energy, and the steins just add to that,” Gonzalez said of the mugs that hold about two bottles’ worth.

Sure enough, Rosales and his buddy Adam Venzor of Inglewood clinked steins and joked that they were practicing for the festival. “It just seems a lot cooler to drink out of something this big,” Venzor said, laughing as he took a gulp. “Happy Oktoberfest!”