Up to date on Could 31, 2022
It’s no secret that the Hop Tradition group loves Pittsburgh. To begin with, Hop Tradition Founder Kenny Gould calls the ‘Burgh residence. However greater than that we’ve made some critical friendships in and round all of the unimaginable consuming neighborhoods. Which is why we named this almost-Midwestern city one among our “5 Favourite Underneath-the-Radar Beer Cities of 2021.”
Folks like Dancing Gnome Founder Andrew Witchey, who helped us throw our first ever Juicy Brews craft beer competition within the again lot of his brewery in 2017. 5 years and lots of ounces poured later, we’ve got an unimaginable forty-plus festivals underneath our beer belt.
Or Necromancer Brewing Founder Ben Butler, who additionally owns a renown design company referred to as Prime Hat. The exact same one which designed our Hop Tradition web site.
And the way might we neglect when Cinderlands Co-Founders Paul Schneider and Jamie and Joanna Warden allow us to use their new taproom earlier than it even opened to the general public to host Juicy Brews Late Evening in 2019.
Plus, all the various breweries we haven’t even talked about but corresponding to Grist Home, Hint Brewing, and so many extra.
The Pittsburgh beer group is particular, cast via fireplace and metal by a blue collar work ethic, a religious consuming base, and a never-say-die angle.
Listed here are ten of one of the best breweries within the ‘Burgh, a metropolis Hop Tradition thinks of as residence.
Dancing Gnome Brewery
925 Predominant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15215 | (412) 408-2083
You possibly can’t discuss beer in Pittsburgh with out mentioning Dancing Gnome in the identical breath. Fairly merely, it’s among the best locations to drink in Pittsburgh.
And for us you may’t begin an inventory of one of the best breweries within the ‘Burgh with out beginning with Dancing Gnome.
“In my view, they’ve by no means made a nasty beer,” says Aadam Soorma, the pinnacle of promoting and visitor expertise at Hint Brewing in a earlier article for Hop Tradition. “Each single beer I’ve ever had from them has been fully top-notch unimaginable.”
The brewery made a reputation for itself off juicy pale ales (Dancing Gnome Lustra could be among the best American pale ales we’ve ever had) and hop-forward IPAs. Their menu is even organized by hops.
And whereas there’s little question DG nails hoppy kinds, our sneaky suggestion is Bants, an English-style bitter or ESB.
This five-year-old brewery thrives on the concept of group and neighborhood friendliness preached by one among its most well-known residents, the late Fred Rogers.
Cinderlands Foederhouse
3705 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 | (412) 251-0656
An absolute innovator within the Pittsburgh craft beer scene, Cinderlands has two areas. After opening a model new spot in 2019, the Hop Tradition group named them one of many Prime 10 Breweries of 2019.
Nonetheless, don’t sleep on the unique location in Decrease Lawrenceville, Cinderlands Foederhouse, which impresses with its considerate farmhouse and mixed-fermentation beers (and bangin’ meals!).
Grist Home Craft Brewery
10 E Sherman St | (412) 447-1442
Opened in 2014 when two brothers-in-law transformed an outdated slaughterhouse right into a brewery, Grist Home lately celebrated its eight-year anniversary final month. What makes Grist Home an establishment within the ‘Burgh is the standard hospitality paired with daring beers.
Spend a day on the wonderful outside area at Millvale taproom and also you’ll probably run into greater than your justifiable share of furry buddies and households hanging round enjoying playing cards. Their taproom, deck, and beer backyard are always crowded with folks and pets—you will have to step over a Frenchie or two—however the canines are pleasant and the bartenders and patrons are even friendlier.
Beerwise, you’ll discover all of it: cream ales, British golden ales, dessert sours, pale ales, and NEIPAs. Having an excellent afternoon at Grist Home is just about par for the course.
Necromancer Brewing
2257 Babcock Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Final yr, we named Necromancer Brewing one of many 10 Greatest Breweries to Watch in 2021. We had an excellent feeling concerning the new spot based by Ben Butler, who additionally owns the design company Prime Hat.
We adore it after we’re proper. Which is why final yr, the brewery made our raise of the “12 Greatest New Breweries of 2021.”
You’ll be exhausting pressed to search out one other brewery on the market like Necromancer, which focuses on resurrecting bygone beer kinds (therefore the identify Necromancer… Get it?).
Helmed by Lauren Hughes, the second-ever feminine head brewer in Pittsburgh, Necromancer’s brewing program focuses on their “Resurrection Collection.” In simply the final yr, Hughes has brewed a Chilly IPA, a schwarzbier, a Kentucky frequent ale, a grisette, a purl (a powerful English pale ale brewed with the tops of the wormwood plant), a Belgian IPA, an Adambier (a powerful, darkish, hoppy, bitter ale extensively aged in wooden barrels), a grodziskie, and a biere de garde.
Most lately, we had an opportunity to attempt Farmer’s Tan, the eighth launch within the aforementioned collection. We loved the Breslau-style darkish Schoeps—a wheat-forward, malty beer model courting again to 1550. In truth, we preferred it a lot that we named it among the best beers we drank in November.
Lest trendy kinds really feel uncared for, Necromancer makes these too. Count on a lineup of hazy IPAs, pastry stouts, DIPAs, and extra.
Nonetheless, it’s a love of oft-forgotten kinds that put Necromancer on our greatest new brewery checklist in 2021.
Hint Brewing
4312 Predominant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 | (412) 904-3555
Hint Brewing is the brainchild of Remnant Brewing Co-Founder Dave Kushner. Though the brewery technically opened for carryout gross sales on Dec. seventeenth, 2020, it wouldn’t be till March 2021 that one among our hottest breweries in Pittsburgh might formally open its attractive beer backyard to the general public.
Right now, Hint Brewing focuses on three issues: espresso, beer, and occasions. And it does all three extraordinarily effectively.
Joe Burns, previously of Convive Espresso, runs the espresso program. And Head Brewer Zach Colton, who beforehand labored at trade giants like Trillium and Dancing Gnome, retains the lagers and ales flowing.
If you happen to do occur to search out your self within the ‘Burgh anytime quickly, cease at Hint for its home Kellerbier.
“It’s a wonderful lager that we will comfortably sip throughout a bartending shift, with meals, with buddies, actually anytime,” says Soorma. “It’s the one Hint beer that has gone via my physique greater than the rest we’ve brewed.”
Maybe most significantly, Hint has made a reputation for itself on distinctive programming that celebrates variety within the Pittsburgh group. Soorma, who identifies as Burmese-Indian, and Katie Rado, Basic Supervisor at Hint who comes with twenty-plus years of hospitality expertise, have teamed as much as make it a precedence that the brewery feels welcome to new communities exterior of craft beer. To that finish, Hint throws bi-monthly drag brunches, lure and hip hop events, stay work from artists of colour, units from transgender stand-up comedians, knitting nights, and different beer-adjacent theme nights.
Unusual Roots Experimental Ales
501 E. Ohio St, Pittsburgh, PA 15209 | (915) 209-5105
Unusual Roots is a thoughts and palette bender. Previously often called Draai Laag, the brewery was one of many first within the U.S. to prioritize native elements and spontaneous fermentation.
The bitter program is one thing actually wild and particular.
Unusual Roots Co-Founder Dennis Hock is a mad scientist. For example, Hock brewed the current yearly launch of The Plague 2021 utilizing a course of referred to as Solera, the place parts of youthful vintages are added into casks with older vintages. It’s a labor intensive course of that creates a really advanced end.
In that very same vein, Spontaneous Roots – Peach—a bitter ale made with 100% native Pennsylvania elements—is spontaneously fermented and cask aged between one to a few years.
Above all, these are loopy labor-intensive beers that deserve your time and a spotlight. As does Pittsburgh Sandwich Society, which has served their unimaginable meals at our Juicy Brews Beer Festivals. Pittsburgh Sandwich Society lately arrange a everlasting set up at Unusual Roots to supply sandwiches to hungry drinkers!
Voodoo Brewing Co.
205 E ninth Ave | (412) 368-8973
Possibly you’re acquainted with Voodoo’s Barrel Room Assortment releases and the way in which they prioritize locals over out-of-towners. Additionally they prioritize independence. The anti-corporate, employee-owned Voodoo retains it actual.
Now with areas in Pennsylvania that embody Pittsburgh, Meadville, Erie, Indiana (PA), State School, New Kensington, and Homestead, Voodoo has change into a cult favourite. Plus, the brewery has opened a taproom in Cleveland, OH, and has formidable plans to open up new areas in West Pike, PA, and Las Vegas, NV. However regardless of how large Voodoo grows, the brewery stays true to beers which are “enjoyable, flavorful, and thought-provoking.” You possibly can look forward to finding their six flagships, a various seasonal choice, and loads of South Park references at their taprooms.
And should you occur to be on the town for the nice vibes Beer Fest, you’re in for a killer weekend. Named after one of many brewery’s flagships, good vibes, the occasion “brings craft beer lovers collectively in Northwest Pennsylvania to take pleasure in a day of laid-back music, scrumptious native meals, and one of the best lineup of craft breweries within the nation, together with one of the best Voodoo Brewery has to supply,” because it says on the brewery’s web site.
Allegheny Metropolis Brewing Co.
507 Foreland St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 | (412) 904-3732
Like Dancing Gnome, Allegheny Metropolis Brewing has a novel strategy to camaraderie.
“I don’t suppose anybody leans into neighborhoods and communities higher than ACB,” says Soorma. “It’s actually a spot for the group and the neighborhood. Their beer is superior and so they’re workers is nice… However what they achieve this effectively that nobody else has captured in Pittsburgh is that they have a good time their neighborhood via the brewery.”
What does that imply? Effectively, Allegheny Metropolis has a fierce satisfaction for the North Facet of Pittsburgh, the place the three Pittsburgh-born Co-Founders opened up store. They make beers like Pale Boy IPA, a hazy IPA with Mosaic, and Apricot Clowns of the Mountains, a fruited bitter with apricot puree.
ACB is a soothing, community-focused taproom that loves furry buddies and households.
Eleventh Hour Brewing Co.
3711 Charlotte St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 | (412) 676-8034
Within the coronary heart of Pittsburgh’s historic Lawrenceville neighborhood, Eleventh Hour “offers your tastebuds their greatest life.” Companions in enterprise and life, Matt and Keana McMahon introduced their ardour venture to life with a gorgeously adorned industrial taproom, rotating meals truck entourage, and naturally an expertly curated beer checklist.
The brewery is a haven for hazy IPAs together with Astrology Collection: Taurus, RoboJack, and New Cult. However you’ll additionally discover just a few wonderful German-style beers sprinkled onto the faucet checklist as effectively from a Smoked Helles to a Maibock to a kölsch referred to as Archer.
Hitchhiker Brewing
190 Fort Shannon Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228 | (412) 343-1950
1500 S Canal St #2541, Pittsburgh, PA 15215 | (412) 343-1950
Hitchhiker Brewing’s founder Andy Kwiatkowski began the brewery to be a spot “dedicated to refining time-honored kinds and discovering new ones.” It’s a mantra born of touring, searching for new flavors, and exploring the unknown in beer. It’s that adventurous spirit that has led to beers like Grocery Retailer Beer, a barrel-aged pastry stout with salted caramel butter crisp. Or Fruit Rush, a smoothie bitter shandy collection that rotates the whole produce part of fruits. One explicit model included peach, raspberry, and lemonade. In fact, we will’t neglect to say the unimaginable IPA portfolio both.
However down on planet earth, Hitchhiker’s two taprooms supply an ideal group vibe, virtually like your native neighborhood pub. The unique location in Mt. Lebanon is a bit homier.
Whereas the newer Sharpsburg constructing provides a bit extra space to stretch your legs and take your time sipping beers with buddies. It’s form of your basic, trendy taproom area (if that is sensible) replete with pinball machines, board video games, a storage door that opens up within the good climate, a again patio, and a rotating schedule of meals vans.
Hitch a trip right here on Uber or Lyft and spend a complete afternoon touring via an unlimited world of beer.
