Pittsburgh Area Breweries-in-Planning

Yes, this is what I am talking about. A brewery that people from across the country know about and want to visit/trade for. We don't have that.

And I agree on Church. They are a novelty with serviceable beer and great food.

Tired Hands is HORRIBLY overrated. I was there 2 weeks ago. While they didn't have their A line up, I did have Hop Hands, Second Level, and a few others. Such Passion was the only one that I really enjoyed. The rest were extremely average.

 

That may be true, but I was just using it as an example. As you stated above, Pittsburgh has a few breweries that have good stuff here and there, but we don't have a brewery that cranks out excellent stuff across the board (note: I haven't tried much Roundabout yet). Even here in MD, we have Evolution Brewing. They aren't world class, but they make a very good IPA and DIPA, a fantastic coffee stout, solid seasonal beers, very good barrel-aged beers (Migration series), and even a good sour. They are my favorite MD brewery.

As for Tired Hands, I've only been there once. I was impressed. I generally do not like Black IPAs, but their Praise Bee Imperial Black IPA was excellent.

 

I had talked with Jamie a few months ago and he told me its been a long journey, but they are almost there. Since Ive known him for a while now I guess I have a rooting interest for them and I hope they do well. I havent had a beer from them now for a year or so, maybe even longer than that. They were doing some pretty decent things and the whiskey DIPA isnt bad.

 

Hey like I said its been a while. Thats the best I can do.

 

Penn Brewery has been up and down over the years and unfortunately I think they are trending downward. I bought their sampler around Christmas and all 4 styles had a watered down taste. I hope they get their act together because they have made great beer in the past.

 

I'm very interested in Milkman. That DIIPA with bourbon aged oak chips sounds interesting. I love IPAs brewed with oak.

 

My feelings on Penn have never been the same since they temporarily closed. I was a big fan of theirs prior to that. They used to have a pretty stellar lineup top to bottom. Always enjoyed the Penn Dark and Marzen. For a lighter beer thought their Gold was top notch. Always enjoyed their Oktoberfest and of course Penn Pilsner as well. Then the contracted their beers out and they have never been the same IMO. Haven't been a fan of many of their "American" styles either.

 

When Penn Brewing forced Tom Pastorious out of the business they died, he was the reason it came back to Pittsburgh and the other investors forced him out of the decision making/quality control and their beer has since been complete shite. Especially their attempts at brewing American craft styles, their legacy of having the best of the best German styles across the board is over. Everything has a carbonation/bandaid/plastic issues that's from the taps at their brewpub or on tap in the Burgh or out of a 12 pack sampler nothing especially the excellent Penn Dark which was a world class Dunkel have made it back to where it was at before their original buy out. When the Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre contracted their beer and relabeled the bottles and they came back with twist off caps...at that point the business was ran into the ground. Tom seeing his life's work being run into the ground jumped off the bench, and rallied a group of investors. Before his passing, the people currently running the company physically assaulted him and voted him out of having any control in the decision making and quality control.

RIP Tom, I know what you did for Pittsburgh beer culture, and the Penn Microbrewer's Fest along with the heritage of the quality brews these guys used to put out.

 

Instead of bitching about this on a BA forum, I sent Penn Brewing a message...we'll see if I get any feedback:

Why was Tom Pastorious written out of the history of Penn Brewing...Tom was Penn Brewing his love of German bier drinking culture and experience overseas lead to the formation of Penn Brewing.
I know there was some fallout with Tom and other members of the administration and investors, but writing him out of the history on your website is poor taste regardless of what went down prior to Tom's passing.

Look I'm a Penn fan, I've always loved and championed the beer from this brewery, but it has never returned to the quality before the original buy out when operations closed. What exactly happened? Did the process change, recipe, quality control, brewers? What's different, all of the GABF medals that are listed under the beer section were won during the glory days, when Penn brewed German styles exclusively. Look I don't mind that Penn is spreading their wings, and making some American craft styles...but please focus on the core lineup and bring them back to speed before making anymore nut roll beers.

Please don't be offended by these comments, I'm merely giving constructive criticism...I still purchase and sample each new beer and drink Penn Weizen when I have access to it.

Concerned beer drinker, craft beer enthusiast:
Anthony "WVbeergeek" Rasicci

 

http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_725763.html#axzz2z3M50tCf

 

http://triblive.com/mobile/1965130-...it-linda-penn-percent-stuart-brewing-cindrich

A bit more detailed.

 

Heres another new brewery opening up soon. Looks like they are shooting for a fall opening.

http://spoonwoodbrewing.com/phone/index.html

 

Can they make the font any bigger?! Jesus, Ronnie Milsap can see the font on my screen.

 

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but Hitchhiker in my Leno is opening soon and had been brewing. They hired Andy (jagoffbrewer) which was smart because his homebrew has been fantastic for a few years.

 

I knock the "homebrewer-come-brewmaster" thing as much as anyone. It does seem like someone Andy (from what I know...never met in person) can be an exception. He has devoted a lot of time to brewing, he studies water chemistry...he is basically always trying to learn.

There are many, many "homebrewer-come-brewmasters" in Pittsburgh that brew as often as someone like me (maybe once per month), know nothing about anything water chemistry or brew science related, have never experienced brewing on a big system, and decide that their homebrew is worth opening a brewery for. I think this is the case for a lot of new Western PA breweries.