New in Pittsburgh Nov. 2016

I saw that Lizard of Koz popped up in Shadyside. Has anyone had a chance to try it? I haven't seen anything regarding reviews/thoughts on the beer. I'll be back in town this Thursday, and I'm hoping to grab a bottle; it sounds delicious.

 

Anyone want to split a case of wws 4 ways?

 

I would get in on that.

 

I'm open to that as well.

 

Okay, if it's still available when I get off work I'll scoop it up and we can sort it out who wants how many. I think it should be about $200 after tax so around $8/bottle. We cold split 3 ways 8 bottles each, or you two tale a 4th each and I'll stick with the other half. Or if there's any other takers we can all do 1/4.

I'm in beaver county area but can meet within reason (moon, Robinson, cranberry etc).

 

Sorry guys. No luck on the case of wws. Giant eagle cranberry and vintage estate in boardman both currently have it for what it's worth.

 

It is pretty darn fantastic! Basically a blueberry chocolate vanilla bean bourbon glass of delicousness.

 

Now that direct beer shipping is legal (effective sometime in January as far as I can tell), does anyone have any insight on the following:

1) Do any breweries still ship? I know Cascade used to.
2) Are there any beer of the month or other clubs worth doing?

I tried to search old threads but didn't find much current info.

 

There's a recent thread in the Beer Talk forum 1 page back right now that talks about Beer of the Month clubs.

I saw an article today in the Post Gazette about a brewery that just opened in the South Hills for people out that way. Helicon Brewing in Oakdale.

 

If you want to get the most out of your weekend and you're staying in Lawrenceville you need to hit Grist House (straight forward, but very solid beers), Drai Laag (Sours and Wild Beers), Dancing Gnome, and most importantly Brew Gentlemen (New England IPAs).

You will easily be able to take Ubers between the first three because they are all just across the river from you. You can walk between Grist House and Drai Laag. Getting to Brew Gentlemen will be the most challenging, but its worth the trip.

I hope that's helpful.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/pittsburgh-iso-gnvp-ft-rye-black-magick.469542/

 

aschwab,

There are some excellent suggestions, but honestly there are breweries popping up by the week, so by January you might want to re-visit the topic. My personal favs would be Dancing Gnome, Brew Gentlemen and Helltown. The last one is about an hour east in Mt. Pleasant, but look for their Rapture IPA or Idle Hands DIPA on tap at craft bars. Their Wretched Belgian Strong is awesome too, but I think seasonal. I've had a few of the others in that article at festivals and Fury had a lot of promise and I'd look for them on draft lists.

You have a good base since there are a number in Lawrenceville, Sharpsburg, Millvale - all within 5 miles.
>Dancing Gnome (Sharpburg) opened in October and have been releasing weekly. Mostly hazy, hoppy stuff. They just did their first DIPA "Better 1 or 2" and it is a great NE style IPA. On par with Brew Gentlemen IMHO.
>Roundabout (upper Lawrenceville) is very good.
>Hop Farm and Full Pint (upper Lawrenceville) are also worth a visit, but not as good as the first two.
>Grist House (Millvale) is a cool spot with a variety of styles, all of which are very good. Their flagship is Camp Slap, a hoppy red ale with a really nice blend of toasty malt. They also started canning their Fire on the Hill IPA.
>Drai Laag (Millvale) is also there and they do Belgian style, farmhouse ales, wild ales, lambics and sours.

>Brew Gentlemen is in Braddock, about 20-30 min drive from Lawrenceville. It is worth the drive. They have 6-8 beers on tap and (almost) always have Gen. Braddock IPA and a seasonal double. The White Sky chai -spiced wheat also interesting.
>Voodoo is in Homestead down the river from BG, but they underwhelm me.

There are a few bars / restaurants that really feature local crafts:
>Proper Brick Oven (7th Ave. downtown) has a great list of local (PA/OH) offerings no matter what your preferred style.
>Smallman Galley (Strip District) is a food hall restaurant incubator with a bar serving brews from across PA - so, Pgh but also Pizza Boy, Neshaminy Creek, etc. Really cool vibe.
>The Independent Brewing Co. (Squirrel Hill) - Not brewery, but they feature all local crafts.