The Most Unique Breweries in Your Area

That sounds fascinating. How was that porter?

 

It was delicious. Obviously very earthy, but if you hadn't been told that it was made with lots of mushrooms I don't think that you'd have guessed it.

He also made a really good root beer once using a variety of traditional tree roots.

 

I bet. Think I’m the target audience as I love mushrooms and root vegetables. If they ever distro down south I’ll look for them!

 

The Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh, PA, located within the confines of the former St. John the Baptist, Roman Catholic Church.

 

Outlander brewing comes to mind for me.
https://outlanderbrewing.com/

I would say a lot of their stuff falls into the "novelty" category. The nachos beer was disturbingly corn-chips-and-cheese flavored. Their beer list on the website is a list of all the beers they've brewed, although it must not be complete because it doesn't include a nacho beer.

 

I've seen a few others, but Church Brew Works is probably the first brewery to occupy a former church building. It seems like it goes back to the mid-90s when I first heard about them.

 

Certainly the most unusual brewery I've visited is Fermentery Form in Philadelphia, but...it's not technically a brewery. They acquire wort already brewed by other breweries in the area, then ferment it in a Solera system (usually used in aging Sherry; one can see the barrels in the taproom). The results are unusual and inspiring. Recently they have been closed because of a "fight with the city"--hopefully they will reopen soon.

https://www.fermenteryform.com

 

In the Denver area we have a few places dedicated to traditional styles (Bierstadt, Hogshead, Cohesion, Pint's Pub, Wild Provisions, etc.), so those probably count.

Dos Luces was the first thing that came to mind for truly unique...but they're closing soon. They specialize in traditional south/central American beer'ish styles like Pulque and Chicha.

Jade Mountain specializes in beers and hard teas made using Asian spices and ingredients. Some of the weirdest (but good) beers I've had lately have come from them.

 

Another aspect of their "uniqueness" is that the whole model is set up like a CSA, you pay up front and then can exchange any number of 1 or 2 liter growlers once a week. You can find some of it on tap around town but the weirder stuff is only in house.

He's been looking for a location to set up a proper estate brewery type thing but nothing has worked out yet.

 

The church was "deconsecrated" by the Catholic Diocese in Pittsburgh in the early 90s. I think the brewery opened a few years later. The size of the Church Brew Works structure, as opposed to other church breweries, is what is most impressive in my opinion.

 

Someday I'll go and confess my sins. Bartenders are good listeners.

 

Thank goodness for Catholics enjoying beer is not a sin.



But when it comes to Southern Baptists...

Cheers!

 

Not in my area... but in Chicago IL, at District Brew Yards (walkable from downtown... to me, at least)... there's 4 breweries under one roof. Unsure what the situation is: if its one owner, or multiple owners collaborated to avoid real estate across 4 different locations in Chicago.

 

Forest and Main close to home.

Font Flora far from home.

Enjoy

 

Agreed as discussed in post #10.

Cheers!