Pittsburgh - New Beers & Local Breweries

Didn't want to presume, but glad everyone else heard what I heard haha.

 

I think it was pretty well documented in the release thread.

 

The new One Hitter hit HO1K. I would love to try this on tap somewhere - https://twitter.com/ho1kb/status/614051415569203200

 

New brewery opening in Hermitage. Stone Church pizza house and brew pub

 

So.. It looks like there will be upwards of 450 people at the Draai Laag Biergarten Grand Opening,(event was listed weekend of July 9 - July 11) and for the brewpub it will be a very big crowd to say the least which is really awesome! I know the crew there is stoked and I will be there helping out too to get as much beer served as quickly as possible to all of the guests. Street parking will be your best bet, as the parking lot has lost those 2-3 treasured spaces where the Biergarten now stands, and the rest will surely be already parked in when you arrive. I had reported earlier that all three Briars may be ontap right for the opening, but that may not be the case with this type of turnout and the fact it is staggered over three days. Needless to say taplist at the taproom can and probably will be changing rapidly. There ARE one or two kegs of all 3 Briars in storage specifically for the taproom, so you definitely will be seeing them at some point, and I think I remember hearing there are a few other cool things in the cellar too. Thank you for understanding and I hope to see all of you down there. Ask for Dutch, that's what they all call me, and I'd love to share a few beers when and if things calm down. Best case scenario for me is that the taproom folks relieve me of my duties before you arrive and I will just be drinking with yinz and shin diggin'. Cheers!

 

Lucky for them there's no law against trademark infringement. See also: Jones Craft Brewing Co.

 

Realize that this may be slightly misplaced, due to the new title thread (thought it might have found an appropriate home in the former digs), but I don't feel the comment is significant enough to warrant its own thread. Made my first trip to Vintage Estates this past weekend, and I was pretty impressed by the selection. None of the bottles checked were threatening their enjoy by/born on date; fresh all of them.

The last few trips to Ho1kB turned up a number of bottles past their prime, and, given the distance from me (South Hills), VE will probably be my preference going forward (unless I'm traveling out east for work, or for special House events). Wife grabbed several bottles of wine and watched the kids while I toured the Goses on tap. Hit up Magic Tree afterward, which (while the cook burned my Bison burger to quality of a steak-umm) had a solid draft selection as well.

 

Went to Dommy's in Vandergrift earlier today. Their in-house "Double D" brewery had a hefeweizen & an imperial coconut brown, both pretty tasty. The coconut was actually crazy good - super fresh coconut taste. Went to grab a growler but the keg was almost kicked.

 

This is not a rumor, I can confirm that it did indeed happen. Witnessed it with my own eyes.

 

Glad to see this (minus the burger). Been on the fence about making the drive up to Boardman for the past couple weekends. Will have to check it out.

 

I've been to VE twice now and it's a really solid spot. Great food, White Rajah, Jackie Os, nice Belgian section, etc.

This is what craft beer is devolving into?

 

Vintage Estate is definitely worth the drive, but stick to the pizzas for the food. They're beyond legit.

 

That's what I should have said. I've only ever had the pizza there but it was excellent imo.

 

Most other people at VE had pizzas in front of them; next time.

 

Fairly off topic but I know I can get an answer here.

To those who've entered before (@dtx00, @RblWthACoz, etc.), what's the likelihood of getting selected for Upland's lottery?

 

Cant speak for craft beer as a whole, but at least bottle releases in Central PA are. Gotta get those #whalezbro

 

Ive only entered once, only because I dont have someone regular to pick these up, but I was not selected. I have heard that results vary, as they should I suppose. Some have had great success, others struggle to be selected at all. I know that is not great insight, but its all I have to offer.

 

It depends on how many people registered, which usually depends on what beers they are raffling off. I've hit on about half the lotto's that I've entered in.

 

Yeah I actually remember seeing them. These people stood out like a sore thumb. Their "pimp" or "john" or whoever kept going up to them and like making them rehearse their lines for when they got up there. There were a few groups of them and they kept jumping around in line. It was really weird and very obvious what was going on. I also saw a group of guys actually pay people off the street Friday to come in, buy a membership and an alottment for them, gave them a kriek/berry, and sent them on their way. I saw their jeep loaded up with literally like 9 boxes for 3 guys. Then saw them back in line the next day playing a classic game of "Chat & Cut". It was such a joke.

 

I won the last two or three maybe.