Pittsburgh Breweries - 2018

I still haven't been there, but I only hear good things about Independent Brewing Co. in Squirrel Hill (as a beer bar, it's not a brewery, as I'm sure you know). Love Pipers though, try to get down there several times a year for Liverpool matches.

 

Independent’s taplist is consistently great, I don’t think they get enough recommendations on here.

 

Smallman galley is another awesome place with great local tap list that stays under radar

 

I've heard that too, although I've also heard it's hard to get drinks there fwiw. I've only recently been to Federal Galley (same concept, just bigger) and they did have an outstanding draft list, including both CBS, 2015 FBS, a ton of locals, etc. Their draft list online didn't reflect all that they had. I believe I paid $8 for CBS too (versus like $12-13 at Industry in Robinson).

 

Piper's is the best combination of great beer and great food that I've been to around here. Independent is probably my favorite taplist, you can often find something there that you don't see most other places. This past Nov/Dec they had a six week celebration of old world strong ales and just had some absurdly great/hard to find beers. Caliente is also worth noting for the occasional amazing taplist and 1/2 off happy hour.

Also, if/when you head to 11th Hour, go around the block to Cinderlands then down the street a bit to Roundabout, which is probably in my top three for local breweries.

 

Another vote for Piper's. Really miss that place.

 

Not sure if that was some kind of sarcasm that I don't understand.

Blue Dust in Homestead, Industry in Robinson/Lawrenceville, Fatheads obviously. Smokin Joes, but I was only there once and it was blurry. Beer Hive, Carson Street Deli, Sharp Edge (Ehhh...), D's Six Packs & Dawgs....

 

Piper's is a vicious cycle. Their breakfast is perfect hangover food. Then you're ready for the beers.

And if they have you facing a Southampton/Crystal Palace game, then you REALLY need a drink.

 

What does this mean? They're busy?

 

Apparently, you don't understand a lot, as you've mentioned Smokin' Joes.

 

Yeah, BA is a lot more snarky than it was when I originally was here. Heh. Savage insult though. Dank and lit even. I think that's what the kids these days say?

Thanks for responding to my original post though. Strange that you mentioned Mindful's bottle selection. The only time we went there, when they first opened, all of their bottles were out of date. And they had just opened. Now that's some quality control.

 

They are certainly better than that now. Glad that you are checking out the city again, though.

 

More the size/design of the bar itself, relative to the amount of people. Again, I haven't been there myself, but I've heard that from multiple people specific to SG. Even when its not packed, it takes a lot longer than it should to get (and pay for) a beer. Minor point overall.

 

Sorry about that man. Read my post again this morning and that shite was uncalled for. I apologize, I didn't mean to be THAT much of a dick.

 

Just saw there was a silent bottle release about a month ago of BG Brukfust. Anybody know anything about this? And more importantly how someone finds out about said release

 

I don't know. After your post I looked at the SJ tap list and I see what you mean at least. There's a lot of old shit lingering there along with the Labatt and Miller.

Either way, I don't take the internet too seriously.

 

I went to Abjuration over the weekend. Tried all the beers they had (ipa, pale, rice ipa, black, porter, vanilla oak belgian ale) with the dipa and strawberry milkshake being kicked. Thought the beers overall were a bit one-dimensional to me but super drinkable, so overall: decent. I think Cinderlands has the best potential out of the 6-month-old-or-less breweries, but I think there's potential here. Samplers are like $2/per and the pours are pretty big (a good 5 oz I thought). The rice ipa was probably the best I had, since there was a slight hint of jasmine rice, which was different at least, although it didn't taste much different than the pale IMO.

They are set up on the left-hand side of the commons area of the Parkway Theatre, which was kind of strange, but I don't care much about atmosphere anyway. Not a lot of places to sit, maybe 3-4 tables that each sit 8. There was a 40 year old surprise birthday party going on on the "theatre-side" of the room, there must have been a good 150 yinzers, along with a birthday cake in the shape of an original atari (along with 2 joystick cakes), which was incredible, lol. I was thanked by the birthday guy for being there (he was half in the bag when he showed up).

 

I really need to get off of my ass and head over there.

 

Cinderlands has some pretty tasty beers. Much different atmosphere than your typical brewery, it’s a nice addition to the scene.

 

I recently moved to Upper St Clair from Philly. I'm looking for a good go-to beer bar that is withing close proximity to USC/Mt Lebo area. I've been to the Caliente's in Castle Shannon and the breweries such as Hitchhiker, Insurrection and Mindful. All are really good places but I'm wondering if I am missing any other good ones. Thank you for any recommendations. Cheers