Pittsburgh Breweries - Fall Edition

Any details surfacing about any bcbs releases in the area next month?

 

Im going to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving weekend, and plan on hitting a couple of breweries while Im there...Im all about hoppy beers, so besides Brew Gentlemen, would Dancing Gnome be my other best bet?

 

Yes. Those are #1 and #2 IMO.

 

Cellar Works Brewing, a little ways up 28, near Freeport/Sarver, really has a nice tasting room/setup, and the beers are pretty strong/worth trying...

 

Yes, they would, but they're not very close to each other. If you want to keep it in the same area, BG is close to Voodoo. DG is close to Hitchhiker and not that far away from Grist House. All make very good hop-forward beers.

 

I wouldn't put DG on the same level of BG. Just my opinion. If you are a DG fan-boy that's fine. Even though they didn't give me a sample and they were pricks about it I still bought a few. I don't think there's a thing wrong with tasting a beer before I buy a pint of it. I'd rather know that it's something I like.

 

Yep. Every place I visited provided a sample if I wanted. I was mostly purchasing flights everywhere though.

 

And you are certainly entitled to that opinion. Just know that you're in the minority thinking that they are not making very similar hazy IPAs. Not a fanboy of either brewery, really. Certainly like their beers, but if they make a meh beer, I'll be the first to say it.

I agree with you here, to some extent. However, the reason that I was a bit prickish in my response was because of the situation that you described. They were, by your own admission, very busy when you went. You simply can't expect the same level of service at times like that as opposed to when they are less so. I've been there a handful of times and each was a pretty different experience. There were times when I got the opportunity to talk to the staff/brewers and they were happy to conversate and pour some samples for me to taste, even though I didn't ask. There were other times when everyone behind the bar needed to grow two extra hands and although they acknowledged me, they simply filled my order and moved on to the next customer and I was fine with that because of the situation.

I guess my perspective is a bit different than most. I look at getting tasters as the bar/brewery going above and beyond for the customer. A lot of people seem to think that it is baseline service. Never saw a need for them, myself, and because of that, I tend to get offered a lot of tasters because bartenders know what I like and know that I don't expect them to go above and beyond for me. I'm happy to fully commit to a beer without tasting it first. Be bold, man. Make that commitment.

 

I was at DG last night - it was 2 5 oz pours per customer. They were down to 2 beers by the time I left last night and actually had to close today.

 

Swung by there yesterday and picked up a growler of Astroid. Never really heard of a brewery running out of beer before.

 

Marketing ploy if you ask me.

 

I'm sure the Beers of the Burgh event over the weekend had something to do with supply.

 

You can thank the "awesome" moderators of this forum for driving all of us elsewhere.

 

TB . . . where nobody actually Talks about Beer.

 

Looking for some advice.

The wife and i will be visiting Pittsburgh Dec 9th. Plan is to first pickup some cans at Dancing Gnome for their noon release.

How soon do we need to get in line @DG to guarantee cans? I wasnt sure if they sell out and or the line takes hours to go through.

What other local breweries have cans to go? Looking for Hazy NE IPAs.

What about food choices for lunch and dinner Pittsburgh? Nothing fancy and nothing too pricey, under $10-20/person. Just looking for a good casual atmosphere that has food or an environment we cant find in Columbus. We are big burger fans.

Brewery Ranking?
1. Brew Gentlemen
2. Dancing Gnome
3. Voodoo?
4. Grist House?

I appreciate your help.

-Ryan

 

Where are you staying? If you don't have BRGR or Burgatory in Columbus, there are multiple locations around here. I feel that their burgers are very good, even though they are a chain, and they usually have an OK tap list, as well. If you're looking for something uniquely Pittsburgh, I'd recommend Primanti's, if you haven't been. There are LOTS of cool places on the Southside, in Lawrenceville, and in the Theater District, as well, if none of those float your boat.

1) Brew Gentlemen: the reason that I'd give them the nod over DG is that they made more styles of beer and they make them well.

2) Dancing Gnome: great hop-forward beers, but I can't say that I've been taken with their non-hoppy offerings.

3) Grist House: very good hoppy beer and their other beers are solid, as well.

4) Voodoo: Core beers are solid. The only reason that they get all they hype that they do is because of their Barrel Room Collection, which isn't available outside of release dates.

The ones that aren't on your list that I would think STRONGLY about visiting are: Insurrection, Helicon, and Hitchhiker.

 

Thank You. Primantis sounds perfect for lunch. Maybe Burgatory for dinner.

I havent booked our hotel yet.

Still trying to decide where best to eat and drink that evening then make a decision on a close Hampton or other reasonable hotel.

Any idea about the DG can lines? And other local cans availability?

Thanks!