Pittsburgh southside spots

Fathead's is the place for the tap selection and food. Piper's Pub and Smokin' Joes are cool, too.

http://fatheadspittsburgh.com/index.php
http://www.smokinjoessaloon.com/
http://piperspub.com/

 

I will argue that Smokin Joes has the best selection. They have more beers on tap than Fatheads. However, Smokin Joes doesnt do the volume that Fatheads does, so you might find some beers that are past their prime. You might also find some gems that slipped through the cracks as well. Fatheads is second best as far as quantity of selection. The thing here is you will have to deal with the crowds. Pipers can hold there own as far as quality of selection and their food is top notch. There are plenty of other options on the southside though. OTB, The Library, Carson Street Deli, Local Bar & Kitchen, Wingharts, Double Wide Grill, Birmingham Bridge Tavern, Hofbrauhaus, etc. just to name a few. Most of these are good options for food as well, I do not care for Double Wide's food, depending on what type of food you are looking for. You can buy bottles to go from any bar, but Fatheads has there to go beers upstairs. Carson Street Deli sells singles to go as well and has a much better selection. There is also a new distributer, Buddys Brews on Carson, if you want to buy a case of something. Hope this helps PM me if you need anything else.

 

My bad...I was going off memory. Hey but either way, you're covered beer-wise!

 

Sharp edge. It's in town, but nothing in Pittsburgh is very far. Sharp edge has lots of import selections and I believe a bottle shop. DO NOT let the locals talk you into iron shitty. It's like drinking the river water.

 

Never heard of those places, though I'm more familiar with the spots in town. South side is great, but it's more of an area for college kids. Lots of bars.

 

I can wholeheartedly recommend Fat Head's and Smokin' Joe's Saloon for beer. There are all kinds of great places up and down Carson St., though, but most of my experience is at Fat Head's (and I've never ever been disappointed). Usually I am impressed with their guest taps, but they have some great brews of their own on tap right now. Head Hunter IPA is a classic and the Goggle Fogger hefeweizen is the best I can recall in my, albeit limited, experience. (The Sorcerer Belgian ale is good too!) Plus, the tap list online now is different from my visit Friday afternoon, so there's a good chance for much change. (I don't know about how often the list changes anywhere else.)

As far as bottle shopping, I don't do much of any on the South Side. I have picked up the occasional bottle at both Fat Head's and Carson St. Deli, though I'm not crazy about the latter's style of pricing.

Wherever you go, I can't imagine you won't enjoy it. Good luck!

 

Suggestions for good locals:
Current faves are Full Pint Rye Rebellion, a imperial rye stout aged in rye whiskey barrels, & hopefully Fathead's Head Hunter IPA will be available in bottles shortly.

 

Pittsburgh "proper" doesn't have much in the form of actual mix-n-match bottleshops, especially when you consider prices.

You can buy individual bottles from most bars "to go" but you pay regular bar prices. Mosto f the places listed above are like that, bars with good bottle selections, bot actual bottleshops.
Fatheads has a small selection of bottles available for discount 6 packs, the selection is small.
D's six pack in Swissvale has probably the biggest selection of mix-n-match in the city, but it is a bit pricey.


Heading out of the city:
Barley's & Hops in South Park has a okay selection, but $ could be high.
1 For The Road in Wexford has an okay selection and good price levels.
House of 1000 in New Kensington is probably the best selection/price combo in the area, but it is a bit far out.

 

Fat Heads is OK if you're into crowds. They certainly have selection.
I prefer Pipers Pub (not to be confused with Peter's Pub!) which is basically cattycornered from FH. They'll have locals, a decent selection of other taps, and they have CASK ALE. And their food is to die for. Try breakfast on Sunday too.
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to wander into Casey's. Nasty place. I've been handed glasses of beer there that made me want to wash my hands, they were so greasy.
As others have said, there are many options along Carson St. Fun place to be.

 

The Smokin Joes link here and in the directory seems to be bad.

 

Neither of those are in the southside. Pitts doggin it is in shadyside which is a short cab ride, ive only been there a couple times and prices can be a bit high. Barley and hops is way out is South Park. Definetly a longer cab ride, bout a half hour or so, and selection is not that great if I recall.

 

Works for me. It does take a few seconds to load and seems to be Flash heavy.

 

Yeah, works for me now too. Must have been temporary.

 

Birmingham Bridge Tavern usually has a rather good beer list and it is only 2 blocks from the Springhill/Marriott hotel. That would probably be your closest place if you just wanted to grab a quick brew.