Pittsburgh Tips for trip

Lots of good info provided so far. I would definitely spend some time in Lawrenceville because there are a lot of great spots in general, beer related or not. Roundabout isn't well known outside of Pgh because they have a small footprint, but I might be inclined to argue that they are the best brewery in town. YMMV, especially if you're really into juice/pastry/milkshake stuff. Hop Farm is also in the neighborhood and often overlooked, but they do a great job. Someone mentioned Lorelai and they're def worth a visit. German lagers and they usually have Gnome and BG on tap. Right around the corner is Muddy Waters and they have a great lobster roll and a top notch cocktail program. Grist House is probably the best brewery to hang...protip: walk to Iron Born and grab a pizza to bring over to GH, you won't be disappointed. If you get bored at GH, buy a 4pk and walk around the corner to the axe throwing joint. If you're going to see the buccos you might as well head over to Southern Tier. They have a nice setup and pretty good food. They also have Victory & Sixpoint on tap since the ABV merger. There are some cool spots in the North Side too, which is easily accessible from PNC Park. Have fun!

 

Anyone familiar with Insurrection AleWorks and Adjuration Brewing? Pulled a list of the top rated breweries within 10 miles of Downtown on Untappd and both of these showed up in the top 7.

 

I've never been to Abjuration, but I've heard good things. It's a very small place inside of a movie theatre, I believe. I've heard good things about the beer, but just haven't made it. Their website is very impressive in that they post all of their recipes on there, and they also have live monitoring of what is currently in their tanks, the temp they're being kept at, and other little details.

Insurrection makes some really great beer. I've never been to their location, but their cans often make it to some of the bottle shops around the city. I've only had a handful, but certainly have enjoyed what I've had. Apparently they have great food at the brewery. Their wings especially get a lot of great reviews. I've been meaning to make it out there sometime soon, but I've just been busy on the weekends recently.

 

Good comments @Pinz412. I've been to both Abjuration (only once so far) and Insurrection (plenty of times).

Abjuration really pushes the creativity in their brews (thus their "chemist" theme, including beaker glasses and how they name their beers) and have really progressed in quality from what I've seen. Definitely an interesting place as they're on the one side of an old but still operational movie theater. Cool dudes from talking to them. You'll definitely have something there you'd never had before... their Rice IPA (RCIPA) really stood out to me, but I don't think it's currently on tap. They have food trucks come though I'm not sure how frequent. McKees Rocks isn't the best area of town, but there's been some investment there over the past few years.

Love Insurrection - high quality and consistency in their brews, probably just a slight notch below the DG/BG level IMHO. And yes, great food as well, especially the wings, and their specials on Instagram always have me salivating. Quality ingredients, fresh. Small but nice place, I like the relaxed vibe there and they have a few TV's too if you're looking to watch the game.

 

^^excellent info @Pinz412 and @3genpanther . I'll be in town Sunday and noticed that Strange Roots is closed this day (odd I thought) so looking for a 4th (possibly 5th) stop to replace them. Looks like these could be it if time permits. Looking forward to checking out what y'all brew up!

 

Both Voodoo and Brew Gentlemen are open on Sundays if you don't mind making a 20 minute drive or so. Once you're on that side of town those two aren't that far from each other. I forget if you said you're already making the trip over that way, but Brew Gentlemen makes some fantastic beer.

You've picked a good weekend to visit. Dancing Gnome will be releasing a TIPA to finish off their 2019 Bird Series of DIPA's and they always crush their triples. Grist House is having a triple can release on Saturday and will be releasing a desert stout, a sour ipa, and a NEIPA. Hitchhiker always seems to release something new on Saturday as well, but I haven't seen what this week's release is yet. Voodoo released 3 cans yesterday of which 2 of them should make it until the weekend. You'll have a lot of options.

 

[Insert irony joke here]

Agreed with @Pinz412 on BG/Voodoo if you can make it out there. Pull up each brewery's instagram account or their website if you want to see this weekend's releases... looks like a lot of stuff this weekend. Have fun, stay hydrated, and report back!

 

Great info! Great thread for our visit in June. YMMV? Couldn't decipher. Pls help

 

“Your mileage may vary.” I was just qualifying my claim that Roundabout is the best in PGH as I think it depends a lot on what styles you’re into.

 

Thanks for all the recs above. Made it out to Dancing Gnome, walked to Hitchiker then ended at Grist House. Had a couple pours at each and enjoyed them all. All of them had lots of people. Favorite atmosphere was GH. The outdoor area and fire pits were awesome. Best staff was at Hitchhiker. Keeping all the guests entertained and made sure to strike conversations with everyone while taking orders and pouring beers. Hoped they had Double Bane cans or draft but neither. Grabbed Udderly Dipped and Battle Snake cans from GH. Big SIPA sold out just as I got there but did have it on draft. Also grabbed Nest cans from DG.

Gonna try to get to Cinderlands tonight for dinner, Abjuration and either Allegheny City or Roundabout.