Will be staying in Pittsburgh for a conference in august. Unfortunately i will have very limited time for beer-related activities and hence must ask for some help/suggestions. Preferably i´d like to visit 1-2 bottleshops or breweries to get some fresh hopjuice and other beers worth trying from PA. Also anywhere in the city where i can great food and good beers would be interesting. I am not looking into getting crates of beer but rather singles and/or 4/6-packs (or crowlers). Thanks in advance!
With your lack of time, I would go to Dancing Gnome and Hitchhiker, both in Sharpsburg and less than a mile from each other (10 minute drive from downtown). DG = hopjuice and some nice sours/stouts on occasion, while HH has a broader array of beers. Both have routine can releases and will have some can stock a few days after releases. Only food trucks for both places. If you're looking for great food too, the brewery with the most reputable food IMO in that area is Cinderlands (both at their 3705 location and their newly opened "Warehouse" location, located in Lawrenceville and the Strip District respectively... the beer ain't bad either). Plenty of other solid food joints, particularly in Lawrenceville (not to mention downtown).
I was just there and for sure I second the Cinderlands reco (3705 location warehouse wasn't open yet). Beer was good and food was awesome! I was also into Dancing Gnome but just to pick up cans. Brew Gentlemen was a hike but was my favourite beer spot of the trip. Only bottle shop I found/visitied was Liberty Beer. Pretty solid selection, watch for freshness though. I also had food/beer at Proper (pizza place) both were great. I was not a fan of Church Brewing, cool spot but beer and food were just "meh" to me.
We created a site that helps with this. You'll be able to find all the breweries in the area, and you can check which ones are having can releases while you're there (keep in mind that can releases won't show up until a few days before they occur, since that's when they're announced...but Grist House, Hitchhiker, and Dancing Gnome are pretty much always gonna release at least one can on Saturdays). Anyway, it's www.pabrewreview.com and if you create a (free) account, you can leave your ratings of the breweries. Cheers!
