Hey everyone, I'll be driving from Toronto, through Buffalo and into Pittsburgh next weekend. I've done some preliminary research on the best breweries and beer bars to check out on the way and in Pittsburgh and would love your recommendations. Voodoo and Brew Gentleman are what have caught my eye so far. Any help is appreciated. Thanks so much! Chris
Safe travels, actually just made that trip from Toronto to Pittsburgh (flew from Rome to Toronto and drove back, which made for a long trip...). Speaking for Pittsburgh: - IMO, the top 3 places in order are Brew Gentlemen, Dancing Gnome, and Voodoo. There's actually 3 Voodoo locations on your trip down (Erie / Meadville / Homestead). The Homestead location is 10 minutes from BG if you're looking to hit both up at the same time. - Dancing Gnome is in Sharpsburg and is known for their juicy/hazy ipa's, along with BG. Hitchhiker is solid too and just moved down the street in the old Fort Pitt Brewery plant, so you can hit these two together. You will find that each place in this response really has its own vibe, which is pretty cool. - Draai Laag (specializes in sours) and Grist House (variety of good stuff) are just a mile down Route 28 in Millvale, which you can also hit up together. - Lawrenceville (right across the river from Millvale) has Hop Farm, Roundabout, and Eleventh Hour, along with a ton of good restaurants (trendy area). Roundabout isn't much to look at, but the beer is the best of the 3 IMO, and may be the most underrated place in the city, from reading other people's thoughts on this forum. - I enjoy Southern Tier as well, which is in the north shore (across from downtown), between the two stadiums. There's a separate forum that's not too long on Pittsburgh breweries as well, which hits on a lot of the above: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/pittsburgh-breweries-fall-edition.539856/
Buffalo has had a lot of good breweries open up recently. Assuming you cross the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie and not going through Niagara Falls: - Big Ditch is downtown and has some excellent IPAs, but I've liked everything I've had there. They are also releasing their Deep Cut DIPA tomorrow (12/9). - Resurgence is on the west side of the city, not too far from the Peace Bridge. - Flying Bison was the first "craft" brewery in Buffalo and is located near Larkin Square just off the 190 south of the city. Their Aviator Red and Rusty Chain are still some of my favorite beers from the area. - Pearl Street Grill & Brewery near the hockey arena always has good beer on tap and good food. It holds a special place to me because we had our wedding reception there. - 42 North is a bit outside the city, but not too far off the highway in East Aurora. I hope I responded early enough that you get a chance to stop at one or more. Safe travels.
Chris, Hit this thread. It will give you everything you need to know. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/pittsburgh-breweries-fall-edition.539856/
