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jakeox

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I am going to be in the Pittsburgh area over Thanksgiving weekend. Where should I buy beer? What beer should I buy?

I searched and I'm pretty sure that A) we don't already have a Pittsburgh guide, and B) we have several members from the 'burgh and its surrounding area.

... so hopefully yinz can tell me where to go get and drink beer when I'm in town.
 
Thanks for reminding that I've been slacking off on my desire to write a Pittsburgh travel guide.

As JM03 asked? Location is key. Pittsburgh is very geography challenged and the options will be weighted based on what part of town you'll be in and if you have a car or not.
 
Where in Pittsburgh will you be? Have vehicle/willing to travel any?
Thanks for reminding that I've been slacking off on my desire to write a Pittsburgh travel guide.

As JM03 asked? Location is key. Pittsburgh is very geography challenged and the options will be weighted based on what part of town you'll be in and if you have a car or not.

I'm going to be staying in the Ohio Township area, but will have a car and will probably be in Pittsburgh proper at least once or twice over the weekend. Will probably have other family visits around the area, but I'm not sure exactly where they are.
 
Real quick

Places to eat and drink lots of good beer on tap
Fatheads - South Side (A must stop for everyone, although recommend going during the day)
Smokin Joes - South Side
The Library - South Side
Carson St. Deli - South Side
Basically there is a ton of good places to eat and drink on the South Side, but its a mad house at night, especially on the weekend. Dont expect to walk in Fatheads on a Saturday night and be able to sit anywhere.
Industry Public House - Lawrenceville (Beer, bacon, and hipsters)
Mad Mex (several) - There's one in just about every area of town.
Harris Grill - Shadyside
Kelly's Bar - East Liberty
Sharp Edge (several) - One of the original destinations, but pricey and Belgian-focused.

Places to buy beer:
Beer isn't generally available in grocery stores, with some exceptions. It's also not available by the bottle or six packs in liquor stores. You gotta buy by the case from a distributor or by the bottle from a restaurant or six pack shop (which usually sells some hot dogs to qualify as a restaurant).

D's Six Packs and Dogs - Regent Square (East End) and Monroeville
House of 1000 Beers - They bring in a lot of grey market ****, so you're best bet at finding out of market stuff, but seriously marked up. Its also way out in New Kensington, so not particularly convenient if you're not already out that way.
Several of the higher end Giant Eagle grocery stores sell beer. Whole Food in Wexford sells beer, but the Shadyside Whole Foods does not.
 
For Ohio Township area:

Giant Eagle in Settlers Ridge
Bocktown Bar and Grill in Robinson Twp
Mad Mex Robinson
Sharp Edge Creekhouse
 
This is great stuff, thanks!

I plan to stock up on Head Hunter while I'm there, and I know and like most of the Voodoo beers I've had (I know, Meadville isn't all that close to Pittsburgh). Are there other local beers I should know about?
 
HeadHunter about summed it all up.
If you want to head to Ohio (about 50min up turnpike from where youll be) you can check out places like
Chalet Premier (liquor store but a nice expanding craft selection. Good prices)
Vintage Estate (expensive, but the biggest selection youll find anywhere)
 
Cheapest way to stock up on Head Hunter would be to get a case from somewhere (assuming you're driving). I'm not as familiar with the distributors out that way, but Buddy's in the South Side and Save Mor in Squirrel Hill are usually good bets to have them.

Voodoo stuff you're mostly going to find here are the regular offerings (Pilzilla, Voodoo Love Child, etc.) Some of the better bottle shops may still have some Big Black Voodoo Daddy.

Other local breweries of note include East End and Roundabout. I havent had a chance to try Roundabout yet, but Steve Sloan (the head brewer and founder) won a **** ton of medals at GABF when he was still at Church Brew Works. I guess I should mention Church Brew Works (ZOMG! a beer in an old church!). But its mostly a touristy destination and the beers are pretty hit and miss, especially since Steve left.

There is also Rivertowne and Full Pint, but they're mostly meh.
 
HeadHunter about summed it all up.
If you want to head to Ohio (about 50min up turnpike from where youll be) you can check out places like
Chalet Premier (liquor store but a nice expanding craft selection. Good prices)
Vintage Estate (expensive, but the biggest selection youll find anywhere)

Yeah, I used to make the drive to Vintage Estate on a regular basis back when Ron still owned it. But with rising gas prices and PA getting more labels in I havent made the trip in a while.
 
BTW, East End unfortunately just sold the last of their Gratitude barleywine for the year (although there may be causes of old Flatitude left for sale). At least from the brewery location, there may be bottles still left in the Pittsburgh Public Market location.
 
In Pa, some things you wont find in IL are Terrapin, Duck Rabbit, Voodoo, Fat Heads..
In Oh, you can pick up White Rajah, Columbus..

Does Troegs distribute to IL? If not, I'd recommend stocking up on some Flying Mouflan.
 
Does Troegs distribute to IL? If not, I'd recommend stocking up on some Flying Mouflan.

Troegs doesn't make it here ... haven't had that one but have liked most of their other beers that I've had.
 
Troegs doesn't make it here ... haven't had that one but have liked most of their other beers that I've had.

Actually I just remembered that Mouflan wasnt bottled this year. So anything you see on the shelves would be at least a year old. Past batches have been pretty nice with a year on them in my experience.
 
And if you like whiskey, Wigle Whiskey in the Strip District distills and sells some good white rye and wheat whiskey. They also have cask aged stuff, but they are local whiskey walez and sell out pretty quick however. Although there may still be some in stock this weekend (they just had a sale last weekend).

https://www.wiglewhiskey.com/
 
Just stopped by Wigle. They have all the cask aged whiskey in stock except the Cherry wood aged Rye (unfortunately).
 
I was just at the Giant Eagle in Robinson (Settler's Ridge) a few days ago and they had plenty of Flying Mouflan available. My usual go-tos are GE Robinson, GE Shaler, Whole Foods Wexford, and House of 1,000 Beers, and then Buddy's Brews on Carson when I want a case.
 
I'm stuck up here for work through the rest of the month. Is Pittsburgh going to get BCBS and where would I need to look to purchase such beer?
 
I'm stuck up here for work through the rest of the month. Is Pittsburgh going to get BCBS and where would I need to look to purchase such beer?

That's the $64,000 question. We've only been getting Goose Island for a little while now. If we get BCBS, I'm guessing it wont be much and none of the varietals.

If we do, the following places would he good bets to get it:
House of 1000 beers
Fatheads
D's Six Packs and Dogs
Some of the Giant Eagle Market Districts

Plus throw in a Mad Med location or two if we get any draft.

I'm also guessing some of these places will go KBS level pricing (~$10/bottle). Yeah I'm looking at you D's.
 
I work at a bottle shop in the South Hills called McNeilly beer. We have a decent selection in my opinion with some good variants. I will warn you that my manager has no clue how to price beers, so the bombers are high. But I can always give you a fellow trader discount. We also do mix and match 6 packs at 20% off which is nice.

I am working this Friday night if anyone wants to stop down
 
GJdVMFZ.jpg


I stopped by East End on Saturday afternoon -- I didn't realize it was not a sit-down-and-have-a-pint kind of place, but I only had about an hour to spare anyway. I walked in, and they asked what I'd like to try. I responded with my typical "I haven't had any of your beers, where should I start?" They asked if I would like to try them all. Yes. Yes I would like to try them all.

They had these three lonely Gratitude bottles on the shelf -- the 2010 version. I picked those up along with some #properglassware and a couple other bottles pictured. We also went through a couple growlers later that night (I think they were Monkey Boy and Black Strap -- I don't remember, I drank a lot of beer that night). The guys were cool and we chatted about beer in between a pretty steady stream of customers while I worked my way through their beers on tap.

I also came home with some Head Hunter, and we had some more beers at D's Six Packs and Dogs ... that was an unusual bar for an out-of-towner. I enjoyed some bacon cheese fries and my 500th unique Untappd check-in there.

Good stuff, Pittsburgh. I'll be back.
 
GJdVMFZ.jpg


I stopped by East End on Saturday afternoon -- I didn't realize it was not a sit-down-and-have-a-pint kind of place, but I only had about an hour to spare anyway. I walked in, and they asked what I'd like to try. I responded with my typical "I haven't had any of your beers, where should I start?" They asked if I would like to try them all. Yes. Yes I would like to try them all.

They had these three lonely Gratitude bottles on the shelf -- the 2010 version. I picked those up along with some #properglassware and a couple other bottles pictured. We also went through a couple growlers later that night (I think they were Monkey Boy and Black Strap -- I don't remember, I drank a lot of beer that night). The guys were cool and we chatted about beer in between a pretty steady stream of customers while I worked my way through their beers on tap.

I also came home with some Head Hunter, and we had some more beers at D's Six Packs and Dogs ... that was an unusual bar for an out-of-towner. I enjoyed some bacon cheese fries and my 500th unique Untappd check-in there.

Good stuff, Pittsburgh. I'll be back.


Nice report. Monkey Boy and Blackstrap are my two favorite year round East End beers. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

I take it you didn't make it into the beer cave in the back at D's and partake of some $39.95 Older Viscosity?
 
Nice report. Monkey Boy and Blackstrap are my two favorite year round East End beers. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

I take it you didn't make it into the beer cave in the back at D's and partake of some $39.95 Older Viscosity?

Haha, I saw that since I was looking for something interesting for my 500th checkin on Untappd. I saw that and went, ooh, Older Viscosity, that'd be good ... oh. A dollar off for bringing home, though. They had some BA Siberian Night that was a little more tempting but was still $12-15.
 
Haha, I saw that since I was looking for something interesting for my 500th checkin on Untappd. I saw that and went, ooh, Older Viscosity, that'd be good ... oh. A dollar off for bringing home, though. They had some BA Siberian Night that was a little more tempting but was still $12-15.

Yeah, the grey market Alesmiths aren't quite as bad (~$18/750 I think). That would probably be close to retail at most bottle shops if they had dedicated distribution to Western PA.
 
I work at a bottle shop in the South Hills called McNeilly beer. We have a decent selection in my opinion with some good variants. I will warn you that my manager has no clue how to price beers, so the bombers are high. But I can always give you a fellow trader discount. We also do mix and match 6 packs at 20% off which is nice.

I am working this Friday night if anyone wants to stop down

I stopped by here tonight and you weren't joking about the prices. Yeti bombers were $17-18. Geez, let go of my hands.
 
Yeah ..... I'm trying, but talking to my manager is like trying to argue with a toddler.

Case in point, we were lucky enough to get one of the 25 cases of BCBS that came into Pittsburgh. I worked the night it came in. One of my co-workers and I priced it btw $13-15 a bottle, which is comparable to what the few in town who had it were asking. He got pissed the next day to find out I sold 2 4 packs, which made our cost back in less than half the case. He now has it priced at $20 a bottle and it's hiding in the back "not for sale."

Dick. Side note, I work Thursday and Friday nights; if you are ever here, I'll knock some off the price.
 
Yeah ..... I'm trying, but talking to my manager is like trying to argue with a toddler.

Case in point, we were lucky enough to get one of the 25 cases of BCBS that came into Pittsburgh. I worked the night it came in. One of my co-workers and I priced it btw $13-15 a bottle, which is comparable to what the few in town who had it were asking. He got pissed the next day to find out I sold 2 4 packs, which made our cost back in less than half the case. He now has it priced at $20 a bottle and it's hiding in the back "not for sale."

Dick. Side note, I work Thursday and Friday nights; if you are ever here, I'll knock some off the price.

If some guy comes in tomorrow screaming "Where's the Wild Rahoob?!!!", thats probably me.


But even at 13-15 a bottle. Yeesh.
 
yeah, it's high; but just as high as anyone else that got one of the few cases to trickle here. It's on par with Packs and Dogs in Mt. Washington, who got a case, and one other place we heard of that was charging $15. $20 is an insult.

HeadHunter, stop down and I'll hook you up on a discount. I don't know if I'm allowed to sell the BCBS, which is stupid. But I'll be here from 6-2am.
 
Wuddup pittsburgians! So there's this chick I'm tryin to bang and she went to Pitt for school. She keeps talkin about the salad dressing from Joe Mamas across from the campus, so I was wondering if anyone could gopicksomeupformebro or trade. Will make it worth your time. Help a brutha out! Cheers!
 
Wuddup pittsburgians! So there's this chick I'm tryin to bang and she went to Pitt for school. She keeps talkin about the salad dressing from Joe Mamas across from the campus, so I was wondering if anyone could gopicksomeupformebro or trade. Will make it worth your time. Help a brutha out! Cheers!

I could help you out with this possibly. Do they sell it in bottles?
 
Has anyone spotted Hopslam on tap in the Pittsburgh area? I know most of the bottles have come and went (still a few at Caliente's and Carson Street Deli if i'm not mistaken), but I'm looking to have it on tap again this year. My buddy hasn't had it before and I figured it'd be cool to introduce him with a fresh pour at Happy Hour or something.
 
Has anyone spotted Hopslam on tap in the Pittsburgh area? I know most of the bottles have come and went (still a few at Caliente's and Carson Street Deli if i'm not mistaken), but I'm looking to have it on tap again this year. My buddy hasn't had it before and I figured it'd be cool to introduce him with a fresh pour at Happy Hour or something.
I have not. It is on Tap up near me at VE if you wanted to make an Ohio run.
 
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