cooking with beer • homebrewing • upcoming events • the hoppy couple • have you tried...
table of contents
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editor’s notes upcoming events 1st sip brew box punk rock whiskey mbaa - pittsburgh brian grossman of sierra nevada
hoppy couple - southern tier, pgh pin pals - class of 2014 plates & pints - eleven have you tried ... brewer sit-down - andy weigel home brewing - fruit beer
cooking with beer - white lightning, brick chicken
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CraftPittsburgh.com
5. 6. 9. 13. 15. 16. 22. 26. 32. 36. 40. 42. 44.
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staff
PUBLISHER
P•Scout Media, LLC
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Rob Soltis rob@craftpittsburgh.com
head hunter
now in 6packs
MANAGING EDITOR
Mike Weiss mike@craftpittsburgh.com
COPY EDITOR
Kristy Locklin, Jason Cercone
SALES DIRECTOR
Tom Garzarelli tom@craftpittsburgh.com
CONTRIBUTORS Joe Tammariello, Brian Conway, Amanda Stein, Mindy Heisler-Johnson, Hart Johnson, Jack Smith, Kristy Locklin, Jason Cercone, Tom Marshall
PHOTOGRAPHERS Jeff Zoet, Buzzy Torek
CREATIVE
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
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COVER PHOTO Buzzy Torek at Eleven
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Craft Pittsburgh is issued bi-monthly by P•Scout Media, LLC for readers of legal drinking age. All information and materials in this magazine, individually and collectively, are provided for informational purposes. The contents of this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of P•Scout Media, LLC., nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without expressed written permission from the publisher. Advertisements are subject to the approval of P•Scout Media, LLC. P•Scout Media, LLC. reserves the right to reject or omit any advertisement at any time for any reason. Advertisers assume responsibility and complete liability for all content in their ads.
editor’s notes
YOU'RE WAY TOO QUALIFIED TO WORK HERE AND WHAT'S THIS INTERNET THING I KEEP HEARING ABOUT?
R: 4-6 HAPPY HOU ND NEW BARRAEAS. DINING A
• It's finally looking a bit like Spring, go outside and drink some beer. • If you're an avid reader of the magazine you'll recognize the name Brian Conway from the bylines. When I don't have him knee deep in mud exploring abandoned largering caves or visiting sketchy UFO monuments while on poorly planned cross-state road trips he's actually doing legit journalism. His recent reporting on Pittsburgh's lead in water crisis for PublicSource has been awarded First Prize for Environmental Reporting at the Society of Professional Journalists' statewide Spotlight contest. So cheers to Brian on his recent award and for not realizing he's too qualified to work here. • Congratulations are also in order for Nick, Angie, Chef Eric, and the rest of the Caliente Team for once again killing it at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Bringing home the title for Best Pizza in the World in the Non-Traditional division and second place, out of 65 competitors, in the Traditional division. This is the third year in a row they've won the Best Pizza in the World title. The winning pies will be available for a very limited time at all four Caliente locations, check out their website for exact dates and times. • Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, Florida and their parent company Oskar Blues just announced distribution in our fair city. I've been a big fan of their flagship IPA Jai Alai for years and I look forward to drinking it anytime I want, not just when I'm stuck in Florida. Look for a full story on their launch at CraftPittsburgh.com in the near future.
crazy good
pub grub NOW IN 6-PACKS!
• Speaking of CraftPittsburgh.com, we actually started doing some things over there. We were kind of waiting to see if this whole internet thing was a fad, but it seems like it's here to stay. So starting this May we're going all in with a dedicated team of writers bringing you a ton of unique content, news, event coverage, print story reposts, and some of our favorite throwback stories from the past eight years. We also hope to have the most comprehensive, up-to-date, centralized beer event calendar in the city. A one-stop spot for everything beer related in Pittsburgh, from can releases to festivals. Check it out and make sure to sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about all the new and exciting going on. • There was some debate around the office as to whether we should put food on the cover for the third issue in a row. Look at that scallop. How could we not? Cheers,
1805 E. CARSON ST. PITTSBURGH PA, 15203
CALL FOR TAKEOUT 412.431.7433 Rob Soltis
FATHEADS.COM
upcoming events May • 8-31 Pizza of Champions Week @ All Caliente Locations (check website for specific dates and times.)
• 11 ACPF's Pour at the Park @ South Park • 11 Poured in PA - Pgh Premiere @ Row House Cinema • 12 Iron Maiden Launch Party @ Helicon Brewing • 12 Arts N Drafts @ Rivertowne Brewing • 14-20 American Craft Beer Week @ America • 18 Cigar City Launch Party @ All Caliente Locations • 19 Ales for Tails: Drink Beer To Help Animals @ Grist House • 19 PGH Taco Festival @ Highmark Stadium • 20 Punk In Drublic Tour @ Highmark Stadium • 20 Bloodys & Brunch Fest @ The Stage at Karma • 22 H alf Full, Half Empty: Prohibition Glassware @ Heinz History Center
• 27 Wags & Whiskey @ Wigle Barrel House
June • 1 Cider Maker Experience @ Threadbare • 1 Hearts for Paws Benefit @ Rivertowne Brewing • 2 Beers of the Burgh @ Carrie Furnace • 9 Rivertowne Car Show @ Rivertowne Brewing • 9 Hop Stop Farm Festival @ Hop Stop Farm • 23 Philly Invades PGH Beer Fest @ Spoonwood Brewing • 23 Arts N Drafts @ Rivertowne Brewing • 24 Sunday Best Bloody Mary Fest @ Heinz Lofts
July • 13-14 PGH Summer Beerfest @ Stage AE • 13-14 Deutschtown Music Festival @ The North Side • 14 Good Vibes Beer Fest @ Voodoo Compound, Meadville • 21 Brews & Bumpers @ Helicon Brewing • 27 13th Annual Kecksburg UFO Festival @ Kecksburg VFW • 28 Beer on the Bay @ Liberty Park, Erie
August CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
• 11 Fresh Fest @ Threadbare Ciderhouse
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September • 21-29 Greensburg Craft Beer Week @ Greensburg
October • 12-20 Pittsburgh Libations Week @ Pittsburgh
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CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
Words Kristy Locklin
1 SIP BREW BOX ST
rebrands, expands
That’s the target demographic for 1st Sip Brew Box, a monthly subscription service that delivers craft beer swag – including T-Shirts, glassware, coasters, stickers and sweets – to hop heads around the world. The Pittsburgh-based company recently rebranded to better communicate its (double) vision. “Everyone kept thinking we send beer out with the old logo and brand,” says Dennis Guy, who co-founded the company with his wife, Sammie. “The new one leaves no doubt we focus only on The Beer Gear.”
Although alcohol isn't included, the box offers cool merch, recommendations, trends, food pairings, and other suds-related information. Since launching the business two years ago, 1st Sip has partnered with beer-makers such as Stone Brewing, Avery Brewing, New Belgium, Heavy Seas, Southern Tier, Weyerbacher, Evil Genius, StrangeWays Brewing and local favorites Alleghany City Brewing, Fury Brewing, Penn Brewery and Helicon Brewing. “We want to keep growing our platform and work with more and more breweries and small businesses in the craft beer industry,” Guy says. “We want any and all breweries that are looking to grow their brand to reach out.”
CraftPittsburgh.com
For some folks, beer isn't just a beverage. It's a lifestyle.
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Each month there are between 50 and 70 subscribers from 30 states, as well as Canada and Brazil. Gift subscriptions are available for one, three, six and 12 months. In the weeks leading up to Father’s Day, business is booming, but moms are represented, too. 1st Sip offers a Mother’s Day Brew Box filled with hops-scented soaps and craft beer candles made out of recycled beer bottles and soy wax. Recently, the company started holding “Build a Brew Box” events at local pubs, breweries and festivals. Like Build A Bear for adults, people can fill a receptacle with brewery merchandise and unique items made out of the intoxicating liquid. Upcoming events include: • May 12 - Arts N Drafts at Rivertowne Export Brewery • May 19 - Pittsburgh Taco Festival • May 25-27 - Food Truck Festival at the Meadows Casino • June 16 - Bridgeville Days • June 23 - Arts N Drafts at Rivertowne Export Brewery • September 22 - Kennywood’s Brews in the Park In today's beer-soaked culture, it’s important for breweries to distinguish themselves from the pack. Logos that are simple, meaningful and tell a story are surefire hits. 1st sip provides consulting to breweries who want to take their gear to the next level.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
And, of course, it’s important to make a tasty beverage. Dave’s local favorite is Abjuration Brewing’s Chai Milkshake Ale.
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“We aim to expand your horizons and introduce you to top breweries and small businesses that know their hops,” he says. “1st Sip Brew Box makes every month your birthday with craft beer infused goodness being sent directly to your doorstep!” For more information, visit firstsipbrewbox.cratejoy.com
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CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
Maggie’s Farm Rum & Helltown Brewing team up to make a punk rock whiskey Words Kristy Locklin Photos Mike Weiss
One Night Only Featuring Helltown Malt Whiskey uses Helltown Brewing’s Russian Imperial Stout mash – a combination of malted barley, crystal malt, chocolate malt and black patent malt – that’s been distilled and aged in used rye whiskey barrels for more than two years. The resulting spirit has depth, along with a subtle sweetness, creamy mouthfeel and dark chocolate flavors and aroma. Early barrel samples won a silver medal at Distilled San Diego and a bronze medal from the American Craft Spirits Association. “Making whiskey was always something I wanted to do, but we just started out with rum,” says Tim Russell, owner of Maggie’s Farm Rum in the Strip District. “Eventually, rum just grew into being our core focus, mostly because no one else was really doing it in Pennsylvania. We couldn't do a whiskey from scratch if we wanted to since we don't have mash equipment for the starch-to-sugar conversion process. Fortunately, the turbinado we use as a base for the rum is all the sugar we need. Anyway, when the whiskey opportunity we came up with a batch from Helltown, we decided to jump on it.” The brewery is located in Mt. Pleasant, PA, an area nicknamed “Helltown” due to its history with the Whiskey Rebellion in the late-1700s. On April 28, Maggie's farm released about 200 of the 375ml bottles, which feature artwork designed by CommonWealth Press, a local screen printing company that also created the distillery’s rum labels and logo. Each bottle retails for $40. Inspiration for One Night Only stemmed from “Get in the Van,” Henry Rollins’ memoir about his days singing and touring with the band Black Flag. Russell read the book and was intrigued by the artwork featured in it. Raymond Pettibon, whose brother, Greg Ginn, founded Black Flag, created the group’s iconic logo, concert posters and album covers and went on to become a critically acclaimed artist. “Every kid that grew up on punk rock in the late ‘80s is aware of Raymond Pettibon, even if they don’t know that was his name,” says Dan Rugh, co-owner of CW Press. Russell says it’s unlikely he’ll make whiskey again. “We did arguably make a punk rock whiskey label. But, rum is still our core, and definitely more punk rock than whiskey as far as I'm concerned,” he says. “There's just something more elegant and refined about whiskey, but mostly because of the government restrictions on styles. The rum genre is just more wide open. There's a style of rum for everyone.”
Words Brian Conway
Pittsburgh's master brewers are back aboard the mothership.
Founded in 1887, the group counts 4,000 members across 26 districts from more than 50 countries. And until late last year, Pittsburgh brewers who wanted to join MBAA were lumped in with the Philadelphia chapter. “This is a technical-based organization,” says District President Dan Yarnall, of Rivertowne Brewing, who was instrumental in reviving the Pittsburgh district after it fell dormant roughly a decade ago. “We like to stay out of politics for the most part...99% of the time it's [addressing issues like] 'I've got a problem with my yeast, I've got filtration problems'... these are the questions we have to tackle on a daily basis and this is the one-stop shop for you to get there.” District Vice President, Marcus Cox, of Mindful Brewing Company, says that “the whole basis for the organization is quality,” and that one of the ways MBAA membership improves overall beer quality is by providing members access to a wealth of knowledge: members can view the organization's technical journal archives of the past 50+ years, as well as access a reddit-type online forum where members can pose questions and offer suggestions to the MBAA community worldwide. In late February, the PA Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board awarded the Pittsburgh district $35,000 to increase their knowledge and improve the quality of beer “through the offering of professional speakers, technical seminars and other professional development opportunities.” Yarnall says that $20,000 of that money will be set aside for educational seminars, events, speaker fees and the like; $10,000 will go toward scholarships, for which active PGH members can apply to attend national MBAA seminars; and the remaining $5,000 will go toward new member outreach.
At the March meeting, members listened to a presentation from Alan Gladish, Business Manager of Double Eagle Malt. He spoke on a variety of subjects relevant to today's brewers, from the difference between malted and feed barley to the pros and cons of pneumatic versus floor malting – technical stuff for sure. District Treasurer, Adam Kubala, also of Mindful Brewing Company, reported back from an officers' trip to the two-day MBAA Eastern Technical Conference in Atlantic City, where officers heard from experts from around the world on techniques to improve any brewery, not to mention networking opportunities with officers from other chapters. At the next meeting, at Piper's Pub, members will learn proper cask technique: Marcus Cox will show members how to put one together, with tips on how to pour from Piper's barkeep (and CraftPittsburgh contributor), Hart Johnson. What's next for MBAA? Cox would like to see the organization help members put together quality assurance plans for each of their breweries to ensure best practices are maintained. Furthermore, the district would like to fund a community lab for all its members to access. “That's really what separates the men from the boys, as far as breweries are concerned” says Yarnall. Until the lab is a reality, the district's Technical Chair, Steve Sloan, owner/ brewer at Lawrenceville's Roundabout Brewery, says that they may offer members brewery audits to check dissolved oxygen levels, ensure that yeast is healthy, and generally offer feedback on people's brewing processes. Sloan says he's not surprised that the membership numbers 28 brewers already. "It's an inexpensive way to get a lot of knowledge,” he says. “Everyone wants to improve.” “I've been in this industry for over 20 years, and there's still a lot that can be learned.”
MBAA's next meeting will take place at Piper's Pub June 4. Those interested in an invitation should contact Dan Yarnall – beergeeks@gmail.com – or Marcus Cox – Mcox@mindfulbrewing.com
CraftPittsburgh.com
O
n March 26, some 30 local brewers flocked to Rivertowne in the North Shore to attend the inaugural meeting of the Pittsburgh district chapter of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas [MBAA], a non-profit professional organization dedicated to advancing and supporting scientific research into brewing malt beverages and sharing that information freely to members and the public.
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CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
BEER BUSINESS CHRONICLES
brian GROSSMAN
OF SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO. Words Jason Cercone Photos Courtesy of Sierra Nevada
Brian Grossman grew up in the beer industry and has seen a lot change over the years. At the same time, he’s seen a lot within his own company stay the same. His father, Ken, founded Sierra Nevada in Chico, California in 1980 with former partner Paul Camusi and was dedicated to maintaining a family-run operation while bringing quality liquid to shelves and taps throughout Sierra Nevada’s distribution footprint. Brian is now co-owner of the brand and oversees operations at the brewery’s east coast facility in Mills River, North Carolina. His passion for beer knows no bounds and building upon Sierra Nevada’s philosophies of quality and consistency are at the forefront of his plight.
Now, beer consumption is altogether different. Loyalty is defined in a more complex respect. Today’s beer drinker is devoted more to a style of beer rather than a brand. Sentiments of “I’m a Bud fan.” have been replaced with “I’m all-in on IPA.” Additionally, loyalty toward a brewery typically doesn’t revolve around the brewery itself, rather what that brewery comes out with next. Beer drinkers may take their final sip of a new beer, bestow upon it the honor of “Best Beer I've Ever Drank,” then immediately order something else because they want to see what else the brewery brings to the table. What have you done for me lately, indeed.
I was fortunate enough to chat with Brian about his life in the beer industry the day after Easter, learning he got to spend his holiday enjoying three of his greatest loves: cooking, drinking beer and spending time with his family. As you're about to learn first-hand from the head of one of craft beer’s most influential breweries, the industry looks totally different today than it did yesterday and will look totally different tomorrow than it does today.
Then there’s Sierra Nevada. This company went nationwide with their distribution in the early 90s because, well, they pretty much had to. Craft beer was still in its infancy and the term "local" was nowhere near being accentuated the way it is today. They put their beer in 50 states and stayed the course, relying on innovation, passion and consistency to familiarize beer drinkers with their product and give us all a high-quality beer we could rely on. If you told me you’ve never had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, I’d call you a liar. This beer is undoubtedly one of the most popular, respected and recognized artisanal offerings on the market and Sierra Nevada gained those accolades by delivering beer enthusiasts a consistent, flavorful drinking experience every single time. For many, including myself, it was one of the first craft beers we ever consumed. And having just attended a concert a few weeks ago where I enjoyed a couple Pale Ales throughout the show, I’m happy to report it’s as good today as it was 12 years ago when I tipped back my first.
What has it been like practically growing up in the beer business?
I get that question a lot, worded a few different ways. I don’t have any point of reference. You only get one childhood. I don't know what it’s like to not grow up in the beer business. I grew up climbing in malt sacks and going down conveyor belts as my slides. That’s probably not normal for most people. I was taken around Europe and Germany for a great deal of my childhood looking for beer equipment. That was a pretty fun experience.
What was the most important lesson your father taught you about the beer industry?
In regards to making beer, it requires a whole lot of work. So make sure you’re passionate about your work and put your best foot forward. He also taught me that it takes a team. Always, always take care of your team. The industry is on a course that we haven’t seen in a long time, really since Prohibition. We can only hope that history doesn’t repeat itself and we go back down to seven operating breweries. I hate to give a
CraftPittsburgh.com
I
f you're a fan of craft beer, there’s one specific beer in your personal portfolio that introduced you to the exciting, innovative, flavorfilled world you live in today. Before craft beer’s rise to worldwide prominence, drinkers typically gravitated to one brand of beer and would drink it in mass consumption whenever life called for it. I can still remember my aunt and uncle kicking back Old Milwaukee pounders at family picnics growing up. There were no conversations taking place that sounded like “Ooh, they just put out a dry-hopped Old Milwaukee, we’ll have to try it!” or “Today we’re going to try this barrel-aged version.” Nope. It was Old Mud in its only form forever and nobody batted an eye.
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cheesy answer, but the most important lesson he taught me was about quality. If you make good beer, you’re going to be alright. You see the huge push for localization and that’s great. But it’s only great if the beer is quality. The amount of bad beer that’s out there right now is shameful. The barrier to entry for brewing is pretty small. You can spend $5,000, get a brew kit and a building, and start making beer. But those brewers haven’t mastered their craft and will put beers out they shouldn’t be because they’re simply not good.
It’s always putting the beer first. We are very proud of our beers and our attention to detail. The discipline in our brewing process allows us to make fantastic beers. Every time you grab a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, you know exactly what you’re going to get. That's a big thing for consumers, retailers and wholesalers alike. We also have to pay attention to innovation and new styles, be it the New England-style IPAs, goses, sours, barrel-aged beers and others. It’s a great thing to innovate and it keeps you relevant with drinkers and helps them trust your brand.
What’s one thing happening in the beer world today you thought you’d never see?
Do you see nationwide distribution models changing as more breweries join the mix?
Besides the acceptance of bad beer? The acquisitions. I knew they would happen, but I didn’t know the multiples in which they’d happen. You’re seeing a huge separation between the large, national craft brewers and small, local brewpubs. The middle ground is a pretty scary space right now. Distributors aren’t taking on many new breweries and it’s hard to build a nationwide brand without that.
What have you done to maintain Sierra Nevada’s nationwide distribution footprint amidst the rise of so many independent breweries across the country?
I do see it changing, but I don’t think it’s so much more breweries joining the mix. It’s the advent of online retail. Amazon is jumping into it, Walmart is going to be jumping into it, too. I can’t tell you what tomorrow looks like for the beer industry, but I can tell you it looks much different than today. My father worked very hard to have a family business and we are fortunate to not have to deal with private equity. With that factor entering the beer world more and more, their big concern is making money and they’re always going to do that. Making good beer doesn’t make you survive anymore. It’s just table stakes. People can be fooled by the scarcity of some beers and can be blind to the fact that these
VECENIE DIST. CO. 412-821-4618 beersince1933.com
CIGAR CITY beers could be incorrectly made. But once the “unattainable” products are gone, what you’re left with is your core product and those core products have to deliver.
Beer Camp started out years ago as an educational program for distributors and retailers to learn more about the beer-making process. We showed them how we brew our beers and the art and science behind them. Then, we started to get some consumers involved and we got some very creative beers as a result. From there, when we launched our North Carolina brewery, we wanted
CraftPittsburgh.com
The Beer Camp collaboration series has seen some innovative beers come to life since its inception. What are your plans to keep this tradition going and who are some breweries you’re looking to work with in the future?
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to make it bigger than just us. It was a celebration of craft beer saying “We made it. Look what we as an industry have done.” That's when Beer Camp Across America was born. We invited brewers and took a tour bus across the country. It was three weeks and 5,000 miles of pure liver destruction. After that, we asked how we could make it bigger and that brought us Beer Camp Across the World. This year, we aren’t planning on doing the same international scope. We are going to internalize Beer Camp and collaborate with our own team. We have a bunch of great brewers on staff that wanted a shot at this, so we'll be doing events in Chico, Calif. and Mills River, N.C. with team members who came up with their own recipes.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is often regarded as the beer that introduced drinkers to craft products. How does it feel knowing your brand has played a major role in growing and shaping the craft beer industry?
It’s something we take great responsibility with. If we can be part of that “a-ha moment” to full-flavored beers, we love that. But it’s not just the introduction. Drinkers are still loving hops, there’s no debate about hop being king. But they’re still looking for drinkable, low-ABV offerings, so we are still seeing people coming back to Pale Ale. We may have the stigma of being an entry beer, but we always see drinkers coming back to it because they know what to expect and they can enjoy it responsibly without getting torn up.
What are some of the ways you’ve enlightened people and helped them understand what craft beer is all about over the years?
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
Just walking them through the process. If you go on a tour with me, you’ll see a lot of passion about what we do and how we do it. It’s my art, it’s my focus, it’s my discipline. If you talk to a glass blower who’s passionate about what they do, you’ll be inspired to go blow glass. If you talk to a chef about what they do, you’ll be inspired to go home and try to cook something new. Showing people how passionate we are for what we do is hopefully an inspiration to them.
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In regards to craft beer culture, what are your thoughts about how it has grown and developed as craft beer has become more mainstream?
It’s definitely changed, that’s for damn sure. I remember going to the MBAA (Master Brewers Association of the Americas) meetings when I was 8 years old and seeing how small the groups were. It was a very tight knit community that truly wanted to better themselves and learn. Fast forward to today and you’re not seeing the same approach to beer. Back then, it was very difficult to get any share of mind from retailers, distributors or drinkers. We all had to circle the wagons to protect one another and advance our cause, so there was a huge brotherhood out there. Craft beer is in the spotlight today. The focus may be shifting in some respects, but I don’t think many people know what it was like 15-20 years ago compared to what it is today. It's definitely a different world.
What are some new beers you are working on for 2018?
We’ve definitely got some up our sleeves, that’s for sure. What I can tell you now is they’re all amazing.
What’s next for Sierra Nevada?
The ocean in the craft beer world right now has definitely got some rough waves in it. From retail to distribution to the acquisitions to domestic lagers still losing share, the large brewers will adjust and adapt and who knows what that will truly look like. Who knows what online sales will bring. Who knows what will happen with cannabis legalization taking hold. I don't truly know what’s next because I want to see how these waves calm down. But you definitely have to make some moves and we are looking at what we can do. It’s a pretty interesting time to be in the beer business right now. Jason Cercone is the founder of Breaking Brews and is the executive director of Pittsburgh Libations Week. Learn more by visiting breakingbrews.com.
COME SEE WHAT’S
BREWING BUFFALO
IN
With 25+ craft breweries, locally grown hops, and one of the world’s great lakes in our backyard, it’s a wonder you didn’t stop by to wet your whistle sooner. Come see what’s on tap. And while you’re here, check out beer’s
BREWCATION BEERINBUFFALO.COM
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best friend on the Buffalo Wing Trail!
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hoppy couple
SOUTHERN TIER
BREWING CO. PITTSBURGH 316 N Shore Dr, Pittsburgh
stbcbeer.com/taprooms/pittsburgh
Joe
Location
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
Before I say anything … yes, the beard is coming back! Southern Tier Brewing Company, whose parent location is in Lakewood, NY, opened a Pittsburgh establishment within the last couple of years and it has become an instant success. The North Shore of Pittsburgh, in general, has completely changed in the last two decades with two brand new and absolutely gorgeous stadiums and many great places for dining. Steelers legend Jerome Bettis even has a restaurant along the riverwalk called Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36. Southern Tier being located between Heinz Field and PNC Park makes it an excellent choice for pre- or post-game activities. Or, maybe you want to grab a beer and some grub before seeing a show at Stage AE … well, Southern Tier is right down the street.
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Beer
Southern Tier is probably best known for their autumnal beer, Pumking, but let’s think Spring, yeah? The first brew I enjoyed was their Imperial Concord Grape Gose billed as a sour ale brewed with concord grape juice. This gose was fantastic. The grape overtones and tart undertones were very reminiscent of red wine or even an ale that had been aged in a wine barrel. I couldn’t tell if I was drinking beer, wine or grape juice … and I had no problem with that. Next on deck was probably my
second favorite style of beer … a coffee stout. This one is brewed right here at the Pittsburgh location and is a Mexican-style stout which means copious amounts of cocoa and cinnamon flavor and was made with local coffee from Allegheny Coffee and Tea. If you like high-octane, adventurous beers, you will be right at home at Southern Tier.
Atmosphere
Southern Tier’s North Shore location is GIGANTIC, but it had to be if they wanted to be able to offer craft ales brewed right on location. The brewing and fermentation tanks are easily visible from just about anywhere in the bar. Speaking of the bar, it is also huge, replete with a full rectangle of stools and taps on both sides of the dividing wall separating the two sides of this wrap-around bar. The bar staff was attentive and on their game and, of course, being a sports town, there were plenty of TVs showing Game 1 of the Penguins playoff run. Here’s to three Stanley Cups in a row!
Food
I want to say that Southern Tier has now ruined me for regular corned beef-style reubens. Why? Because they use Pastrami on theirs and that is a game-changer. The Big Ol Pastrami Reuben was my first choice and it was a great one. Another small twist is that instead of topping their reuben
with the traditional emmenthaler Swiss cheese, they used gruyere which definitely gave it a different, richer flavor. On top of that, I want to guess their Thousand Island dressing was homemade as it had a slightly sweet flavor to it, almost like a jam. I also want to recommend their beer-cheesefilled burger that I had on a different visit to Southern Tier. You really can’t go wrong with either.
Amanda Location
Southern Tier Brewing Company is a somewhat new addition to the ever-expanding North Shore of Pittsburgh, but don’t forget about the neighboring North Side neighborhood. The North Side is home to the National Aviary, Children’s Museum, Mattress Factory Art Gallery, the historic Mexican War Streets, the ever-colorful Randyland and more. One of my favorite things about the North Shore/Side areas is the riverwalk. After enjoying any number of the sights, activities, bars and restaurants the area has to offer, you can take a nice long stroll along the riverwalk with a beautiful view of downtown Pittsburgh.
Slow down Stop in, Sit a while ...
Beer
ENJOY A DRINK ON THE PATIO GREENSBURG, PA
INSURRECTION ALEWORKS
HA ND- CRA F T E D A RT ISA N A LE S NO W O PE N WIT H A F ULL SCRA T CH MEN U
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@WORKSALE
INSURRECTION ALEWORKS
WWW.INSURRECTIONALEWORKS.COM HEIDELBERG, PA
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In 2016, Southern Tier Brewing Company and Victory Brewing Company joined their powerful forces together to form their new parent company, Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV, how apropo). This powerhouse merger allows each brewery to maintain their independence while still expanding their resources and reach. So now, at the Southern Tier in Pittsburgh, not only will you find all of Southern Tier’s beers and Pittsburgh Brew’d series, but you will also find a solid sampling of Victory’s high rollers, too. If that wasn’t enough, Southern Tier also has their own distillery which means you can also get specialty crafted cocktails with their own whiskey, bourbon, gin or vodka, as well. Plenty of boozin’ for everyone’s tastes.
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Atmosphere
Every bar in the North Shore is transformed into a Steelers, Pirates or Panthers bar on game day and Southern Tier is no different. The camaraderie you feel with fellow Pittsburgh sports fans is unlike any other city, I’m certain. Add in exceptional, highly acclaimed craft beer and you’re in for a great night. Southern Tier also just recently opened up their new outdoor Biergarten and oh my gosh is it big and beautiful and ready for parties! You can even take a little bit of the Southern Tier experience with you and visit their gift shop at the main entrance where they sell shirts, swag and even more beer to-go.
Food
Southern Tier’s menu offers a little bit of everything along with a specials menu. We had the Queso Fundido from the specials menu this visit which was a layered queso and chorizo dip. Such cheese, much flavor, wow. I also had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich this visit which was made with a nice, rich sourdough instead of a bun which I thought was a nice touch. I watched a lot of other dishes being served to neighboring customers and everything looks mouthwatering.
Summary
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
I think Pittsburgh is pretty darn lucky to have our own Southern Tier Brewing Company location right in the heart of sports central. It’s a perfect place for friends to gather and cheer on their teams, share an after work drink or enjoy a beautiful Pittsburgh evening outside in the Biergarten.
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CraftPittsburgh.com
Words Tom Marshall Photos Jeff Zoet
10 Frames / 10 Beers Light
Brew Gentlemen
Dark
Hitchhiker Brewing
Little Big
Grist House Craft Brewery Jackie O’s
BG Helles Woke Got Ta Gose Oil of Aphrodite
Helles Lager
5.0% ABV
Breakfast Stout
8.0% ABV
Gose
4.5% ABV
Imperial Stout w/ Walnuts
10.0% ABV
Pale
Grist House Craft Brewery
Hop Sensei
Imperial India Pale Ale
8.9% ABV
Sour
Brew Gentlemen
Table Beer
Foeder-Aged Farmhouse Ale
4.8% ABV
Malt
East End
Barleywine
11.0% ABV
American Wheat Ale
5.8% ABV
Milkshake IPA
7.0% ABV
Lambic
4.1% ABV
Wheat Wild Card Import
Bell’s Brewing Hitchhiker Brewing Brouwerij Lindemans
Gratitude [2015] Oberon Whole Punch: Blueberry Pie Lindemans Strawberry
1) Tell us about yourself. ANDY: (groan) I’m Andy, and I make beer at Hitchhiker Brewing Company. I am from Wexford, Pennsylvania, the Wild Wild Wex, and I am 32 years old. I was a mortgage broker. I did the rap thing for a while. I was in customer service. Then I started brewing professionally at Hitchhiker nearly four years ago. KYLE: My name is Kyle. I am from Waterford, Pennsylvania near Erie. I like building shit. I like hunting. I like brewing beer, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings. ASA: My name is Asa. I grew up just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I am co-founder and creative director at Brew Gentlemen. I am responsible for design, branding and fabrication at the brewery.
2) Who/what can you attribute your love of craft beer to? ANDY: I can attribute my love of beer to beer just being what it is. My dad definitely laid the foundation for a love of beer. I was around homebrewing from a very young age, and I started homebrewing when I was 24. KYLE: In college, I started drinking Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and branching out from there. Brian (of Grist House) and my buddy started homebrewing, and I did a few batches with them and kind of fell in love with it from there. However, my love of craft beer is rekindled every time I drink a delicious beer beyond what I drank when I was younger. ASA: Oh, man ... I would say Allagash Brewery. They are my main inspiration for beer I love and branding I love. Now that we are in the same industry and I have had an opportunity to get to know them personally, they are good people. Allagash White always has and always will be my desert island beer.
Asa Foster, Andy Kwiatkowski, Kyle Mientkiewicz, and Brian Eaton
CraftPittsburgh.com
My name is Tom, and I have been working in the craft beer industry in one capacity or another over the past six years. Pin Pals is a bi-monthly installment where I interview a veritable who's who of the craft beer world at a bowling alley. We drink beer, shoot the shit and, of course, bowl. In this installment, we are bowling and catching up with the Pittsburgh Brewery Class of 2014 and interviewing Andy Kwiatkowski, head brewer at Hitchhiker Brewing Company; Kyle Mientkiewicz, co-owner of Grist House Craft Brewery; and Asa Foster, co-owner/founder & creative director of Brew Gentlemen (four years after their cover story in the Summer of 2014 issue).
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3) Tell us about your company.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
ANDY: Hitchhiker Brewing was started by Gary Olden in a small, small space in Mt. Lebanon in 2014. We started with a three barrel electric system with six three-barrel fermenters. I joined in March of 2014 shortly before we officially opened in May of 2014. We were brewing away in our small space and started looking for another larger facility. Finally found a building in Sharpsburg that used to be the home of Fort Pitt Brewing Company. We started construction on the building in February of 2017, started brewing out of our new space in June of 2017 on a fifteen-barrel system, and our new Sharpsburg taproom doors opened in September of 2017 (we continue to operate our pub in Mt. Lebanon).
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KYLE: Grist House is a family-owned and family-run company. My brother in-law (Brian Eaton) and I started the company. We always intended this company to produce flavorful ales and lagers. We always wanted to bend the fabric of what’s normal in the beer industry. As our skills have grown, we can continue to get outside of our comfort zone and soon we will have the space and the facility to do so. Right now, we can only produce the beers we have space to produce. Our current space is very small, and we don’t have the room for barrels, puncheons, or foedors. We can’t wait to get into that, and hopefully in the next few years, we will have the space to experiment more with the style guidelines and think more outside the box. ASA: Brew Gentlemen opened in May 2014 (alongside these wonderful gentlemen), and we make balanced, elegant and soft beers. I started the company with a fraternity brother, Matt Katase. We both came to Pittsburgh in 2008 to attend Carnegie Mellon. When we were juniors,
Matt and I decided to start Brew Gentlemen, and in our senior year we switched to self-defined majors to focus on the company full time. We graduated in 2012, and Brew Gentlemen opened its doors in 2014. We have four full-time employees, and we brew between 800 and 900 barrels of beer a year.
4) What changes have you seen in the local brewing scene since you started and where do you think it is headed? ANDY: Pittsburgh has always been a beer town, and its craft beer scene just continues to grow and grow and get better and better. Allegheny county has 32 craft breweries which is the most of any county in Pennsylvania, and now Pennsylvania produces the most craft beer of any state in the country. I think it is a testament to where we’ve come as a community. The homebrewers have been at the forefront of this thing and pushing the scene to where it has gotten. The sky’s the limit, and we’ve really just scratched the surface of what this could be. I have traveled around to a lot of different beer cities and they are supposed to have this great scene (and they’re not as good as our beer scene). We are really fortunate to live where we are. As more breweries come onboard and as more educational things get done like the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild, it’s really going to push us to the next level and become a national force and not just something that is locally appreciated. KYLE: I think the major change is growth in the scene. When we started, I think there were 12 of us, now there are between 30 and 35 breweries in Allegheny county. Nearly triple the number of breweries in four years is a
ASA: Obviously, we have seen a fairly large explosion of brewing entities. I think that we’ve seen that a rising tide floats all boats, in that we are certainly getting a larger, communal customer base as the scene grows. We are definitely starting to see more beer tourism come to the Pittsburgh area, which is a welcomed change. In terms of where it is headed, ideally I’d like to see the scene become more professional. I don’t think that small businesses need to act like small businesses. There’s a certain degree of industry professionalism that everyone is collectively gaining, obviously the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild is huge to creating that level of professionalism for us all. We have a lot of excellent talent in Pittsburgh, and we have the ability to take the scene to the next level with a more cohesive and professional scene.
5) What’s the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your company? ANDY: Whether or not to brew Whole Punch Pumpkin Pie. A great idea, but not something that seemed like it was ever going to be executable regardless of design. Pumpkin pie and milkshake IPA don’t necessarily seem like they would mix well on paper, but the barley, hops, yeast, water, and pumpkin pie spice fortunately did mix well. KYLE: The hardest decision I consistently have to make is how to allocate resources so they can be properly invested in the future of Grist House. We are trying to make big leaps as a company and deciding “what is the right move or investment?” for the resources we have is always difficult. We want to invest in things that will take us to the next level, allow us to do the things we want, and achieve our goals. ASA: There has not been one singular hard decision that we have had to make, but we have made a very large amount of small hard decisions
that contribute to that thing we are proud of, which is how we’ve said “no” to things in order to focus on only the things that make us the most excited. I think that is a large part of what has got us to the point we are at. Having a good filter has meant that we haven’t overextended ourselves since the very beginning of our company when we didn’t know not to do that.
6) What does the future hold for your brewery? What’s your direction? (Distribution, expansion, etc.) ANDY: We do progressive beer, and we do traditional beer. We will continue to walk that line of doing crazy weird shit and then brew something more traditional. And as we continue to ramp up production and expand our distribution, we want to maintain the identity that we’ve had since day one. Continue to build upon on our barrel program, continue to build upon our sour program, continue to churn out unique and interesting beers that people want to try. We want to experiment and continue to try and get better with every batch and make the best liquid we can possibly make. KYLE: The future of Grist House lies in creating unique and interesting beer through recipe innovation. I think that is where the future of this industry is going to be and how you innovate with your recipe creation will separate you from other breweries. Innovation requires space, human resources and brewing ability, and I think we have all of these attributes to keep us moving forward in this industry. ASA: We will definitely be expanding at some unspecified point in the unspecified future. We are going to be focusing on a lot of things besides beer that get us excited. I don’t mean to be coy, but there’s not a lot of things that I can say as we are on the cusp of things.
7) Anything you would have changed along the way? ANDY: Not a thing. Every bump in the road has been an opportunity to learn or grow. The journey that we’ve taken to get to here, is what made us who we are. It sucked to think that we had a building in South Side and were ready to expand. Then that falls through and we have to go back to
CraftPittsburgh.com
lot of growth. We are getting more attention on a bigger scale because we have more breweries and because those breweries are producing a lot of quality beer. I would say that Pittsburgh’s overall quality of craft beer has gone up in the past four years, and there are a lot of very solid breweries in Pittsburgh now. In the future, I think that quality is going to be the champion. Breweries that make quality beer are going to be here for the long haul, and Pittsburgh will become a city that creates trends in the national scene and produces some of the best beers that are out there.
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KYLE: I think that the other breweries of the Class of 2014 have always been there to lend a helping hand to us when we have needed it and of course we have helped them where we could. These guys have come out with some great and innovative stuff. I always look to these guys to see what they are doing well and better than us, and we then try to either emulate it or do it better. You have to look at your competition (I used that term in a friendly manner), but you have to look at them and say “what do they do better than me?” and “what do I have to get better at?” Brew Gentlemen and Hitchhiker have been a very good gauge for that. ASA: I would say that I am very happy the degree to which this group specially has taken a leadership role in the Pittsburgh beer scene. There is so much to the beer industry that has absolutely nothing to do with the production and selling of beer. In fact, it is mostly not that, and I think there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that Andy and Brian do to further all of us, my brewery included.
9) How can the readers connect with you? ANDY: You can connect with me personally: Twitter/Instagram: @jagoffbrewer and Facebook/AndyKwiatkowski (If, after reading this article you feel so inclined, send me a request). You can find Hitchhiker Brewing at hitchhiker.beer // Twitter: @Hitchhikerbrew // Instagram: @Hitchhikerbrewing.
the drawing board for another two years, but you end up finding the best spot you could imagine. I am happy to be part of the journey and learn from the experience, and I wouldn’t change that for anything. KYLE: Of course there are thousands of things I would have changed; however, we have learned from each those things, putting us in the position we are in, so I wouldn’t change anything. You have to learn lessons along the way. You can’t fly perfectly all the time. Would I change a thousand things? Absolutely. But could I pinpoint each thing I’d want to change? No. Those things are in the past. I don’t dwell on the past, I look forward to the future. I have learned from each of these mistakes and problems, and I feel that what I have learned has created a bright future for me and my company.
KYLE: You connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @GristHouse. We are always interested in candid feedback, so feel free to email us. You can find every member of the Grist House team’s email on our website. If you ever have a question, comment or want to talk beer, please reach out. We are always up for talking about beer. ASA: Our email newsletter is the best way to connect with us, and you can sign up for it at brewgentlemen.com. Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @brewgentlemen and the brew pub’s Twitter: @BG_Braddock Tom Marshall is in the persuasion business. He is the sales & marketing manager for Full Pint Brewing Company in North Versailles, the President of Pittsburgh Libations Week, and a bowling enthusiast. [Twitter: @thomas_poet]
ASA: I can’t nail down any specific instance that I would have changed, but all of our growing pains have stemmed from complexity. I would say that as we’ve grown, simplicity has become part of our company values and how we approach all situations. It’s funny looking at things like this cover of CraftPittsburgh (referencing the cover story from Issue #15 in the Summer of 2014 and the cover shows glassware from Grist House, Hitchhiker, Brew Gentlemen) and realizing that we didn’t have the overwhelming sense to put our own logo on our glassware in the beginning. If I had to change anything, I wish we would have learned that complexity is the root of all evil sooner than we did.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
8) How have the other members of the ‘Class of 2014’ influenced you and your brewery?
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ANDY: They are a reason to get better. They are people that I respect tremendously, people I consider close friends, and people that are role models for the industry. It's a watershed moment to be a part of what happened in May of 2014 in Pittsburgh. I think they have shaped the landscape. I hope that we are as well received as a Grist House or a Brew Gentlemen. I hope we make can make the same consistent quality beer that they are churning out at both of their spots. It’s a crazy thing to be a part of and to look up to these breweries, which I think are easily two of the best in the city. It is something that pushes us forward everyday and gives us something to strive for.
Special thanks to our friends at Crafton Ingram Lanes, the official bowling alley of PinPals. If you're looking to do some BYOB bowling, check them out.
CraftonIngramLanes.com
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CraftPittsburgh.com
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
plates & pints
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Words Brian Conway Photos Buzzy Torek
El
even For a fine-dining restaurant to have staying power they must offer guests an ever-evolving, always-on-point selection of dishes and drinks that are approachable, unpretentious, and of course delicious, all in a setting to match.
At Eleven, in Pittsburgh's historic Strip District, executive chef Eli Wahl oversees a kitchen that executes fresh, seasonal dishes whose refinement and unfussy presentation allows the quality of the ingredients and skill of the kitchen to speak for itself, time and time again. It was the perfect place for Plates and Pints, CraftPittsburgh's recurring celebration of good food, good beer, and good times.
For this go-round, we were joined by Chef Wahl, Wine Director Caroline Matys, and some friends from Fame15 Creative. We settle in for pre-meal cocktails and sangria perched in a cozy second-floor alcove, those of us who had been before hyping up those who hadn't. Before long, the first dish arrived: a spring vegetable salad, comprised of young greens, pine nuts, burrata, carrots, radish, pea tendril puree, fresh mozzarella curd and brioche croutons. The flavors are as bright
as the limegreen puree, and the house-made meyer lemon and pink peppercorn vinaigrette turns the collection of vine-fresh, locally-sourced produce into the perfect springtime starter. Eleven is known for its extensive wine list – it's 18 pages long - so it's no surprise to hear Matys say she's more accustomed to the role of sommelier. So when it comes to pairing dishes with beer, she starts by considering what wine she would pair a dish with, and then determines its malty analog. For the salad, she's selected a Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale, a refreshing hybrid of a crisp kolsch, salty gose, and tart Berliner Weisse, brewed with sea salt and all sorts of lime. Matys said she wanted a beer that would echo the “bright, fresh and clean” qualities of the dish. The dish itself is a holdover from Eleven's spring tasting menu. Each season, before turning over the restaurant's offerings, the kitchen offers a four-course seasonal tasting menu to test out new dishes and flavor pairings to see what piques the interest of diners, and to keep it interesting for the chefs as well. “When I'm ready to throw a dish across the kitchen, that's when I know it's time for something new,” says Wahl. Without warning, we are joined by big Burrito's Corporate Chef, Bill Fuller. A Pittsburgh Magazine Chef of the Year and Restaurateur of the Year award winner, Chef Fuller has been Corporate Chef for big Burrito since 1997, where he's helped to curate the menu and atmosphere at places like Kaya, Casbah, Mad Mex, Soba, and of course Eleven. He's pretty much Pittsburgh-famous at this point.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
In between bites, Fuller shares that the building that houses Eleven used to be the Vikingthemed Valhalla brewpub, which in 2003 became the last of the Strip District brewpubs to shut their doors. big Burrito's initial concept for the space called for a wild and wonderful Mad Mex-branded brewpub, but they ran into an issue with brewing beer and then selling it to licenses on which they had their names. (Here's hoping they can still figure out a way to work that one out.)
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Before long, we are each presented with a pair of hearty scallops, expertly seared and exceptionally tender. Chef Wahl and his sous chefs elevate the dish by pairing it with a ginger puree, shittake mushrooms, Japanese chili oil, kombu buerre blanc, and yuba, a crispy fried tofu skin. Gorgeously presented, it's greater than the sum of its parts and the type of dish that embodies Eleven's staying power. While the kitchen doesn't limit itself to any specific cuisine, it is safe to say the seafood is a standout: out of nine first courses, six come from
the sea: oysters, crab cake, mussels and those poppin' sea scallops. “We change the plates, we change the flavors, we change the options on appetizers, but we stay within our formula for the most part,” adding that a steady flow of chefs, who sometimes hop between big Burrito kitchens, bring fresh energy and fresh ideas to the menus. He credits Michael, the Chef de Cuisine, for coming up with the scallops. The dish is paired with a glass of East End Witte, the newest addition to the six beer draft selection. Matys liked that the beer was brewed with coriander and bitter orange peel, a nice compliment to the spices in the dish. She typically keeps a pilsener on draft – their bestseller – alongside a couple IPAs and rotating local and seasonal offerings.
Before long, the main course arrives: Elysian Field Farm Lamb, from nearby Waynesburg. The cured, smoky cuts of belly and tender strips of loin are accompanied with Sea Island peas, morel mushrooms, ramps, white asparagus, forrel gremolata and a lamb jus. The exquisite dish is paired with an equally exquisite beer: Exploration & Discovery No. 3, a Bière de Garde aged in red wine barrels for six months, part of Brew Gentlemen's Mise en Rose collection. As the evening winds to an end, Chef Fuller tells us that one of the keys to big Burrito's success has been to “stay away from the fads and work with the trends.” As we finish our meals and sip this enduring beer style, lovingly crafted and patiently barrel-aged for six months, it becomes clear that some things, when executed with passion and talent, will never go out of style.
have you tried...
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CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
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1. RIVERTOWNE Jump IPA
2. T RÖEGS Sunshine Pils
Possibly one of the best things Rivertowne has done is this whole brand refresh. Gone with The Incredible Mr. Limpet fish logo, the clipart and 1990s style brewpub beer; in with the better logo and refreshed beer recipes. Jump is about as far away from their old Old Wylie IPA as you can get. Gone with the overly crystal malt sweetness and aggressive bitterness; in with the light crackery maltiness, low bitterness and huge floral and juicy hop aroma. This is just a humdinger of a modern West Coast IPA. But brewed in No Coast Pittsburgh.
Tröegs, I love you and I respect your opinion for making Sunshine Pils a year-round product and all, but we’re in Pittsburgh. I’m not drinking a can of beer that’s taunting me with wonderful sunshine on the 116th day of January. Now, that first mid-70s sunny day in April? All I want is you. For years I’ve touted Pennsylvania as absolute heaven for pilsner lovers and Sunshine has always been my shoe horn for forcing a skunky import out of a hand and opening up horizons. Brewed with purely pilsner malt and two hops (Saaz and Hersbrucker), this is textbook deliciousness. A balancing act of that first whiff of French bread baking in the oven with the smell of a well-curated garden after a mid-spring rain. I say all these beautiful words about this beer, yet it is my spring utility beer. Repainting the living room? That’s a Sunshine job. Cutting grass? Sunshine! Holy shit, the sun's out and I’m off the rest of the day! Sun. Shine.
6.1% IPA - myrivertowne.com
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Recommended if you like: Lagunitas - IPA, Stone - IPA, Knee Deep Breaking Bud, Grist House - Fire On The Hill IPA
4.5% German Style Pilsner - troegs.com
Recommended if you like: Four Seasons - Latrobe Lager, Sole - Zillions Pilsner, Penn - Kaiser Pils, Shubrew - Shu’s On First Pils
Words Hart Johnson
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Photo Mike Weiss
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3. PENN BREWERY Weizenbock 8.5% Dunkelweizenbock - pennbrew.com
Recommended if you like: Roundabout - Ferdl Bock, Schneider Aventinus, Victory - Moonglow, Erdinger - Pikantus
CraftPittsburgh.com
Somewhere, buried deep in the comment sections of *shudders* Facebook there exists a three-way treaty between the *bigger shudder* pastriarchy, the *biggeriest shudder* otterboys and the *biggiester shudder* Blue Moon crowd. Welcome to Dunkelweizenbock land folks. There’s like five of us here, but we’re friendly. You want a beer that tastes like rum-soaked banana bread? We’re here for you. Penn Brewery’s version adds a level of darkness that throws dark chocolate and lowkey hop bitterness against the wheaty foundation of malty goodness accented by fruity yeast esters.
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4. R HINEGEIST Barrel Aged Ink
11.3% Barrel Aged Imperial Stout - rhinegeist.com
When was your last “Holy shit!” beer? Like, we’re all adults here and as much as we all try to stay on the up and up with EVERYTHING that goes on in the beer industry, there’s a lot of beer out there. You just can’t try them all. Hell, you can’t even keep up with who’s releasing what in this city, let alone what’s happening 470 miles down the Ohio River. So, sometimes you’re just cruising your local bottle place and all like, “Hey, Rhinegeist, your beers are solid and in cans about everywhere, what’s this Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout bomber I’ve never heard of doing just chilling in this cooler here?” I don’t know that I’ve ever had a “riper” barrel-aged stout in my life. All the usual huge flavors are here: vanilla, soft crack sugar, dark chocolate, big stout paint by numbers flavors. But what sets this Ink apart from everything else is the raspberry syrup, candied pecan and 3 Musketeers nougat (please note, not Milky Way nougat) flavors riding on top of this huge stout. All of that adds up to extreme enjoyability in my mouth. Recommended if you like: Bell’s - Black Note, Brew - Gentlemen Double Mex, Thirsty Dog - Barrel Aged Siberian Night, Off Color - Dino S’mores
5. S POONWOOD Above The Fold 8.6% Double IPA - spoonwoodbrewing.com
Old dude trigger warning: this is a hazy IPA. Stop reading now. Everyone else? Hey. Sup? I bought a four-pack of hazy IPA and I didn’t wait in line. Dudes who craiglist people to stand in line for you? You out now? Cool. Who’s left? Anyone? Can I say anything about hazy IPA that you don’t already know? If you want to wait in line for the hypebeasts then trade them for hypebeasts that taste exactly like the hypebeasts you bought, that line exists. If you want to just buy delicious hazy IPA and drink it, that life exists. All I’m saying is I bought a couple cans of this on Saturday afternoon and I didn’t even have to use a folding chair. The Ekuanot and Denali hop combo got me all praise hands, big juicy mango, pineapple and jackfruit hop flavors, low bitterness and just crushable. Crushable, like the aluminum can it came in, because I’m a conscientious consumer and recycling is nice and don’t litter either. Recommended if you like: Hitchhiker - Myrcene, Helltown - Misfits & Misanthropes #whatever IPA, Four Seasons - Nebula, East End - Born & Raised IPA, Evil Twin - I Always Felt Closer To IPAs Than I Did To People
6. S IXPOINT Jammer 4.0% Gose - sixpiont.com
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
Yinz member when everyone tried jamming session beer down our throats a few years ago and we were all, “Yeah, low-alcohol beer is cool and all but do they have to all be bone-dry IPA”? Pepperidge Farm remembers. I’m really enjoying that gose is rising up in the session beer ranks. Slighty tart to somewhat sour, sparingly hopped and seasoned with salt and coriander; gose is the summer drink I never knew I wanted. While I really like gose as a base layer to get things fruity (makes lovey eyes at Roundabout Mimosa Gose) I dig a straight-up saltytartcoriander treat. Jammer is just that. Fresh cracked coriander seeds and sourdough aromas, crisp and ever-so-slightly tart with mild salinity and an herbal orange peel flavor from the coriander round out the refreshment.
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Recommended if you like: Hitchhiker - Sea & Seed, Sierra Nevada Otra Vez, Anderson Valley - The Kimmie, The Yank & The Holy Gose, Destihl - Here Gose Nothing
@ MOARHOPS
Recommended if you like: Pittsburgh, beer, bicycles, curmudgeons, clean draft lines, retweets, dogs, Wade Boggs stories, whiskey, South Side observations, obscure Simpsons quotes.
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brewer sit-down
ANDY
WEIGEL
Helicon Brewing - 102 Union Ave, Oakdale Age? 36
Hometown? CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
Mechanicsburg, Pa
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Brewing background?
I started brewing on the homebrew scale about six years ago. I started brewing cider because my wife liked Woodchuck Cider and it was expensive so I thought I could do a better job and I absolutely could not. At that point I was drinking nothing but PBR and Straub. I could always buy the beer I wanted cheaper than making it. Then I started getting more into stouts and things that were more expensive, so I started brewing those shortly before my first kid was born as a way to save money
and time. I started brewing all of the styles within the style guidelines with the intention of winning medals in all the categories and subcategories. I got through about 66 percent and I medaled in a little over 60 percent. Then I got into the BJCP study groups – Beer Judge Certification Program – and studied for like a year and took that exam and became a national level beer judge. I think I won five or six best of shows at competitions throughout the country. I have an Excel sheet I put together. I kept track of it like sports stats. I’m not very athletic, obviously, but I’m competitive by nature. I’m not going to go out and compete in track or anything like that, but beer I can compete with.
How did Helicon happen?
I guess I met Chris through our home brew club TRASH. I was the Vice President there. I took over when Andy went to Hitchhiker. Based on my involvement and accolades, for lack of a better word, he approached
me four years ago with his idea and I’ve been involved ever since. I remember before he even had a location or anything I was on board. I remember meeting him out here and my wife was so pissed off she had to drive me out to this meeting and we pulled up at the bar across the street. There was no roof on this building. It barely had four walls. There was like a big pit in the middle of the floor over there. She thought I was absolutely insane for entertaining the idea at all.
Had you thought about brewing professionally?
I’ve been a freelance web developer for 12 years. In those 12 years I’ve only worked for someone else for maybe two. Before that I had a landscaping business that I ran for four years, so I’m used to working for myself and making my own rules and my own hours. It seemed like a good fit being able to be part of something from the ground up and help establish protocols and standard operating procedures and to kind of do things my own way without having to fall into someone else’s shadow and to learn their way. I think doing it myself would have been way too much work. Plus, I don’t have any money and two kids. I never really set out being a homebrewer with the expectation of being a professional brewer. I still don’t consider myself a professional brewer new. I get paid to do it, but, I don’t know.
First craft beer?
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for sure. That was the quintessential American craft beer. Prima Pilsner was another one. I come from playing in rockabilly and punk bands where people drank PBR. It was close to that, but better. I was into stouts for a while. I brewed and drank pretty much everything, but I always came back to German lager. I have the same beer I brew on a weekly basis. I do the same beer I like to drink and just keep that around.
Guilty pleasure beer?
I really like I.C. Light Mango. They have Bud Light Mango-rita in 24-ounce cans. The beer I keep around when I’m not drinking the homebrew beer, I drink Stroh’s. It’s a little bit more bitter than the rest of them. I get like four Stroh’s and a can of Bud Light Mango-rita and pour them all in a pitcher. I take that pitcher upstairs and play my video games and I’m feeling alright. I go down to the beer distributor by my house they had king cans, 24-ounce cans, of PBR on sale for 99 cents. On a Friday night I go grab as many as I can carry.
Do you brew to any music?
I used to here but our Beats, whatever the thing was that hooked up to my phone, went away, and I just never got back into it. I like to hear what’s going on around me. I can tell if a pump sounds different or if the boiler shuts off because things go wrong constantly.
Favorite bar?
I would probably say Howlers in Bloomfield. I used to live over that way and that's pretty much where I've always gone. Bands play shows there a bunch. They have the music area in the back or the side room. That or Sonny’s Tavern in Bloomfield.
What do you drive?
Ugh. A minivan and a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. My car has the check engine light on. The van also has a maintenance light on. I've never seen so many French Fries on the floor of a car in my life.
Death Row Beer?
Prima Pils or Sunshine Pils those are my two go-to favorite beers, or the biggest one I could find probably. The most volume.
Do you have a brewing hero?
Jamil Zainasheff and Gordon Strong are the two people I have learned the most from. The Brewing Classic Styles Book; I brewed every single one of those recipes back to front initially, then I branched off and made my own recipes. Without that, I would have had no baseline.
Is there a least favorite style?
Anything but pilsner. I can appreciate everything for what it is but I don’t generally like to drink anything other than lager. I was just out to Blue Dust. They have everything you can imagine. and I was drinking Founder’s Solid Gold Lager and cans of Sunshine Pils out of all the crazy beers to drink. I can understand what they’re supposed to be. I’m not set in what I like specifically so I can say objectively here’s what I want this to taste like based on my research and experience. I’m not saying I only want to use this hop because that’s what I like. Of course, doing the whole BJCP thing I’ve drank hundreds and hundreds of IPAs, but if I’m drinking for my own enjoyment, I’ll stick with lager.
How hard is it to name your beer?
We don’t give names to our beers necessarily. As a homebrewer a lot of homebrewers would name their homebrew system and name all their beers. Coming from a software background I would name mine German pilsner version 4.2.3. I’m sure eventually we will start naming our beers more creative names, but we’re currently just sticking with the styles because if we brew an IPA, let’s say, and we change the recipe, I don’t want to waste a great name on a beer that is not going to stand the test of time for us.
What's your daily carry?
home brewing
THERE’S MORE TO IT
THAN THAT! WHAT TO THINK ABOUT WHEN BREWING FRUIT BEER Words Jack Smith Art Joe Mruk
S
o you want to brew a fruit beer, huh, kid? And let me guess: ya boy Terry told you it’s as simple as adding fruit to beer. Well, ya boy Terry’s wrong, son. There’s more to it than that. Adding fruit to beer impacts the flavor, the body, the finish, and the pH. Don’t plan for its impact and you and Terry gonna be drinkin’ that muddled swill in ya momz basement alone. Again. The first step to brewing a great fruit beer is to identify a beer style that will work well as a platform upon which the fruit can be showcased. Some styles just work better than others. Wheat beers — typically low in IBUs and with a soft, creamy mouthfeel — perform well to showcase a variety of fruits. Dark, chocolatey beers like porters and some stouts play nicely off certain darker fruits. Sour beers, in general, take fruit quite well. Even IPAs, especially those of the New England persuasion, accentuate tropical fruits. For this example, let’s go with a wheat beer — a Belgian witbier. It’s not as blank a canvas as American wheat beer — meaning not every fruit variety will work as well as the next— but it’s pretty forgiving.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
The next step is to pick a fruit that works well. Not every combination flips all the switches. Exhibit A: foreign extra stout with pineapple (shudder). Let’s think about what would work with our Belgian witbier — soft and wheaty, lightly hopped, a delicate fruitiness from the Belgian yeast and coriander seed and citrus zest. I imagine apricot or peach would be OK here but the flavors might clash with the wit’s inherent citrus fruitiness. Cherry might be nice, probably overpowering. Blackberry, getting closer but probably a little too earthy. Raspberry — that’s it! Pronounced fruitiness that doesn’t clash. Bright and acidic to cut through witbier’s gentle nature. We got a winner!
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With a beer style and fruit chosen, now we need to identify the necessary adjustments for the base recipe to accept the fruit neatly. In the fermentable department, fruit almost always brings nothing but simple sugar to the party. When you add table sugar to any beer recipe it thins it out. It produces a beer with less body than one whose same OG comes entirely from grain. Therefore, you need to increase body to account for your fruit addition. In some recipes you can add crystal or dextrin malts or even maltodextrin powder. Witbier has plenty of body-building flaked wheat and oats, but you’ll still will want to boost the mash temp significantly to produce a fuller body than you’d otherwise want. Fruit is sweet, but fermented fruit is bone dry. Therefore a well-balanced beer with fruit will seem dryer than the same beer without fruit. This typically isn’t desirable, so you should adjust the base beer to compensate. Again,
adding more crystal malt than normal is an option. But witbier doesn’t have crystal malt. What works better here is to lower the IBUs to increase the perception of sweetness. I typically brew the recipe below with about 20 IBUs. When adding fruit, though, I drop it to 12 IBUs. This helps the finished beer to seem just a little sweeter than it really is. Finally, we need to think about the pH of the finished beer. The pH of witbier is typically around 4.2. Because the grain bill contains no dark or crystal malts, you probably need to add acid to the mash to get the pH into the desirable 5.2-5.4 range which, in turn, should yield a finished beer with a pH around 4.2 since the pH drops during the boil then again during fermentation. Because a can of raspberry puree has a pH of 2.9 - 3.8 (typically about 3.3) , it will obviously reduce the pH of the beer. If you don’t compensate for this up front you will have a beer that taste tart, thin, sharp, and one-dimensional. What I do is figure out how much acid I need to get my mash pH to fall into the 5.5 to 5.6 range. This is a little high but still acceptable to ensure good starch conversion and decent hot break in the kettle. The final beer may not be as clear as one whose mash pH was 5.2-5.3 but it will certainly taste better after the fruit is added. Plus, witbier is supposed to be cloudy! So go ahead and brew this raspberry witbier recipe for summer drinkin’. With these tips in mind, you should be able to then design your own fruity malt beverage concoctions that achieve the most sought-after goal among fruit beer brewers: balance.
“Way Cooler than a Wine Cooler”
RASPBERRY WITBIER Batch Size: 5.5 gal. Boil Time: 90 minutes OG: 1.049 FG: 1.014 ABV: 5.0% IBU: 12 SRM: N/A (rose-colored from raspberry) Difficulty: Advanced - all grain step-mash *Assuming 65% brewhouse efficiency
On the trail or in the woo ds, we’re here fo r your post ri de ... refreshments .
Grainbill
• 5.5 lbs Belgian Pilsner Malt • 5 lbs Flaked Wheat • 1 lb Flaked Oats • 1 lb rice hulls (to aid in lautering) Extract Brewers: Sorry, this recipe is all-grain only.
Hops, etc.
• 24 grams Saaz (4% AA) @ 60 min • Zest of 5 blood oranges and 1 lime @ 5 min • 15 grams crushed whole coriander seed @ 5 min
Fruit
• (1) 49oz Can raspberry puree, secondary fermentation
Mash & Boil
With a large amount of unmalted flaked wheat and oats in this recipe, a step mash is all but required to unlock this beers potential. Without a beta-glucan rest between 100° and 130° F for 15 minutes prior to ramping up to the saccharification rest temperature, the mash will be full of gummy beta-glucans that would all but ensure a stuck mash. Resting around 120° F will break down the gummy beta-glucans that cause stuck sparges as well as break down the larger protein molecules that cause chill haze. 120° F kills two birds with one stone. Even still, you’ll want to add some rice hulls to the mash as added insurance. After resting at 120° F for 15 minutes, ramp to 158F and hold it there for 45 minutes. Then do a mashout if that’s your thing, sparge, lauter, and boil as you typically do. Note that high saccharification temperature of 158° - that is one of the main adjustments to account for this being a fruit beer. If I were brewing this beer without adding fruit I would perform this rest at 152°-154° F.
Made fresh everyday, be sure to try the one with peanut butter. Really!
north park boathouse • historic southside
a great sele ction of seasonal craf t beer on tap. Espe cially the local br ews.
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Yeast/Fermentation
Obviously you want to use a Belgian wit yeast — WLP400, WLP410, or Wyeast 3944 are the right tool for the job. Primary fermentation is straightforward — make a healthy, appropriate-sized starter, oxygenate your wort well, and ferment at about 68° F. Thirty-six hours after pitching, begin warming the fermenter up by 1F every 12 hours until you reach 74° F. When the beer reaches an SG of about 1.018, it’s time to add the fruit. I prefer to empty the contents of the can into a clean fermenter and rack the still-fermenting beer onto the fruit, but you could just as well add the fruit to the primary fermenter at this point. After another week or so it will be ready to crash cool, drop the yeast / trub / spent fruit, and package the beer for serving. Fruit beers are not as versatile at food pairing as most more straightforward beers, but you still have options. This beer can be showcased as an aperitif with a selection of creamy fresh cheeses or with a salad of microgreens, nuts, berries and goat cheese. It’s a great picnic or beach beer -- pack a growler in your basket alongside those rustic breads and dipping oils, fruits, nuts and charcuterie. Too froufrou? Fine, how about a rather faded commemorative Jar Jar Binks glass from a gas station in 1999 filled with raspberry witbier on the front porch at 11:30 p.m. while you watch your neighbors argue in their front yards over which one is parked in front of the other one’s house. You call that yinzer summer, I call it great memories. A homebrewer since 2002, Jack Smith is a National BJCP Judge, a former president of the Three Rivers Alliance of Serious Homebrewers, and an active member of the Three Rivers Underground Brewers
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Suggested Pairings
Follow him on Twitter @whenyeastattack 43
cooking with beer Words Mindy Heisler-Johnson Photos MikeWeiss
Full Pint White Lightning
BRICK CHICKEN
SPATCHCOCK
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
“You should do something that gets cooked on a fire.” -EiC
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When the inspiration was posed I was standing in my Chip Shop, looking out the window at the 110th, maybe the 111th day of January. Yes, I should. Damn this weather, I’m going outside! It appears The Longest Winter Ever might finally be coming to a close. So it will be with more joy than determination that I will be sending you outside to build a fire. We are going to roast dinner on it! So I can only assume your first query is going to be “What is Spatchcock?”. Other than a really fun word to say? It’s a method of poultry butchery that opens up and flattens a whole bird, greatly decreasing its overall cooktime and skin exposure allowing for a higher cooking temperature; all of which are good things, trust me. We are going to combine this butchery with brine, a fire (in a pit or grill), a large cast iron skillet, a couple of bricks wrapped in foil and about half an hour.
Our brine will be Full Pint White Lightning, citrus, salt, honey and some fresh herbs. It needs to sit for at least 48 hours and as long as four days. For a brine to do its job it needs time to sit; brines do not work like marinades. Our chicken for this is not, and should not be, a monster chicken. Look for all natural whole chickens, they should be 2.5-3 pounds average in size. A whole bird will feed three to four people. If you need to feed more, brine more birds; the cook time on this is fast enough that even if you can't run more than one pan at a time, you can cook multiple in a more-thanreasonable amount of time, just tent the cooked ones with foil and let them rest. The birds are cooked to an internal temperature of 155-160 degrees and let to rest for 15 minutes. Take your temperature in the thigh and leg joint up against the bone, if that part is at temp the breast is cooked through. Don’t overcook your chicken. It doesn’t deserve that. And you worked so hard to make it delicious. I mentioned bricks. Not a typo! To cook our deliciously brined chicken we are going to build a hardwood fire and get a nice bed of coals. Wrap a
couple of bricks — just plain old regular bricks — with heavy duty foil and nestle them up on in those coals and let them get warm, two bricks per chicken. When those are hot, about half an hour (don’t forget to flip them a few times), spread out the coals to hold a 12-inch cast iron skillet (yes, it HAS to be cast iron) and let it get hot. A little bit of oil and butter and into the pan our chicken goes, skin side down, to be weighted and flattened with the hot bricks, cooking it from both sides in about 20-25 minutes. Yeah, it really is that simple. Well, if you know how to build a fire, anyway. An aside on the chicken: you can use parts that are already cut from the store. I think it is far more fun to do it this way and the end product is far, far better -- anything roasted whole on the bone always is compared to anything roasted cut. But I also know some people just aren’t into butchering things and I get that, sort of. Though I suggest just getting a good pair of kitchen shears and going for it anyway. To prep the chicken, rinse and remove all that gizzards and whatnot. Pat dry and place breast down on a board. Use kitchen shears to cut the spine out of the chicken, popping the thigh joints when you cut up to them. When it is all out you will have a spineless chicken. Open it up and flatten it, trimming when needed to get it to lay flat. Rinse again and get your brine made.
Full Pint White Lightning Citrus Brine • • • • • • • • •
½ gallon(ish) Full Pint White Lightning (that’s 5-6 bottles) 1 Orange, sliced (use 2 if they are small) 1 Lemon, sliced 1 Lime, sliced 3 Tbsp Kosher salt ¼ cup honey A lot off fresh ground black pepper ½” knob sliced fresh ginger 3-5 sprigs fresh thyme
Get it all in a big ziplock bag and mix together until the salt is dissolved. And seriously, don’t be shy with the black pepper. You can omit the ginger if you want, but I wouldn’t. Put the chicken in the bag and squish it around in the brine. Squeeze out all of the air you possibly can (Cryovac it if you possess that technology) and place it in a leak-proof tub in your fridge for 2-4 days. I usually do this Wednesday night for Sunday cook. Give it a squish around once a day or so.
To cook your Spatchcock …
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Go forth. Build a fire. Achieve hot coals. Please use hardwood or hardwood charcoal. And a chimney. No chemicals, please! We’re making food here.
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Find a couple of bricks or a big rock. Make sure they aren't gross. If they are make them un-gross. Then wrap them in foil anyway because bricks and rocks are, well, gross. Get them laying in your coal bed to get hot. You are making hot grill presses, in essence. Wrapped in foil. Because bricks and rocks are gross. Get the chicken out of the brine and give it a rinse and a dry. Grab your pan, a couple tablespoons of butter and some olive oil and a bunch of fresh thyme, citrus slices, any other fresh herbs you'd like and head back to the fire. Spread out the coals enough that you can nestle that pan right up in there without being near direct flames and let it warm up. Add the oil and butter and get things heating. Make a bed with the fresh herbs and citrus slices on top of the heated butter & oil and place the chicken breast side down on the herbs. Weigh it down and flatten it with the hot bricks. Stand watch to monitor the chicken and how it’s cooking. May I suggest grabbing a beer or two for this part? Total cook time should be about 20-25 minutes. If the skin starts to get too dark after about 15 it can be flipped, but I have rarely had to do this. Remove from heat when it temps at the thigh joint at 155-160 degrees and let it rest. Again, please, do not overcook your chicken. Seriously. Temp it. Pull it off when I say to. Let it rest. It will carryover cook 10-15 degrees while it does, making it perfection. I know what I am talking about.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #37
I don’t think this really needs sauce or any embellishment after it is cooked. Let it rest for 15 minutes or so before serving so it is its most tender and juicy. What to serve it with? Your favorite BBQ sides, leafy green salads with goat cheese, grilled veggies since the grill is already hot — whatever you like!
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