CraftPittsburgh Issue #29 by CraftPittsburgh

cooking with beer • home brewing • upcoming beer events • cocktails • have you tried...

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

table of contents upcoming events editor’s notes style profile - barrel aged beer flights are fancy brewtal beer fest collection - richard ober under construction - cobble hause beer without borders? trading & re-selling beer 2017 pgh drinking goals the hoppy couple - dancing gnome we love pgh - pints & pups craft cocktails - upside down martini the tides they are a risin’ - stbc/pgh collaboration have you tried... brewer sit-down - john romano cooking with beer - venison hunter’s stew road-trip - ex novo, portland home brewing - american & english porter charitable brews

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6. 7. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20. 22. 24. 26. 28. 30. 32. 34. 36. 37. 38.

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upcoming events Check out CraftPittsburgh.com for even more events and make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. January • 9-15 Pittsburgh Restaurant Week • 10 Destihl Brewery Welcome Party @ Caliente - Bloomfield • 17 Nugget Nectar First Squeeze @ Piper’s Pub • 20 7th Annual Pour for a Cure @ US Steel Tower • 21 Good Wood Festival @ East End Brewing • 25 Beer Infused Education @ Rock Bottom • 28 Winter Beer Festival @ Trax Farm • 28 Hibernation Party @ Rivertowne Brewery - Export • 28 Imbibe Northside @ Mattress Factory - North Side

February • 4 Olde Frothingslosh Beer Collectible Show @ Hopewell VFW • 16 Dueling Randalls with Otter Creek @ Cole’s Pub • 24-25 PGH Winter Beerfest @ Convention Center

March • 4 13th Annual Hell With The Lid Off @ Kelly’s Bar

April

21-30 FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS

PITTSBURGHCRAFTBEERWEEK.COM

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

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• 21 Beer Barge @ The Gateway Clipper • 21 Brewer’s Ball @ Wyndham Grand • 23 Beer Industry Night @ Rowhouse Cinema • 28-29 Beer Festival @ Industry Public House - Robinson • 29 Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride @ East End • 29 Oyster Fest @ Blue Dust

May • 13 Beers of the Burgh @ Carrie Furnace

editor’s Notes

HOPPY NEW YEAR • Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a great holiday and drank a lot of good beer. Anyone that has asked me about the magazine in the last six months knows I’ve been working on a beer bucket list of sorts. But, I think that term is a little played out and grim so we decided to call it “2017 PGH Drinking Goals”. If something didn’t make the list that should have, let us know. • It’s already shaping up to be another great year for the craft beer and food scene in Pittsburgh. At print time, the long-awaited opening of Mindful Brewing is days away, and we just got word Helltown is opening a taproom in the city. They aren’t the only ones opening a second location this year. I can’t say anything official yet—keep an eye out for an announcement later this month. • 2017 is also starting off with some big changes to the state liquor laws too. Starting January 16th, distributors will now be able to sell six packs, four packs, and singles. I think I speak for everyone when I say, “It’s about time.” It will great to finally walk into a distributor and buy anything from a case to a single like in basically every other state. • Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week is just around the corner. In talking with people in the industry it sounds like there is going to be a ton of new and fun events. Quality over quantity is a phrase I keep hearing from everyone. I’m definitely looking forward to it. • Correction: In the last issue we started that Donn Neal had the “11th largest cap collection in the Crown Collectors Society.” Mr. Neal reached out to let us know he’s actually the 11th largest collection among the U.S. collectors in that group. There are international collectors with much larger ones. • Speaking of cap collecting, after Donn’s story ran anther reader reached out to share a cap project of their own. Mike Marks from Venetia used his cap collection to make his son this wall hanging when he attended Penn State. Nice job Mike!

Rob Soltis

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Cheers,

BARREL AGED BEERS style profile

Words Brian Meyer Photo Mike Weiss

arrels are amazing devices. Fresh off the factory floor with or without a nice char inside, they’re the perfect vessel for a variety of liquors. The charred wood gives amazing character and life to whiskey, while non-charred barrels help to bring wine to life. With or without charred inners, these ligneous receptacles help countless other alcoholic beverages in one way or another. When talking about bourbon barrels specifically, each new, charred barrel can only be used once to make bourbon from. These new, charred oak barrels get only one run at making bourbon, which means they’re ripe for the picking when it comes to aging other alcoholic beverages. This is where the idea for barrel-aging beer comes in, but while aging beer in bourbon barrels is fairly new, putting beer into wooden barrels for shipment and storage is far from a new idea.

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Before the common keg we know and love today came into being, beer was transported in wooden barrels. While this wasn’t done to give the beer character, barrels were the only form of transportation available at the time. These uncharred barrels stored the beer until it was consumed, then they were cleaned and reused to store more beer. While this most likely gave the beer some woody character, it was far from the goal.

So how did beer and bourbon barrels make the connection that’s given us so many amazing barrel-aged beers? As it happens, we have Greg Hall from Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago to thank for that. In 1992 Hall decided he wanted to fill six oak barrels—that originally housed Jim Beam in their first life—with a strong stout. Fast forward a few months to the fall and the Great American Beer Fest in Denver where he poured his experiment for the first time in public, and the rest is, as they say, history. This beer experiment not only put Goose Island on the map for innovation

and solidified their reputation for great beer, but it launched an entire new breed of beer: The Barrel-Aged Stout. Today we know this experiment as Bourbon County Stout, and while this beer still stands out, most breweries with enough room for a few barrels have some type of barrel-aged beer in the works.

Barrel-Aging Locally

Looking locally, there are some definite stand-out examples of barrel-aged beer. East End Brewing Company has been barrel-aging beers to great success for some time. From their barrel-aged Gratitude Barleywine to Homewood Reserve Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout, their penchant for putting beer into barrels is only growing more impressive. Grist House Brewing Company in Millvale releases their Putin’s Breakfast Russian Imperial Stout each year as a bourbon barrel-aged stout with subtle coffee aroma and taste. And of course, there’s the ever-impressive employee owners at Voodoo Brewery and their Barrel Room Collection releases. From Big Black Voodoo Daddy - aged in bourbon barrels, Grand Met aged in apple brandy barrels, to their Black Magick - aged in rye whiskey barrels. Voodoo chooses the barrels they use specifically for the characteristics each barrel offers, which gives their barrel-aged beers a special character that’s hard to match. The annual Good Wood Barrel-Aged Beer Fest is happening January 21 at East End Brewing, featuring the best barrel-aged beer from many local breweries including Bloom Brew, Draai Laag, Four Seasons, Full Pint, Grist House, Penn Brewery, Rock Bottom, and many others. This festival alone should stand to prove that barrel-aging beer is a really big thing.

Types of Barrel-Aged Beers

While we’ve focused on bourbon barrel-aged beers, this is truly only touching the surface of aging beer in barrels. While bourbon barrels give the beer that inhabits the spirit’s former domicile characteristics of vanilla, caramel, and a slightly boozy whiskey undertone, other types of barrels give entirely unique attributes. Looking at Voodoo Brewery’s Grand Met aged in apple brandy barrels, this beer took on oaky undertones while pulling in a strong and distinct apple brandy flavor. The apple stood out from the oaky flavor, making this beer substantially different from the typical bourbon character we’ve grown accustomed to. Beer has also found a surrogate home in barrels that formerly housed different varieties of wine. Quite a few sour beers find repose in wine barrels, as they often benefit from the vinous character that’s imparted from the used American or French oak after they’ve been soaked in wine for years. Speaking of sour beers, these are a variety of beer that is highly dependent upon barrels to allow the funk to set in. The wood absorbs not only flavor in this case, but microbes as well. These microbes give the barrel its own microcosm in which beer is soured and transformed into something amazing. While it seems natural to age big, dark beers in barrels since they’re the typical candidates for all forms of aging, barrel aging is starting to be applied to a much wider range of beers, even including IPAs. If Russian imperial stouts are the poster child for aging, then India Pale Ales are the picture of keeping it fresh, so how could a beer best consumed fresh get any better in a barrel? It may seem odd, but take Penn Brewery and their gin barrel-aged IPA as an example. The gin gave the IPA an amazing botanical aroma and flavor that was set off by the hops and the light malt character. In other words, the idea that only big dark beers or sour beers are good for aging is one that simply is not true.

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Overall, the best beers for aging are ones with higher alcohol content and stronger flavors. That means that stouts, dubbels, old ales, and barleywines all make for great barrel aging candidates that will give mostly consistent results. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a variety of other styles being barrelaged, but these are the most likely styles.

The Age of the Barrel

As craft beer grows in popularity, the need for brewers to make more unique and impressive beers is more important than ever. With more variety in craft beer today than ever before, standing out from the crowd is difficult to say the least.

Made fresh everyday, be sure to try the one with peanut butter. Really!

a great sele ction of seasonal craf t beer on tap. Espe cially the local br ews.

The local craft spirits community in and around Pittsburgh is helping the local barrel-aging scene as well. With distillers like Maggie’s Farm Rum and Wigle Whiskey working with local breweries, the beers being made are both unique and remarkable. There’s even a circular trade happening, where barrels pass from distiller to brewer and back to distiller again. East End Brewing and Wigle Whiskey have worked together on a few such collaborations as well as Spoonwood and other local breweries. The age of the barrel definitely seems to be upon us, and while not every barrel-aged beer can be remarkable, the sheer fact that these are being experimented with on an unprecedented scale can only mean great things for the beer world and for us, the beer-loving public.

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Because of this, and because of a craft beer fan base that’s always looking for something new, brewers are experimenting with barrel aging their beers more than ever before. While it would take smaller breweries years before attempting barrel aging, many are starting their first barrels within the first year of business. Not only is barrel-aging beer a somewhat difficult undertaking, but it’s expensive as well. Brewing a beer and not being able to sell it for a year or longer is tough, but also having the possibility of that beer not being right when it’s done is almost insanity inducing.

Flights are Fancy Words & Photos Beth Kurtz Taylor

o, you visit a brewery and all of the beers on the board sound intriguing... what to do? Why, order a flight, of course! Flights are the best way to explore the offerings of a brewery or tap room. They generally offer four to six sample-size glasses of beer ranging from a two- to four-ounce pour. Your favorite person behind the bar is likely adept at recommending the proper order for consumption; you do not want to overwhelm your palate! In general it is better to start with lighter brews and then progress toward stronger and darker beers. The flight concept was borrowed from the wine industry. Why is it called a flight? One definition of the word is a grouping, such as a flight of birds or flight of stairs. Early iterations in the beer world consisted of a fancy placemat of sorts on which you found four to five circles. The server wrote the names or numbers of each beer on the paper. But, leave it to craft beer producers, who appreciate attention to detail and style, to change it up. There are some creative “vehicles”, if you will, that transport your beer selections to your table or bar stool in style. Many are handmade; some are creative twists using everyday objects, and this is just in Pennsylvania!

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

East End Brewing offers unique, handmade, wooden flight holders at their brewery in Larimar and tap room in the Strip. Most of the brew holders are made from reclaimed wood by Monica Yope , owner of Pop Craft. There was even an event where participants decorated the wood with Sharpies. In the Strip, Jonathan Moran Woodworks has been working on some prototypes. With earlier versions, circular holes were drilled so that the glasses set into the wooden base. Unfortunately, repeated beer spills resulted in a sticky mess. Scott Smith, East End’s owner, wanted a board with holes that were drilled all the way through the wood so that glasses could be suspended in the tray. They hit a glitch when the glasses slid through the holes and needed to purchase new glasses that are tapered and can be suspended in the holes.

Throughout the warm and rustic tap room of Allegheny City Brewing on the North Side it is evident that the owners value constructing their environment from reusable materials. Their bar, for example, was built from an old workbench found in the building’s basement during renovation. Underneath the old bench were pieces of wood that had been sanded and coated with polyurethane. In the bar, the owners built shelves with wood purchased from Urban Tree. Edge pieces that were cast off from that process were used to make additional taster holders. All boards were completed by Chris Head of Rustbelt Workshop by drilling the openings using an antiques press. During a recent overhaul of their logo and website, the people at Grist House explored an innovative method for serving flights. They decided to go with Plexiglas, according to co-owner Brian Eaton. Sara Ishman, a

local artist came up with a prototype, it was tweaked and the brewery now has a sleek looking, easy-to-clean tasting board. Sara even created a lit display to highlight her work. It’s all in the family at the recently opened Yellow Bridge Brewing in Delmont. Ian Staab, along with his mother Karen and wife Heather, were brainstorming about a creative way to serve their flights. Karen and Heather recalled a brewery from their travels that used a six-pack-type holder to serve five samples and a handful of popcorn in the sixth spot. Karen thought muffin tins and Heather crafted numbered magnets out of bottle caps. Servers can number the tastings according to the brewery’s menu for easy identification. In their original Meadville spot, the owners of Voodoo Brewing had a great idea to repurpose the bourbon barrels used to age some of their beers. Yes, they turned the wooden staves into tasting boards. Co-owner Jake Voelker taps into their woodworking skills to create the sleek receptacles, featured at all of their locations, to hold five pours of their lagers, porters and ales. Jim Hicks of Stone Church Brewing in Hermitage wanted to serve his flights in a vessel that had a “cool rustic vibe”. He created a rectangular wooden box that is divided into four compartments that each hold a five ounce Belgian glass. The exterior is coated with chalkboard paint so the server can write the names of the beers directly on the box. A local woodworker replicated the design to make the boxes currently used. Timbercreek Tap and Table with two locations, Meadville and Grove City, had similar issues. Currently the Meadville location offers a board with slots, the Grove City location has the boards that suspend the glassware. They solicited the help of a family friend who is a wood crafting hobbyist to design the boards. From across the state, friends from Pittsburgh Beer Ladies shared some unique finds through their Facebook group. Victory Brewing, in their three brewpub locations, serves flights of five beers in a custom designed metal carrier with a convenient handle. Old Forge Brewing in Danville has some of the most distinctive tasting conduits that are created by Frank Dombroski, a local woodworker. Most of them resemble a flywheel; a sturdy wooden circle with deep wells for the glasses. However, if you’re really lucky your beers will arrive in either a wooden duck or trout. What will the future hold for beer flights? Certainly there will be further innovative handmade examples, but a group of entrepreneurs from Iowa just shipped the first “smart” flight boards to eager breweries across the country. Flite Brite is offering smart beer paddles that will connect users and breweries through Untappd. Stay tuned for updates on these up-andcoming products!

Words Brian Conway Photos Buzzy Torek

It wasn’t enough for Brewtal Beer Fest organizers Meg and James Evans to have an awesome time at their inaugural beer and metal fest. They wanted everybody in attendance to have as much fun as they were having, too. “I enjoy making awesome things happen and giving people a great time,” Meg Evans says. “It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves.” “It was a massive amount of fun,” James Evans added. “I ended up getting drunk and asking everyone if they were having a good time.” Judging from the cheers from the crowd and the number of tapped kegs, they weren’t the only ones who had a blast. In fact, it was so much fun they’re going to do it again next year. First, some background: six heavy metal bands joined a dozen local breweries at Spirit Lounge on November 6 for a day full of crushing riffs and righteous ales hosted under a canopy of technicolor light. The event was the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team of James and Meg, he an assistant brewer at Spoonwood Brewing and she the head brewer at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery. Raising the stakes was a brew-off that saw four of the bands team with with four local breweries to create one-off collaborative beers. The winner as chosen by guests in attendance would be awarded a WWE-style Brewtal championship belt.

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East End Brewing Co. and Penn Brewery partnered with Natural Causes and Greywalker, while Rock Bottom and Spoonwood partnered with World’s Scariest Police Chases and Vermithrax, respectively.

After guests had a chance to sample all four beers the votes were tallied and Greywalker’s vanilla rum “Beyond All Porter” collaboration with Penn Brewery and Maggie’s Farm Rum was named the winner, beating out a malt liquor from Rock Bottom and a pair of pepper-infused beers from Spoonwood and East End. “Our bandmate Evan steeped vanilla beans in the rum, and on the day [Penn] brewed it we helped put the grain in. We were as involved as we could be without messing something up,”Greywalker frontman Brian Howe says with a laugh.

In addition to those competing in the brew-off, local breweries like Rivertowne, Helltown, Voodoo, Grist House, and Apis Meadery were all in attendance with samples of their beverages. Black metal disciples Onion Maiden and Black Forge Coffee were on hand to sling vegan bites and coffee alongside a dozen other merchants and artists. “It played out even better than we envisioned,” Meg Evans says. “All in all it was set up just right. It was full and there were a lot of people there, but it felt comfortable and not overcrowded.” The original idea for the festival came from a “Brewtal Truth” column in Decibel Magazine that explored the intersection of heavy metal and craft beer. Coincidently, the day after this year’s Brewtal, Decibel announced a “Metal and Beer Fest” of their own, April 22-23 in Philadelphia with musical headliners Sleep and presented by Unibroue. What will year two bring to Brewtal? It’ll be “bigger, badder, and buffer,” James Evans says. “It will be minor tweaks if anything. We have a lot of positive to build off of. Getting that first year under our belt was so key.” The couple has recruited Howe to help organize next year’s Brewtal given his well-respected hustle and dedication to the local music scene. “The crowd was cool,” Howe says. “I know a few friends who went who were definitely not there for the metal and it seemed like they had a good time. I feel like this is one of those events that if you go into it with the right attitude you can have a good time even if it’s not what you’re typically into.” It’s too early to say if the event will take place at Spirit again, but if it doesn’t they’d like to have it outdoors somewhere where it can be an allages affair: think a face-painting station for kids, but with corpse paint. Other possible tweaks include bringing in regional breweries and a bigger headliner – Child Bite, from Detroit, headlined this year’s Brewtal – but for now the most important thing is carrying over that spirit of camaraderie and perfection of craft that unites both the metal and beer community. “It’s a willingness to go to the extreme to make something special,” James Evans says.

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DOVETAIL FOR ONE LOCAL MAN Words Kristy Locklin Photos Mike Weiss

Beer is in Richard Ober’s blood, even when he’s not drinking it. The 72-year-old hails from a long line of brewers, starting with his great-greatgrandfather, George Ober. Born in Alsace Lorraine in 1823, George immigrated to America in 1840 and eventually became a tavern owner in Allegheny City, which is now Pittsburgh’s North Shore district. Not content to simply sell beer, George bought the Amber Brewery on Vinial Street in 1865 and started producing it. For years, George and his children thrived in the area’s bustling beer industry and, through savvy business transactions and marriage into other brewing broods (including the Eberhardt and the Straub families), built a dynasty on barley and hops. Pennsylvania Brewing Company – one of the forerunners of the craft beer movement – now occupies the brewery complex where the Ober clan made their liquid assets. Old lithographs of those buildings adorn the walls of Richard’s home, which serves as a museum to both his family and Pittsburgh brewing heritage. He’s become an authority on Allegheny County beer history, even co-authoring a book on the subject with Robert Musson. “I didn’t even know we had a brewery until I was in my 20s,” Richard says, noting that his grandfather was a longtime salesman for Pittsburgh Brewing Co. The more research he did into his brewing background, the more knickknacks he found, from rare Eberhardt & Ober Brewing Co. signs that once lined the floor of an old chicken coop to trays, steins, thermometers, globes, tap handles, coasters, ashtrays, song books, maps, bottles and cans. Breweries slapped their name and logo on anything, creating a seemingly never-ending supply of collectibles. In addition to uncovering memorabilia at flea markets, antique stores and estate sales, Richard found many kindred spirits who enjoyed collecting beerrelated treasures.

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The hobby saw its heyday in the 1970s, when the Beer Can Collectors of America formed in St. Louis. The club, now known as the Brewery Collectibles Club of America, boasts 71 chapters in 37 states, including the Pittsburgh-based Olde Frothingslosh, named after a popular Pittsburgh Brewing Co. brand.

Richard served as president for many years and is now treasurer of the organization. Although interest in the hobby is dwindling and some Olde Frothingslosh members have started to sell off their collections, Richard says the excitement of the hunt is what keeps him involved. He hopes Pittsburgh’s craft beer boom will generate more interest in breweriana, especially among young people. The club holds five shows a year – often partnering with a local brewery— so members can display their wares, recruit new members and commune with fellow collectors all while imbibing the beverage that turned them into packrats in the first place.

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Under construction Photos & Words Kenny Gould

cobble HAUSE

If you’ve been homebrewing for 20 years, you’ve probably considered opening your own brewery.

Moon resident and CMU grad Scott Mills certainly did, especially after seeing Pittsburgh’s recent brewery explosion. “Really the one that got me thinking was Four Seasons Brewing in Latrobe, because I’m originally from Latrobe,” he says. The idea started becoming a reality last year, when the oil and gas industry stagnated. By day, Mills works for an oil and gas company in Robinson, so the slowdown left him with some extra time. With the help of a realtor, he found an old office building at 1021 Fifth Avenue in Coraopolis. “This was either the jump-off-the-cliff or give-it-up-forever point,” Mills says.

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At first, he didn’t like the place because it doesn’t have that much frontage, but when he saw the rest of it, he found himself hooked. It’s huge—certainly big enough for expansion.

Since signing the lease in early summer 2016, Mills has slowly been knocking down walls and filing for permits. Right now, the only things stopping him from opening are a few minor construction projects and the federal permit, which he expects to have soon. When Cobble Haus Brewery opens in early 2017, Mills will make traditional German and Belgian styles on a one-barrel system that sits in the building’s old conference room. Eventually, Mills hopes to start a barrel program, but not with the traditional bourbon barrels: he wants to experiment with wine barrels—say, putting a nice stout or porter in a barrel that once held Merlot.

In addition the serving patrons in the taproom, Cobble Haus plans to expand to select local pubs and restaurants, including Patrick’s Pub and Grille and Hyeholde.

Cobble Haus comes as a welcome addition to city’s West Side brewery scene, which has so far been left out of the larger expansion happening around the Pittsburgh area. “It’s Pittsburgh so you can say, ‘Hey, I’m opening up down the street,’” says Mills. “That goes a long way.” Currently, the closest brewery to Cobble Haus is Aurochs, located five miles away in Emsworth, but Aurochs only makes gluten-free beer and caters to a different niche. Then there’s Helicon in Oakdale, Abjuration Brewing in McKees Rocks, and Allegheny City Brewing on the North Side … more than one, but far from the high concentration that surrounds the city.

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beer without borders? THE UNDERGROUND WORLD OF TRADING & RE-SELLING CRAFT BEER Words Nathan Stimmel Photo Mike Weiss

“Thou shalt not covet.” It might seem strange to open an article on beer with a Biblical quotation, but if desiring something that isn’t yours is a sin, most craft beer fans would readily plead “Guilty!”. We see them in magazines and online—the bright, shiny objects that hold the promise of the world’s tastiest malt- and hop-based beverages. We call our retailers, asking with high hopes, “Hey, do you guys ever get any Heady? Pliny? Dark Lord? Westy 12?”, only to be rejected again and again.

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But the desire is unshakeable. As much great beer as is made close to home, and distributed here from across the country and the world, there’s still a natural thirst for that thing that’s just out of reach. Nobody has every beer at their fingertips, and after a while, the beer enthusiast starts to draft a “Wants” list in their mind. They have personal white whales, those beers that they’ve heard about, gotta have, and will go to perhaps extraordinary lengths to obtain.

Traveling can help. If the beer doesn’t come to you, go to it. Beer-cations to Asheville, Portland, and San Diego are becoming more and more popular. Sometimes, though, there are those elusive special releases that just can’t be found on the shelves, or may be available from a remote location one day a year. With the help of the Internet and an equally enthusiastic partner broad, many beer fans turn to trading to get their fix of rare.

THE TRADING GAME

Brian S. caught the bug about three years ago. After connecting with some high school buddies who had moved to Tampa, he and his friends realized they both had access to beer that the other wanted but couldn’t

get in their respective locales. For Brian, trading hard-to-get beer is an extension of his hobbyist inclinations. “I’ve always enjoyed the collector aspect of a lot of things—baseball cards, music, etc—so for me personally, beer carried over that aspect when those other things lost it,” he says. “Plus, it’s fun to introduce people to new things in general.” Recently, Brian’s love of sharing was on display when he brought home some bottles from the ever-sought Belgian lambic brewer Cantillon to taste with friends (who were no doubt appreciative). And of course, he couldn’t forget his trading buddies, who got some of that liquid gold. “Trading is a good conduit for meeting people all over the country (and world for that matter)”, says Drew N., who recently made the acquaintance of a heretofore unmet trading partner in Belgium. While many trades are established by posting an “ISO/FT” request on a web forum—detailing what a potential trader is In Search Of (ISO) & has For Trade (FT)—Drew and Brian both have established, regular trading partners elsewhere on the globe. For close to a decade, Drew has enjoyed a regular back-and-forth a trader in Massachusetts. “I typically will just send him some of the more limited stuff from the area, and he will randomly do the same without any discussion as to what we are trading,” he says. This mutual “taking care of” has replaced some of the “hunting” aspect for him. “I don’t find myself lining up for beers as much as I used to, therefore I really don’t trade for ‘whales’ anymore,” he says.

Having a regular trade partner, or just the right attitude, can elevate what could be a straight transaction into something more friendly and personal. Brian echoes that this relationship aspect plays a big part in trading. “Any time I can make a release, I try and get one for me and the rest go to my regular trade partners, and they typically do the same,” he explains. “We don’t even talk about equivalence any more. Much more fun that way.”

BEER’S BLACK MARKET Not everyone in search of a hot, rare beer wants to go through trading channels, though, and where there’s a will, there’s a way. As with many other fetishized luxury items—be it sneakers, vinyl, or Star Wars toys—a resale black market has emerged around high-demand, low-supply releases. Those with enough disposable income—and who know where to look—can land more than their limit of whales, at a substantial mark-up, from third-party sellers in search of a quick buck. This kind of “flipping” has encountered no small amount of resistance from the community, especially the brewers themselves. Most breweries accept and even condone the exchange of their products between two good-willed beer geeks, but draw the line at others making a profit off the fruits of their labors. “People have been trading beer forever and there’s no way I can swim against that tide,” says East End founder and owner Scott Smith. “I don’t think there’s anything fundamentally wrong with it.” East End’s annual barleywine, Gratitude, has made the rounds among traders for years, but has also spilled over into this secondary market, offered for jacked-up prices to the commodity crowd. “Re-selling something is in a different category for me,” Scott says. “Those who sell beer for a living pay a license to do so, so it seems strange to see someone doing that without building up everything else around it.” East End isn’t the only brewery in Pittsburgh to see their product hocked on the beer black market. High profile releases from Brew Gentlemen and Voodoo, just to name a couple, have caught the secondary market’s attention. Earlier this year, Voodoo’s ManBearPig set beer geeks’ collective shorts aflame, and it wasn’t long until Gollums across the country were offering up kidneys to get a nip of their own “precious.” The powers that be at Voodoo have been vocal in opposing the resale of their beer, even taking practical measures to curb it. Despite these efforts, it seems that as long as demand outpaces supply, the chasers will take strides to get what they want, be they sanctioned or otherwise.

EDITOR’S NOTE

This article is intended for education and entertainment. CraftPittsburgh does not condone or endorse the shipping and/or re-selling of beer. We are also not lawyers and have no clue on the legality of any of this. If this is something you choose to partake in it’s your responsibility to check state laws regarding any of these practices.

CraftPittsburgh.com

If the rapid growth of the craft beer industry has shown us one thing, it’s that demand for the product continues. Coveting is only human. Beer fans continue to crave the new, the untried, the unique, and are prepared to do what they can to get it into their hands.

2017 PGH DRINKING

GOALS DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHAMPION OF PITTSBURGH LIBATIONS? DRINK AT JACK’S BEFORE 8AM

This South Side institution is open 365 days a year. The neons come on right at 7am and the bar is full by 8am. It’s a great mix of people just getting out of work and probably a few on their way there.

GET A PICTURE WITH RICK SEBAK AT A BEER EVENT This one is easy, Rick Sebak is everywhere. We’re not convinced there’s only one of him. In all seriousness, Mr. Sebak is as friendly as you imagine and always seems to have time for a fan. photo courtesy of Adam Kubala

EAST END KEG RIDE

Every spring, brewery owner Scott Smith and a couple hundred friends get on bikes and deliver the first keg of Pedal Pale Ale. Only thing is, Scott doesn’t tell anyone where they’re going. Every year it’s a different destination, the only constant is a cold pale ale when you get there. photo courtesy of eastendbrewing.com

BREWING UP A CURE

Once a year local homebrewers bring their best offerings and put on an awesome event for a great cause. All proceeds from the event go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation— raising nearly $250,000 in the past 10 years.

LOCAL SHOWER BEER

Step 1: Buy a local beer in can or—if you like living dangerously—a bottle. Step 2: Drink that beer in the shower. Step 3: Spend the rest of the day thinking how relaxing that was and why you never thought of it before.

BEERS OF THE BURGH

A locally-owned and operated beer festival that only invites Pittsburgh breweries and takes place at the Carrie Furnace. That’s pretty much as “Pittsburgh” as you can get. This semi-annual festival is a great showcase of what our city has to offer. From breweries that have been around for years to a few that aren’t even open yet. There’s a good chance the person who actually made the beer is there to answer any questions you may have.

LET A SELF-DRIVING UBER BE YOUR D.D.

Driving under the influence isn’t cool, but some magic, freaking robot car that drives itself is. Don’t be the first jag to throw up in one either, or we won’t be able to have nice things anymore. photo courtesy of uber.com

IMPERIAL BREAKFAST

Once a year all the beer nerds of PGH call in sick and head to Piper’s Pub on the Tuesday of Beer Week. All the beers average around 10% ABV and the food is insane. Last year there was a breakfast sandwich with glazed donuts for a bun. Yep, you read that right.

BOOGIE VAN BREWS CRUISE

There are few things cooler than you and 10 friends rolling up to a brewery in a custom 1976 Dodge van. This spring they’ll be adding a second ride to the fleet, an A-Team replica van. photo courtesy of Vantastic Limo

BREWERS’ OLYMPICS

On the last day of Beer Week local brewers all gather in the parking lot of Grist House for the annual Brewers’ Olympics. They put their breweries’ reputation on the line and compete in events that test both brain and brawn. Oh, and they drink a lot. It’s also one of the best examples of the comardery within PGH beer community.

FLY WITH MAGGIE’S FARM OVERPROOF RUM TSA allows you to carry-on as many of these 100ml bottles of 140-proof rum that will fit into a quart sized Ziploc. Who knew airplanes were BYOB?

photo courtesy of @maggiesfarmrum on Instagram

PENN BREWERY OKTOBERFEST

Don your finest lederhosen and head over to the North Side for one of Pittsburgh’s longest running beer events. Lots of German food, music, and of course beer all under the big Fest tents. This party lasts two weekends and admission is free. If you hate lines as much as we do, check out their VIP packages. photo courtesy Penn Brewery

BEER BARGE

We imagine that after realizing the Inclines were too small, Commonwealth Press decided to host their beer fest/punk show/sightseeing tour on Pittsburgh’s second most iconic form of transportation. The Gateway Clipper has limited deck space for festival goers, making this one of the hardest tickets to get. This one-of-a-kind event literally sells out in a matter of minutes.

WEIRD SCIENCE NIGHT AT HIDDEN HARBOR

Once a week Hidden Harbor goes from tiki bar to laboratory for “science-forward reinterpretations of classic tropical drinks.” We’re talking Daiquiri’s blended with dry ice, decomposing zombie cubes, Campari cotton candy, and painkiller-flavored Dippin’ Dots. photo courtesy of @HiddenHarborpgh on Instagram

PUMPKINFEST

If you haven’t drank beer—from an actual pumpkin—under the bridge in Homestead, you don’t know what you’re missing. You don’t know what you’re missing. Once you’ve had all the gourd you can handle, it’s a short walk to Blue Dust, Dorothy 6, and Voodoo. photo courtesy of Blue Dust

STEEL CITY BIG POUR

Pittsburgh’s landmark beer event is turning 11 this year. Two sessions of great beer, local food, live music and art benefitting Construction Junction, a nonprofit used and surplus building material retailer. The Big Pour is a popular event and tickets usually sell out fast, unless it’s the same day as a Pitt vs. PSU game. The next day, head to Fat Head’s for their annual, hangover-vanquishing, post-Pour brunch.

HOW TO SCORE 4-6 YOU MUST LIVE IN THE SUBURBS 7-9 WELL DONE, CHEERS TO YOU 10-12 :::HIGH-FIVE:::

13-14 I MPRESSIVE, YOU DESERVE SOME KIND OF TROPHY

ALL 15 CONGRATULATIONS, YOU

ARE THE ULTIMATE CHAMPION OF PITTSBURGH LIBATIONS!

CraftPittsburgh.com

1-3 YOU SHOULD GET OUT MORE

hoppy couple there are various seating options once inside. There’s a TV, a merch wall, and a large window that allows viewing access into the brewery. We had some great conversation with the guys working there and our glasses were never empty. We got to watch the Steelers win that day, which was a nice way to enjoy the scenery and beers.

Food

For about as long as Dancing Gnome has been open, Beau and his wood fired pizza stand, Alberta’s, have been creating and serving excellent, traditional-style, Italian pizzas. Walking up to the brewpub, you can smell the outdoor pizza oven cranking out some of the best handmade pizza I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Alberta’s was offering a new pizza that day called The Parma, PA. which was homemade pizza dough topped with homemade mozzarella cheese, fig butter, arugula, and prosciutto from Parma Sausage Products in the Strip District. This savory, sweet, and smoky pie was off the charts.

Amanda Location

Dancing Gnome is located on Main Street in Sharpsburg which is a small neighborhood just across the river from Lawrenceville tucked between Millvale and Aspinwall. While Dancing Gnome is the only brewery in Sharpsburg at the moment, there are several other restaurants and cafes in the area. You can also find plenty of other breweries just a few miles away like Draai Laag, Grist House, and Hop Farm to name a few.

dancing

GNOME 925 Main Street, PGH 15215

Joe

Location

Dancing Gnome Brewery and Taproom is located in the small neighborhood of Sharpsburg, Pa., which is about six miles outside of downtown Pittsburgh. Like a lot of brewpubs, Dancing Gnome is closed only on Mondays and Tuesdays, but is slinging great beers every other day of the week. Sharpsburg is very close to other great neighborhoods like Lawrenceville, Millvale, and Aspinwall which all offer their own brewpubs and great restaurants. Parking is limited to on-street only, but that was not a problem whatsoever.

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

Beer

It was a Sunday, around noon, after a fairly long weekend. I wanted something that would remind me of coffee, so the first beer I tried was the oatmeal stout, Caligo (7.5% ABV). It definitely had hints of coffee and dark chocolate and was, overall, very drinkable. I enjoyed it so much that I ended up getting a second one. My other favorite beer of theirs was the Jam India Pale Ale (6.8% ABV). This hoppy ale is described as having intense aromas of pineapple, mango, and passion fruit. I could easily taste all three of these tropical fruits in this smooth, summery IPA.

Atmosphere

Dancing Gnome is a simple and elegant taproom with a modern aesthetic. With a long bar and plenty of high tables,

Beer

If you’ve read our articles before, you probably know that I’m a fan of a good IPA and Dancing Gnome is a hoppy hot spot. During our visit in December, they had three IPAs, a hoppy pale ale, and a double IPA as well as an oatmeal stout and a farmhouse ale. All of their beers were incredible but the Better One or Two Double IPA (8% ABV) and the Agricolis Farmhouse Pale Ale (5.2% ABV) were, by far, my favorites. The Better 1 or 2 was a smooth, dank double with a nice citrusy hop finish and the Agricolis was an earthy, lemony ale with a crisp bite. You will be pleasantly surprised with the variety of distinct flavor profiles in Dancing Gnome’s hoppy beers, which isn’t easily achieved with such a large offering.

Atmosphere

Dancing Gnome opened in October 2016, but you would never guess how new they are when you walk through their doors. They not only have quality beers that taste like a veteran brewery’s been serving them for years, but their taproom style and service has found its footing right away, as well. Dancing Gnome’s taproom has a wonderful aesthetic with muted tones, a clean subway tile tap wall, and other sleek design elements. It also has a few homey touches like house plants and metallic accents scattered throughout, which I loved. The staff we had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with (Andrew, Andy, and Mike) were just as warm and welcoming as the brewery itself.

Food

Dancing Gnome hosts a variety of food trucks that serve up some tasty dishes during taproom hours. They have visitors like Pittsburgh Sandwich Society, Driftwood Oven, Curbside Coffeehouse, and Brassero Grill. Since Dancing Gnome is still fairly new, it’s even cooler that they have partnered with a new food vendor which opened around the same time, Alberta’s Pizza. We shared two handmade pizzas during our visit and were absolutely blown away by the fresh ingredients, fast and friendly service, and phenomenal flavors. It’s awesome to see such high quality pizzas right off the bat.

Summary

Once again, a Pittsburgh brewery has not failed to impress. Tasty beers, friendly staff, and great food options help to create a place that you’ll want to visit time and time again. Make sure to check out Dancing Gnome the next time you’re craving a nice, cold beer and tell them The Hoppy Couple sent you. Cheers! The Hoppy Couple is one part Joe Tammariello and one part Amanda Stein. Amanda is the charitable creative type, while Joe is the nerdy eccentric type. We don’t consider ourselves beer experts but we spend a good bit of our free time exploring the city of Pittsburgh and sampling all of the food and drink it has to offer. We hope that our points of view will pour a well-rounded pint of our experiences with Pittsburgh’s local craft beer scene. Say “Cheers!” if you see us out!

WE love PGH

PINTS n’ PUPS Allegheny City Brewing is the first of many breweries slated to open on the North Side, and its “Dog Wall” is one of the many things helping it to create a unique, neighborhood feel. After spending the better part of a decade living in Colorado and backpacking through other western states, Allegheny City owners Al Grasso, and siblings Amy and Matthew Yurkovich returned home to Pittsburgh. Here, on Pittsburgh’s North Side, not far from where Amy and Matt grew up, the trio hope to replicate the many neighborhood breweries they saw in towns big and small out West; somewhere that could positively impact the community and provide a “third place” for neighbors to get to know one another. “You have home, you have work and then there’s that third place. Where you can get to know your neighbors, unwind, have a drink, play a game, watch the game, read a book,” Grasso said. “And so that’s exactly what we want to be. The third place for this neighborhood.”

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

Like so many of the breweries they visited out West, Allegheny City is dog friendly. Each of the three owners has spent significant time volunteering at animal sanctuaries, farms and other advocacy organizations. Putting a unique twist on the traditional neighborhood pub décor, which might consist of pictures of patrons or maps with pinned locations of visitors’ hometowns, Allegheny City offers a “Dog Wall.”

And it’s just what it sounds like – a corked wall devoted solely for neighbors and guests to post a photo of their dog, promoting a sense of community in a way only man’s best friend knows how, though two cats managed to sneak their way on. However, just a week after opening their doors in late September, Amy and Grasso’s dog passed away. Though it was hard saying goodbye, the loss opened doors to new ways of impacting the community.

“We closed that day, we weren’t able to open. But Matt made a really nice [Facebook] post about her memory and the Essence of Love Animal Rescue group followed us as a brewery, reached out and said they would like to do something in her honor,” Grasso said. “They loved this concept of neighborhood, of craft beer and local businesses coming together.” Now rescued dogs that are available for adoption are posted on the walls of Allegheny City. At publishing time two of the three dogs advertised were adopted with the hope that the rest would find homes before the holiday. Allegheny City doesn’t want to take direct credit, but is happy to provide another set of eyes and hopes to take larger steps in their involvement with animal rescue groups. “Who doesn’t want to stare at adorable dogs while drinking a delicious brew, that’s my idea of awesome,” Kerbie Collinger Fryer, President and Founder of Essence of Love Inc., said. “It’s great exposure for the dogs. Besides their beer, Allegheny City Brewing’s willingness to help the community is what will keep this brewery standing against the test of time.”

Through The Cincinnati Insurance Company, we can offer the right coverage for your brewery, including: • tank collapse and leakage • contamination and adulteration • product recall expense • liquor liability and excise tax bonds • processing water loss expense • key employee replacement expense For program details, please contact your independent agent: Steve Wanovich 412-835-5660 x110 steve@piersonandscott.com 321 Castle Shannon Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15234

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We consider your insurance needs with the same care you take to create a memorable brew.

craft cocktails

upside-down

MARTINI Words Will Groves Photos Buzzy Torek Location Allegheny Wine Mixer

It’s not a debate. January and February suck. They just do. It’s no small irony that just as the weather turns to complete garbage, everybody has to try to get outside and lose the weight they put on binge-eating stuffing and ham. It’s like life looks at all of us Americans and says, “How was the third glass of eggnog that’s currently making your ass look like so much chewed bubblegum? You’d better get outside and go for a bike ride and burn it off. OH WAIT IT’S 31 DEGREES AND RAINING!”

So with that in mind, I always feel like I have two options for some post-holiday slimming down. Deal with the fact that there’s freezing rain, or ice, or sub-zero temps or what the hell ever else January throws at us; OR cut back on calories. Given that all of those weather events are likely this season, I’ll take the latter. Let’s think about how we can efficiently and painlessly cut out some calories without sacrificing fun or good taste. Hmm … Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) has seven calories per gram. That’s just a rule. If you drink tequila, there are seven calories per gram of ethanol. If you drink beer, there are seven calories per gram of ethanol. It’s true that beer and wine carry a heavier wallop of calories than spirits because you have to drink a lot more to consume the same amount of ethanol, but at the end of the day, ethanol is the most calorie-dense part of the equation. So how can we cut out some ethanol but retain the sophisticated appeal and fun of making a cocktail at the end of a long day? The shim, or low alcohol cocktail, is one of the greatest things ever invented. They’re 100-percent of the fun, and often less than 50% of the alcohol of a normal cocktail. (Bonus mini-rant: Cocktails lately have gotten stupidly huge and strong. It’s not uncommon now to go to a bar and have a cocktail that’s more than 3oz. of spirits. That’s just too much, unless you’re Ernest Hemingway. If you are, in fact, Ernest Hemingway, please disregard this article in its entirety and go back to drinking your sixth “double rum, no sugar” daiquiri.) With all this in mind (including the bonus minirant!) let’s think about how we can maintain the classy and classic appeal of making a fancy drink while lessening the effect of the drink on our fat asses as well as our fine motor skills. What are some drinks that are classic and classy? In fact, what is THE MOST classic and classy cocktail? If you are thinking of a drink other than a gin martini right now, please stop reading, put down the magazine and spend some time thinking hard about how you’re living your life. (Hint: wrong. You’re living your life wrong.) Let’s make a martini that softens the booze blow.

Upside-Down Martini

• 1.5oz Noilly Prat Original dry vermouth • .5oz Bluecoat American dry gin • 1 dash orange bitters

Add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, mixing glass, or pint glass. Add ice and stir until very

well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an olive, a lemon twist, or both. A brief note about orange bitters: Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters are VERY orangey. Regan’s Orange Bitters are not as orangey, and quite a bit heavier on baking spice. If you have tons of little bottles just sitting around your house because you’re some kind of weird hoarder, a 50/50 blend of Regan’s and Fee Brothers is really great. Angostura Orange Bitters are pretty good and very widely available. This cocktail is so understated and so elegant that anyone who tries it will think you must have learned it on one of your childhood ski trips to Gstaad or that you had ordered it during a heated game of baccarat in Monte Carlo. You can let them believe that. I won’t say a word. Shims are perfect for when you want a drink but don’t want to *drink* and for when you want to make something but don’t want it to be a whole production. Or for when you want people to think you took childhood trips to Gstaad. Whatever. Low-proof drinks are also the perfect thing to order out if you find yourself at a bar in these months of recovery and reflection. For one, it makes most cocktail bartenders think you’re cool and that you know your ass from your elbow. Secondly, you are more likely to be more responsible if you happen to be driving. And number three, they taste awesome. As with any particular class of drink, there are certain bars that are better for low-abv cocktails than others. My particular recommendation is to go see the very scholarly, handsome, unpretentious, and cat-loving Sean Rosenkrans at Allegheny Wine Mixer on Butler Street in Lawrenceville. Sean is a major wine nerd whose knowledge of sherry, vermouth, Madeira, and other low-abv drink fodder positively dwarfs my own. If anybody in this town is going to point you towards a low-proof drink that you can’t live without it’s going to be this dude. Just because January and February in Western PA are some kind of terrible weather parade where each day is somehow grayer than the last doesn’t mean you have to sit inside and pound Imperial stouts and eat Doritos. (Although, now that I type it, that doesn’t sound too bad.) Make a low-proof cocktail or go out for a shim and discover something new that you can enjoy all while being mindful of your health and your responsibilities. No one ever said being a grown-up would be easy, but at least this way being a grown-up still tastes really, really good.

The Tides they are a risin’ Words Ian Mikrut Illustration Mike Weiss Photos Scott Smith, Nick Jones

rising tide raises all ships. It’s funny how many people in the craft beer industry share this sentiment. Ask any brewer about fears or worries of over-saturation in the market and they’ll most likely tell you the same thing. Yet no matter how many times it’s spoken or printed in an article, seeing comradery prevail over competition always inspires and helps illustrate what makes the craft beer industry so unique in the first place. Take Southern Tier Brewing Co. By all accounts, Southern Tier is a huge operation with national distribution covering 30 or so states. By the numbers, Pittsburgh is the number two market for the Lakewood, NY brewery. With construction still underway for the new brewpub on Pittsburgh’s North Shore (due to open in late January or February), exactly how Southern Tier will fit into Pittsburgh’s local craft beer community is still unknown. “Pittsburgh drinks a lot of Southern Tier beer, and there’s a lot of awesome craft beer being brewed in the area so we decided that it was right to open a location here in the North Shore,” David Harries, head brewer of Southern Tier’s Pittsburgh location, said. “The first thought was ok how do we do this, with the beer community in mind, how do we do this in a collaborative way?”

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

And what better way to bring people together than beer? In December, Southern Tier helped take the first steps toward making its relationship with existing Pittsburgh breweries a positive through a huge collaboration. Roughly 40 people from Pittsburgh breweries joined the Southern Tier team in Lakewood for a chance to sit down, get to know each other, tour the facilities and, of course, make beer.

Harries worked with Southern Tier in New York for a few years before moving to Pittsburgh in 2013. Here he worked with East End for a short time before working several years with Wigle Whiskey. His time in the alcohol industry in Pittsburgh has allowed him to cross paths with a lot of people in the craft beer world, making any introductions less awkward than they might have been otherwise. Participants included Butler Brew Works, Church Brew Works, Dancing Gnome, East End, Four Seasons, Grist House, Helicon, Hitchhiker, Hofbräuhaus, Hop Farm, Mindful, Reclamation, Rivertowne, Rock Bottom, ShuBrew, Spoonwood, War Streets, and Yellow Bridge. Those present helped represent the vast diversity of Pittsburgh’s brew scene in that some of the “old guard” with wider distribution, newer breweries in

operation for the last few years, as well as a handful that have yet to open their doors, all with different, distinctive styles, were involved. “It was fun. I don’t know that we’ve ever had that many people—in this industry, in this area—together in one room,” Harries said. “And everyone was very gracious. It was a great opportunity for us to meet people and I think even people from the Pittsburgh area might not have met each other. So we were able to provide a forum for that.” With twenty breweries present and so many independent, creative minds at work, actually deciding on what to brew could have been a complicated process. Think of it as a beer by committee. Southern Tier pulled an inventory of ingredients that were on hand and used that as a starting point. From there items that did not fit together were crossed off the list, with different people contributing in different ways. With the release of the beer likely to be in the midst of winter, a more malty style seemed fitting. A spiced brown ale with ginger and orange notes eventually came out of the “Speed Date” session. Something that will certainly fit the season, but provide a unique enough flavor profile to not be limited. “It was definitely a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, but I think we did a great job finding the best path to walk,” Meg Evans, head brewer at Rock Bottom, said. “We nailed down whether it was going to be a hoppy or malty beer and that narrowed the feed immediately for style and ingredients. After that, it was fine-tuning what characters we wanted to come from it.” The beer (working title: “Speed Date”) will be on hand when Southern Tier eventually opens its doors on the North Shore, but they are working toward

TRAX FARMS

WINTER BEER

FESTIVAL

making it available for all breweries involved to offer it on their own taps if they choose to. Though the unique way in which Speed Date was created certainly makes it stand out, and—to be honest—no one will be complaining about having a new beer to try, it was more or less an excuse to get as many people from the Pittsburgh brewing scene together in a way that might not happen otherwise. “It was great to get to spend time with the other brewers. Everyone is so busy brewing or running their own business that we don’t often get time to relax and just be people,” Nick Jones of Mindful Brewing said. “Getting to know the people that are in the craft beer scene is amazing. Some of the best people I’ve ever met are involved in the craft beer community, especially in Pittsburgh.” The comradery in the craft beer industry is well-documented. Collaborations are common. Brewers often work for larger, more established brewing companies before striking out on their own, creating this large network of connections. Consider that at its core, home brewing is inherently trial and error, learning from others’ experience.

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“I’m always a big fan when I see brewers doing right by other brewers and working for the industry as a whole. That’s something we do in the Brewers of Pennsylvania industry organization, and it’s something I think we pride ourselves in the Pittsburgh beer scene and in the beer scene in general … we’re always there for each other,” Scott Smith of East End Brewing said. “So it’s nice to know that these guys are coming in and have those same operating principles.” Southern Tier extending its hand and making the effort to be a part of Pittsburgh’s community didn’t necessarily have to happen for them to be successful. As a well-established national brand with a larger production and distribution rate than the majority of Pittsburgh breweries, it would have been easy for them to just set up shop and continue business as usual.

Time will tell how involved Southern Tier will be in Pittsburgh’s brewing scene, but the starting pieces are in place. Having someone like Harries— who already has ties to Pittsburgh and who was the first to extend a hand in collaboration—in the mix, helps And if the last few years are any indication, craft beer isn’t usually an industry known for its cutthroat competition: there are plenty of pints for everyone to pour. A bigger player in the area can only bring more eyes to Pittsburgh’s brewing scene and more people into craft beer in general and that goes a long way. In the process, Pittsburgh may bring another great, community-driven brewery into the fold. It could be the first time something great comes from a speed date.

CraftPittsburgh.com

“Somebody made a comment that it’s like ‘Oh these guys are just buying your favor.’ Well sure, you’re going to put us up for the night and feed us and beer us, absolutely you’re going to gain our favor,” Smith said. “But at the same time I think it’s fully legit. So as long as you go into that with your eyes open I can’t imagine … what’s the downside? It’s kind of nice to have a big hand in the picture. The resources that some of the bigger breweries in the area offer are nice and supportive to the community. It’s a benefit overall I think.”

have you tried... Words Hart Johnson Photo Tim Burns

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

1. F ounders - Porter

2. O ff Color - Dino S’mores

When you look at a lot of the top beer lists every year, it’s always a mess of barrel aged this, wild fermented that, wax topped bottles and lots of standing in line waiting for the privilege of buying beer. I’m gonna write a top beer list of 2016, real quick like, The Top Beer Of 2016 That You Can Buy In A Pennsylvania Gas Station ... Founders Porter! For real, this beer is a masterpiece, a benchmark for the American porter style and you can buy a six-pack of it, some beef jerky, fill up your gas tank and now you have everything you need to go stand in line for a $20 bottle of imperial stout that you’re probably not going to remember drinking at the epic bottle tasting you’re hosting next week. Founders Porter won’t judge, Founders Porter will be waiting for you next weekend when you just want a nice dark beer that isn’t too bitter, nor too roasty, nor too sweet. When you just want a simple toasty malt-forward beer, with hints of cocoa powder, fresh roasted coffee beans and maybe a hint of sweet tobacco smoke. To be honest, we could’ve just skipped all these words and used the ones on the label. Dark. Rich. Sexy.

Remember the early days of throwing the spice cabinet into a beer when we’d laugh and jokingly jest breweries? Haha, pumpkin latte spice stout?! What next, nerds, a s’mores beer? And much like our jeering of the surreal 2016 election cycle, here we are, stewing in the pile of bad ideas we created. “Secret” ingredients, not so secretly printed right on the label, include marshmallow, vanilla bean, molasses, graham flour and cacao nibs. All this in a yuuuuge imperial stout. There’s really no tiptoeing and trying to describe the delicate and intricate flavors the nine different malts attribute to this mouth smacking s’more flavored stout. It’s big, it’s sweet, it tastes like marshmallow and chocolate. And suddenly, I’m like Mike Milbury smacking a New York Ranger’s fan with his own shoe, yearning for a bit more graham cracker to round out the illusion. Have I mentioned this is a rather strong beverage? Yeah, strong enough for a Mike Milbury reference. Pairs best with campfire.

6.5% American Porter - foundersbrewing.com

Recommended if you like: Sierra Nevada - Porter, Thirsty Dog - Old Leghumper, Bells - Porter, Brew Gentlemen - Mr. Automatic, Duck-Rabbit - Porter

10.5% Imperial Chocolate Marshmallow Graham Cracker Stout offcolorbrewing.com

Recommended if you like: Atwater - Vanilla Java Porter, Great Divide -

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti, Brew Gentlemen - Double Mex, Voodoo - Cowbell, Fat Head’s - Oompa Loompa

9% Belgian Triple - unibroue.com

Of all the beautiful Charles Vinh Unibroue labels, La Fin Du Monde is easily the most striking and also the least exciting. The fiery topographic map of Quebec against the blue purple backdrop of the label draws you in like a moth to a flame, but oh wait, what is going on with that Maudite bottle? Is that a flying boat? And a demon? And that was the first time I bought four Unibroue. If you’re reading these backwards you might remember that Belgian beer fetish I mentioned in the Chimay review. Well say hello to Belgian beer by way of Quebec. Unibroue’s house yeast strain creates floral and dry Belgian style ales that were unlike the sweeter I was all about at the time and La Fin was the beer created to showcase everything great about that yeast. A simple, strong golden ale, lightly spiced with orange peel and delicately hopped. Floral is word with this, the aroma smells like a Belgian spring garden pureed with pear juice, lightly sweetened with rock candy sugar and accented with meyer lemon. Truth be told, this should be called La Fin De La Nuit. A beer this enjoyable, this light on the palate and that begs to consumed should not be 9%. Yet, here I am, drinking most of the bottle I was going to split with my wife because that juicy white grape finish with a breath of herbal bitterness and sweet orange is just too damn good. Recommended if you like - Victory - Golden Monkey, Dark Horse - Sapient Trip Ale, Scaldis - Triple, Brooklyn - Local #1, Spoonwood - Blithe, Off Color - Jerk Bird

4. D ancing Gnome - Jam IPA 6.8% IPA - dancinggnomebeer.com

Did you hear about the new local brewery that opened last week? Yeah, totally last week’s news, you should know about the two opening this weekend though. And I swear that’s been every conversation I’ve had about the Pittsburgh beer scene in 2016. Hashtag redic. I’m still catching up to some outer limits breweries that have been open three years. But if your brewery is a bridge or a tunnel away from city limits, I’m gonna be inside of you. Bonus points if you make hop-forward beers. Because I like hopforward beers. Plural. Beers. Dancing Gnome in Sharpsburg is the latest contender in the “Oh You Like Hop-Forward Pale Ales? Here’s Four Slightly Different Ones. And A Stout” ring. And they preach the philosophy of The Haze, so if you like your IPA to look like a glass of papaya juice, you’re in luck. And for bonus papaya points, Jam stinks like papaya also. Hell, this beer just stinks. Stinks deliciously like papaya, spring pine, blackcurrant jam and about 1,500 olfactory sensations. While a lot of hazy IPA tend to back off the bitterness, Jam layers the bitter heavy on top of the mild rye and oat sweetness and finishes strong with dank earthy bitterness lingering on the tongue. Recommended if you like: Grist House - Hazedelic Juice Grenade IPA, Sole -

Mosiac Nerd Extra IPA, Fat Head’s - IBUsive, Troegs - Blizzard of Hops, Flying Dog - Single Hop IPA, Epic - Escape to Colorado IPA

5. F uller’s - London Porter 5.4% English Porter - fullers.co.uk

You could describe every beer from Fuller’s Brewery as fitting like a well-worn pair of leather gloves. Sure they may not have magnetic fibers woven into the fingertips so you can text and that one seam on the right pinkie burst a few winters ago, but putting them on is like putting your hands into a nice recliner next to a roaring fire. Fuller’s Porter doesn’t need vanilla beans

and coffee to be a good porter and sure you pay a little bit of an imported beer freshness tax, but damn if it’s not just a good f’n beer. The slight bit of oxidation from its travels lend a leathery note that plays off the rich toffee and toasted nut maltiness. The hop bitterness is drastically lower than its American cousins, but still contributes enough to play into the sweeter dark malts and spoof your palate into a nice bittersweet chocolate finish. Recommended if you like: Anchor - Porter, Arcadia - London Porter, Heavy Seas - Deep Six Porter, Deschutes - Black Butte Porter, Hitchhiker - Rucksack Porter

6. S ierra Nevada - Celebration 6.8% Fresh Hop IPA - sierranevada.com

Throughout Autumn and into early Winter you see the wet hop and fresh hop beers all over the place. Is there a difference? I mean, there’s no labeling guideline for either, they’re both marketing terms to capitalize on the harvest season. Sierra Nevada even brews both a Wet Hop Northern Hemisphere, made with hops picked off the vine “wet” and used within 24 hours and Celebration Ale, made with the season’s first batches of properly dried hops. And if you ask me, they’re the same beer. But different. The Harvest Ale always seems a bit more rounded and vegetal in the hop flavor where Celebration brings a bit of a bitter assault of hops to the ring. They’re also both 6.8% ABV, deep amber in color with a toasty maltiness to offset the pine and grapefruit hop notes. I’m not really complaining that we get almost the same beer two seasons in a row, I really enjoy a Harvest Ale or three to prepare for the outdoor beer storage season of Celebration. Recommended if you like: Great Divide - Fresh Hop, Founder’s - Harvest Ale, East End - Big Hop Harvest Ale, Pizza Boy - Wet Shore IPA, Lagunitas - Born Yesterday, Roundabout - Wet Hopped Pale Ale

7. C himay - Premiere

7% Belgian Dubbel - chimay.com

A couple of days ago, I got into a deep conversation about whether Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a “gateway beer” or not. I argued that Sierra Nevada was more of a spillway beer, most likely it wasn’t the first beer that opened your eyes to beers other than Super Bowl commercial beer, but one that was likely to send you spiralling out of control in search of anything else with that unique, bitter, citrus and floral character. Chimay Premiere is a spillway beer for me. I remember my first. And I remember chasing Belgian brown ales for the next (counts on fingers) many years. It was such a departure from everything I knew about beer; rich and malt-forward instead of bitter and fizzy. And a cork finished bottle? Now that’s sophistication! Then you learn what Trappist means and holy shit this is some holy shit! Chimay may seem ubiquitous and the kids may call it a shelf turd (damn kids), but I still like to sit down with this old friend every so often, take in the toffee and dried plum aromas, marvel at its creamy tan foam atop the burnt umber body and bask in its rich, malty flavor. There’s a certain musty, cork flavor about mid-palate, right before the very mild hop bitterness cleanses your palate, I remember that being the sluice gate that sent me in search of every Belgian beer. And none of them have it, just Chimay. Recommended if you like: Troegs - Jovial, Alesmith - Grand Cru, La Trappe Dubbel, Sly Fox - Ichor, Stillwater - Folklore, Draai Laag - Simon Girty

Follow Hart on Twitter, not Twiiter. @MoarHops

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3. U nibroue - La Fin Du Monde

brewer sit-down

JOHN

romano Words Ian Mikrut

In 1992, brothers John and Peter Romano opened Better Bitters Brewing Company, a beer-wine home brewing equipment store in Ontario, Canada. Within a few years it became the largest home brewing center in Ontario and the second largest in Canada. In 2004 the pair branched out to create Nickel Brook Brewing, a company helping to lead the charge in Canadian craft beer. Meeting John Romano in person, it was difficult to separate the Canadian clichés. We talked about hockey and the sorry state of his Toronto Maple Leafs. I thank him on behalf of Pittsburgh for Phil Kessel. We talk about cold weather (Canada can take the W in this column). “Ehs” run rampant on the ends of sentences. But most importantly he assures me beer-wise that Canada has much more to offer than Labatt and Molson. “It’s Canadian craft beer. The people are nicer (just me), the air’s cleaner, the water’s better and we do make good beer,” Romano said.

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

At the heart of it is Romano’s excitement for the cultural growth in his hometown of Toronto, not unlike what’s happening in so many cities across the states, and how the craft beer boom is playing its part as it spreads through the north.

“Just to give you an example. Nickel Brook opened in 2004, we’re about the 20th craft brewery to open up in our province of Ontario. There will be over 200 breweries in Ontario by the end of the year. It’s on fire,” Romano said. “A lot of them are small, a lot of nano, a lot of brew pubs, but it’s crazy what’s happened to craft [in Canada] in say the last three to five years.” If Canada is in its early years of a craft beer sensation, it’s fair to compare Romano and Nickel Brook to the States’ Sam Calagione and Dogfish Head. And the similarities are not lost on Romano.

“Sam and I have a lot in common actually. Good guy, eh? I met him at the brewer’s conference a couple years ago,” Romano said. “So I’m Italian descent. He’s Italian descent. We both quit our jobs in our twenties. He opened up a brewpub, I opened up a home brew store. Then he turned the brew pub to craft beer and I turned my home brew store into craft.” And Nickel Brook has helped innovate Canadian craft beer in many of the same ways. The company boasts an artisanal approach with the best hops and malts available, one of the largest barrel and sour programs in Ontario as well as being one of the first Canadian breweries to experiment with gluten-free and various locally sourced fruit- and coffee-infused beers. Not to mention a diverse portfolio that includes award-winning American pale ales, stouts, Berliner Weisse and one of the most popular IPAs in Ontario in their flagship Head Stock. “Canada is such a small market. All of Canada is 30 million people and 19 (million) of them live in Ontario. So I’ve covered the biggest province in Ontario,” Romano said. “I want to grow. And everybody as a craft brewer your dream is to break into other markets. The States is such a great market and craft is so far ahead here.” A few years ago, Ohio’s Esber Beverage Co. approached Nickel Brook about distributing south of the border. In response to the idea, Nickel Brook built a new brewery in Hamilton, NY (just north of Buffalo) to produce the core brand of beers while the original brew site has begun to produce exclusively sours, the first of its kind in Canada. American distribution has begun in upstate New York and areas of surrounding states which include Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Nickel Brook’s APAs, IPAs, stouts and Berliner Weisse will be available locally. And given that each of those markets are fairly accessible, just a few hours’ drive from Toronto, it provides Romano an opportunity to break out from his own working routine. “You’re in your own little cocoon, your own little world. You have to get out there, you have to see other breweries. So I started picking a U.S. city and hitting breweries on the way and back,” Romano said. “I get inspired. And in Canada craft is so young and the breweries are very, very small. There’s maybe a handful leading the pack. Where you come into the States even the small ones are inspiring.” And perhaps with more exposure Romano and Nickel Brook will find their own brewery at the heart of another’s inspiration. Cheers, eh?

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cooking with beer Words & Photo Mindy Heisler-Johnson

VENISON HUNTER’S

STEW with Founders Porter

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W 34

hen one is offered fresh venison to work with, one says YES! Especially when said venison is being gifted by your editor courtesy of his Dad. You will never hear me complain about the bounty of venison available in our little corner of Earth this time of year. Venison is a lean red meat, much leaner than beef, though similar in flavor and texture. It is a gorgeous deep red in color, unlike the bright red of fresh beef, more like buffalo. Venison isn’t at all fatty, and therefore needs to be cooked properly or it can be, well, awful. Steak cuts need cooked to medium rare, medium at the absolute most. Low & slow cuts need cooked with lots of love to make sure they aren’t dry. A bit more effort and slightly more finicky than beef, yes, but well worth the extra effort. This is a rustic, traditional meat stew - braised until tender with root vegetables in a rich stock gravy. Knowing the venison doesn’t have a ton of fat I prefer to do a 50/50 of venison and cubed pork shoulder, they cook down beautifully together at the same pace. Pot roast beef could also be used, I just personally prefer the fattier pork with the leaner venison. Founders Porter is a perfect pairing for this stew—malty and rich—you can

catch its subtlety in the finished gravy where it plays well with the mushrooms and spices. This is loosely based on a traditional Polish Hunter’s Stew my gram used to make, hers loaded with cabbage and sauerkraut, pork and beef. I opted out of the sauerkraut & cabbage, I wasn’t interested in any of that tanginess, and instead went with mushrooms and some winter veggies. I don’t think she’d be at all mad; the end result is a rich, hearty, warming stew, perfect for this time of year. The recipe is written for the stove top; I have a deep aversion to slow cookers, truth be told. It is easy enough to go that route, though. I recommend doing the stove top work up to the beer reduction, it is necessary to layering all your flavors right for the gravy you’re going to be making, but once the beer is reduced that mixture of meats and stocks can be put into the slow cooker. Medium heat for 4 hours. Then the roux & rosemary can be stirred in, turn to high and cook until thickened and the roux is cooked out.

Founders Porter Venison Hunter’s Stew

• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil • 2 Tbsp cutter • Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper • 2-2.5lbs venison hind roast, cut into 1” cubes • 2-2.5lbs pork shoulder, cut into 1” cubes • 6 slices thick bacon • 2 sweet onions, ½” diced • 2 cups celery, ½” diced • 1 lbs baby carrots, halved • 3 cloves garlic, smashed & minced • 2 tsp herbs de provence (or thyme) • 1 tsp ground allspice • 2 bay leaves • 2 - 12oz bottles Founders Porter • 1 qts beef stock • 2-3 cups diced butternut squash or sweet potato • 3 cups diced red potatoes • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary • ½ cup butter • ½ cup flour

Heat the oil in a large pot, add the butter to melt and get bubbly. Season the meat(s) with the salt and fresh ground pepper. Sear in batches until all is seared off. Remove from the pan as done and hold in a bowl for later. Don’t overcrowd your pan, it only makes the job harder.

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After about an hour or so add the diced squash and potatoes, bring back to a simmer and let cook, uncovered, for another hour or so. This lets the stock reduce and the veggies cook. When the meat is tender, both the pork and venison, melt the butter and add the flour to make a roux. Stir the roux into the stew slowly, reduce the heat and let it thicken up, nice and slow. Taste your sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt & pepper. Remove the bay leaf and rosemary before you serve. I served it straight with some crusty bread. It would also make an amazing Shepherd’s Pie if baked topped with mashed potatoes. Or just with mashed potatoes. A perfect winter warmer for the house and the belly!

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When the meats are seared add the bacon and render out until crisp. While the bacon is cooking get your veggies cut up. When the bacon is cooked crispy and you have all sorts of yummy bits on the bottom of the pot add the onion, carrot and celery and saute until the onion starts to turn translucent and smell sweet. Add the garlic, herbs, allspice, bay leaves and season generously with salt and pepper. Continue to saute until the garlic loses the raw smell. Add the beer to deglaze, scraping all that delicious off the bottom of the pan. Bring the beer to a simmer and reduce by half. Add the meat and stock, bring back to a simmer, cover and let cook for an hour or so, checking and stirring periodically.

Road Trip

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

love thy

BEER

Words Brian Conway Photos Jessica Selig

That’s the mantra at Portland, Oregon’s Ex Novo Brewing Co., a registered non-profit brewery and the first of its kind in Portland or anywhere in the country, for that matter. All profit after expenses and wages is given to charity. “This whole thing wasn’t like ‘the system is broken and all these breweries are really greedy,’” says Ex Novo president and founder Joel Gregory. “All the breweries around here are super benevolent and generous with the community. I wanted to tie that whole thing into the DNA of the company.” Gregory, 33, is from New Mexico and moved to Portland in 2008 to work as an engineer. At his last job he wrote out a business plan for a brewery in his spare time. “I wanted something exciting that Portland would resonate with, and people in Portland love giving back and volunteering and supporting their causes. It seemed like the best of both worlds, where people could gather together around beer and at the end of the day be able to create serious impact.” To date the brewery has donated $10,000 to four charities and helped share their mission to a wider audience: Friends of the Children, International Justice Mission, Impact N.W. and MercyCorps. Ex Novo also hosts a monthly volunteer group, Communitas, with about 150 beer-loving members who mobilize to support fundraising events or neighborhood clean-up projects. It’s a great way for people new to the neighborhood to meet like-minded individuals and a reason to hit the brewery every month. Gregory plans to start donating even more in 2017 after maxing out capacity at the current location. “We could give away twenty grand this quarter or buy a new fermenter that will, on its own, generate one hundred grand in revenue year over year,” he says. “There’s not a right answer, but for first two years it’s been building the business and getting it on a really solid foundation.”

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

Ex Novo runs a 10-barrel system and with a new fermenter coming soon they’ll soon have 4,500-barrel capacity.

As of December their head brewer is Ryan Buxton, former Head Blender and Manager of R&D at Epic Brewing in Salt Lake City. Ultimately, the better the beer the more they’ll sell and the more they can give to charity. (No pressure, Ry.)

won’t have anything to give away. People are pretty savvy here in Portland and they’re very picky, but they’re also very loyal.” Last year, Ex Novo took home Gold in the “Flavored Beer” category at the Oregon Beer Awards for “Nevermore,” a black barleywine aged on cocoa nibs and smoked figs. At the brewery they keep a dozen beers on tap at any given time and add at least one new beer a week. They also can and bottle select beers on site. “We brewed 75 new beers last year, which is crazy!” Gregory says. A recent tap list included a sour stout and jalapeno IPA alongside a kolsch, the “Damon Stoutamire” and flagship Dynamic Duo IIPA, brewed with two different hop varieties each run. Ex Novo—Latin for “made from scratch”—is located in a former sheet rock warehouse in the Eliot neighborhood of Portland, not far from where the Trailblazers play. There’s a full kitchen with a quarterly menu that changes with the seasons (it is Portland, after all). Current items include grilled pear bruschetta, spicy fried chicken and donut sliders and the Portland-standard charcuterie board. Gregory says he hears from someone else interested in opening a nonprofit brewery about once a week, but as far as he knows no one else has done it yet. It takes funding (it’s hard to find backers when you can’t offer equity), business savvy, community engagement and ultimately some very good beer to succeed.

But even in beer-crazed Portland that’s not a guarantee.

“In Portland, all the brewery people are very friendly, but at the same time it’s competitive,” he says. Theres only so many people and there’s not enough to where everyone can be packed all the time. It used to be that way, but not anymore. ”

“We have to be very good at our business and our craft,” Gregory says. “Without that, we could have all the best intentions in the world and we

Ex Novo Brewing Co. is located at 2326 N Flint Ave, Portland, OR and can be found online at exnovobrew.com

home brewing

if by

Words Jack Smith

BREWING AMERICAN & ENGLISH PORTERS

If I say porter, what kind of beer do you imagine? Dark, brooding, strong and roasty, kind of like a stout? Or do descriptors like brown, malty, rich, chocolatey, and smooth come to mind? If the former is your take on it, you favor American porter—sometimes called robust porter. If you conjure thoughts of the latter, you’re more of an English (or brown) porter type. While both are dark, roasty ales, generally speaking English porter is lighter in color, less roasty, and lower in alcohol and bitterness than its American counterpart. English porter is typically dark brown with red highlights. American is darker brown, but still not quite black like a stout. English porter is usually about four to five percent abv; American is typically five to six. They each tend to have enough IBUs to balance their malt & abv, which typically means 25-30 for English porter and 35-45 for American. (Note that these are not the exact ranges defined by the BJCP, Brewers Association, or any other group; they’re just common ranges for the style.) American porter features darker roasted coffee-like flavors more prominently than English, which focuses more on caramel and chocolate flavors. Many English porters are made with brown malt, which provides a dark toast flavor not found in American porters. By comparison, I’ve seen many American recipes that call for a bit of German Munich malt. This also provides a toasty, bread crust character but it’s quite different from the one provided by brown malt. Just another differentiator. Both styles of porter are delicious if you don’t mind me saying. Having read this, the next time someone says you should brew a porter you can ask, “American or English?” Or better yet, brew both! Having one of each side-by-side will help you hone your palate as you pay attention to the similarities and differences. This article contains recipes for each style. I’d be honored if you brewed them and brought them to a TRASH or TRUB meeting to share and discuss. Note that I explicitly call for British malts in the English porter and American malts in the American one. The differences between, E.g., Briess C40 and Simpsons C45 are subtle but notable. An English porter made with American malts will get you into the ballpark but it won’t quite be a home run. Or whatever the Cricket equivalent is called. Probably something to do with wickets or bowlers. Whatever. Get brewing!

The Yank

The Wank

Batch Size: 5.25 gal. Boil Time: 60 minutes OG: 1.060 FG: 1.014 ABV: 6.0% IBU: 34 SRM: 30 Difficulty: Simple

Batch Size: 5.25 gal. Boil Time: 60 minutes OG: 1.045 FG: 1.012 ABV: 4.3% IBU: 20 SRM: 22 Difficulty: Simple

AMERICAN PORTER

*Assuming 65% brewhouse efficiency

Grainbill

10 lbs American 2-row brewer’s malt 1 lb American Crystal 40L 1 lb Munich Malt 9L 8 oz American Crystal 80L 8 oz American Chocolate Malt 450L 6 oz Black Patent Malt 500L *Extract Brewers: Replace the 2-row with 6 lbs Extra Light DME. Replace the Munich malt with 10 oz Munich DME. Steep the remaining grains in 1.5 gallons of 150F water, then add the DME and more water as you typically do before boiling.

Hops

42g Willamette (5.5% AA) @ 60 min. 14g Willamette (5.5% AA) @ 15 min. 14g Willamette (5.5% AA) @ 2 min.

Mash & Boil

ENGLISH PORTER

*Assuming 65% brewhouse efficiency

Grainbill

7.5 lbs English base malt such as Maris Otter, Halcyon, or Optic 1 lb British Crystal 45L 1 lb Brown Malt 8 oz British Chocolate malt 350L *Extract Brewers: Replace the base malt with 5 lbs British light DME. Steep the remaining grains in in 1 gallon of 150F water, then add the DME and more water as you typically do before boiling. Note that brown malt needs to be mashed to release its fermentable sugars. We’re just steeping it here, though, to get the flavor contribution from it, so we upped the DME a bit to account for it.

Hops

28g East Kent Golding (5% AA) @ 60 min. 14g East Kent Golding (5% AA) @ 10 min.

Mash & Boil

Simple single infusion mash at 152F for 60min. Do a mashout if that’s your thing, then sparge, lauter, and boil as you typically do.

Simple single infusion mash at 152F for 60min. Exact same as the American porter.

Yeast/Fermentation

Any English ale yeast works well here. There are lots of options. WLP002 London Ale yeast is the standard, but don’t be scared to try the myriad others available. They all produce varying levels of “English” character - esters and body, mostly.

Go with a clean American ale strain here such as WLP001 or Wyeast 1056 (or Safale US-05). Don’t use a British strain lest people think your American porter is some sort of Anglophile.

Yeast/Fermentation

Suggested Pairings

If you brewed both beers, this is where it gets fun. Pour samples (read: proper pints) of each and see how they work with different pairings. They’re similar beers so if one plays nicely with a dish the other probably will as well, but you’ll be surprised by how each one works with certain pairings just a little better than the other. Try them with simple things like plain chocolate, fish and chips, or a cheesesteak. See how they go with traditional British dishes like shepherd’s pie or sticky toffee pudding. Then try them with something more American like a bacon-mushroom-swiss burger and fries. That’s a lot of food to eat all at once so you might want to spread these tastings out over several days. 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 Follow him on Twitter @whenyeastattack

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Two ea S

charitable

BREWS spreading good faith & good beer Words Ben Emminger

Local craft beer enthusiast curates beer baskets for charity. “Goodwill toward all!” is a common utterance around the holidays. Giving and receiving gifts, spending time with loved ones, helping those in need… these actions are brought on by the charitable spirit of Christmas time. It is a warm, enjoyable feeling to have helped others or brighten someone’s day, and no one knows that more than Aaron Hajduk. Hajduk has been in a unique circumstance over the past year in the craft beer community, all centralized around this notion of giving and spreading joy with his “CharitableBrews” idea. By putting together these impeccable gift baskets filled with unique beer and selling tickets to the community, not only has the 46-year-old senior systems engineer opened the doors for many to a number of rare and hard-to-find brews, but he has also raised more than $9,000 for various charities and organizations in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. The entire project, which has now seen over 45 baskets and prizes won by charitable patrons, has helped raise funds for multiple charities, but CharitableBrews’ roots began with a sincere gesture from Hajduk.

CraftPittsburgh | Issue 29

“Last fall, one of my customers’ sons was having a fundraiser for their baseball association,” Hajduk says. “He is a big craft beer guy, and I asked if they were taking donations. He said yes, so I told him that I would put together this little curated basket of beers that those guys would probably go crazy for. It was super successful for them. It was one of the top items of the night as far as the money it raised.”

After the success of his original offering, Hajduk drew up the idea that these beer baskets could do some good for other charities outside of the fundraising realm. With inspiration from his wife, who is a trauma burn nurse and volunteers regularly at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital Summer Burn Camp, Hajduk constructed six baskets with a baker’s dozen each of rare and interesting beers. The raffle, which ran through March and April of 2016, raised $4,540 for the burn camp, and persuaded Hajduk to consider running this project again in the winter months. “I thought about this in July and felt that I should try to do something, another raffle maybe, but try to expand the reach and not focus on just one charity. Instead, try and target some additional groups, some smaller organizations that don’t necessarily get much attention,” Hajduk says

about the planning of the most recent CharitableBrews raffle. Concept in hand, Hajduk began polling the Pittsburgh craft beer community for suggestions on which organizations to benefit. By polling the craft beer scene, Hajduk hoped to gain some direction toward the smaller organizations; the ones that would be most impacted by even the smallest donation. “We got a lot of good responses, some groups that I wasn’t too familiar with, such as Zoe’s New Beginnings and Variety.” In all, Hajduk chose to benefit six charities with his winter rendition of CharitableBrews. Along with Zoe’s New Beginnings and Variety, proceeds from the winter 2016 raffle also went toward Operation Safety Net, KidsVoice, the Jacob Pribanic Heart Transplant Fund and the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund Benefitting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The winter raffle showcased more than 40 prizes, from baskets, to growlers, to gift cards. Putting together all of these baskets with unique beers was definitely an undertaking for Hajduk, but the decision to showcase these rare beverages was never out of the question. Thanks to his travels for work, various trades and acquisitions, Hajduk has been able to prepare these artisan baskets with exceptional products. “If you name the transaction method, I’ve probably used it here,” he says. “If I brought chipped steak out to you and right next to it I put Filet Mignon, which one are you going to go towards? That was kind of the idea behind using the rare beers. Everybody always says, ‘Well I’d love to try this or that, but I can’t get it.’ Well this was a way to get access to some of these beers and try them. Even if they don’t win, hopefully the person that does win is sharing them with someone else.” The raffle results were announced December 20 at Voodoo Homestead. At this live drawing with more than 40 registered attendees and after selling over 1,100 tickets, Hajduk’s efforts raised $4,890 for the six charities, with $815 going to each. Hajduk states that he wants to do another CharitableBrews in the future, but has a lot of figuring out to do logistics-wise. As this idea continues to evolve, however, the foundational motives of community, charity and goodwill will remain.

CRAFT IN FRONT. PARTY IN THE BACK . Endlessly drinkable. Slightly crafty. Made for enjoying straight from the can. Or a fancy glass, if you want to.

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