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CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
table of contents editor’s notes upcoming events hoppy couple - carson street deli under construction - sobel's obscure brewery under construction - cinderlands warehouse brewer sit-down - jeff guidos pints & plates - iron born pizza + grist house pin pals - master brewers association hart's reviews... homebrewing - baltic porter cooking with beer - victory wisdom’s hour, braised lamb shanks
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The other week I sat down with my buddy Day Bracey, co-host of Drinking Partners podcast, stand-up comedian, fellow father, and writer of his own bi-weekly column in Pittsburgh Current. We came up with the idea of laying down some rules for the fiercely debated topic of kids at breweries. If you've spent anytime in beer-related Facebook groups you know plenty of people believe breweries are no place for a child and "you should just leave your brats at home". I personally believe many breweries have become a community gathering place that happens to make beer, and Americans could benefit from being exposed to responsible, social drinking early so when they are of legal age they understand it’s about more than getting fucked up. We really weren't trying to defend either side of the argument, we were simply saying that if you choose to bring your children to a brewery, here are a few things you can do to help make sure everyone, including the people around you, have a good time. Below are some excerpts from the piece, for the full article check out pittsburghcurrent.com/day-drinking-2 • " If you’re bringing your kids, understand you’re bringing them to an adult environment. You should not expect that environment to adapt to your child. So, you can’t get mad if the person beside you had too many, you don’t like the language, or the music being played. They shouldn’t have to tone it down because you decided to bring your kid." • "Don’t let your kid ruin someone’s evening." • " Set yourself up for success... Bring the snacks, tablet, small toys, quality reading material. Make sure the batteries are charged." • " ...But we all know you can do everything right and if they aren’t feeling it, game over. Time to go home, didn’t work today. Better luck next time." • " This should go without saying, but don’t drink then drive your kid home. Figure out how you're getting home before you go."
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The rules for bringing your kids to breweries.
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Another thing we should have mentioned is a brewery is not a park, you can't just let them loose to run wild. They shouldn't be climbing on shit, playing hide and seek, starting fires, or trying to ride a stranger's dog. It's really not a place where you can just let a kid be a kid. If they're not the type that can sit and chill, then a brewery might not be the best place for them. Whether you like it or not, when you take your "booger eaters" to a brewery, you're representing everyone else that does too. So let's all be mindful, courteous, and not give the internet anymore reasons to hate us. Oh. I almost forgot. All these rules apply to your dogs too. Cheers,
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upcoming events
For the most comprehensive and up-to-date list of local beer events check out:
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February • 12 • 12 • 14 • 14 • 14
Black Tie Formal 2019 @ Brew Gentlemen BrewDog Official Launch @ All Caliente Locations Puppy Love @ Smallman Galley Valentine's Day Beer Pairing Dinner @ Cinderlands
Helltown/Rivertowne Beer Pairing Dinner @ Helltown Taproom, Export
• 14 Valentines Drag Bingo @ The Abbey • 15 Brewdog Launch Party @ Industry Public House • 16 Drunk on Love Couple Tour @ Porter Tours • 17 4th Annual Fermentation Fest @ Spirit • 17 Beer Tasting... with Cats! @ Colony Cafe • 22-23 Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest @ Convention Center
March • 2 Juicy Brews Late Night @ Cinderlands Warehouse • 3 Kick the kegs for K9s @ Bulldog Pub • 5 Cajun Style Louisiana Boil @ Spoonwood Brewing • 13 Pierogie & Beer Flight Night @ Bierport • 16 7am Car Bomb Club @ The Pub in the Park • 23 Hell with the Lid Off XV @ Kelly's Bar & Lounge • 30 2019 Hollow Oak Brewhaha @ Mayernik Center
April
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
• 20 Commonwealth Press BEER Barge @ Gateway Clipper • 26-27 Brewski Festival @ Seven Springs
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May • 11 3rd Annual North Hills Home Brew Fest @ Syria Pavilion
August • 10 Fresh Fest 2019 @ Nova Place
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CraftPittsburgh.com
hoppy couple this beer didn’t either. Next up was Hitchhiker Brewing’s “The Shakes” (5.9% ABV). You may not know this about me but I quite enjoy coffee in addition to craft beer...and “The Shakes” is a near perfect marriage of those two interests.
Atmosphere
I’ve only been to New York City a few times when I was younger but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Carson Street Deli would likely be right at home in Manhattan; cozy and efficient with a bar and tables. We sat at the bar and chatted with Joe, who was super helpful. He told us about the history of the The Deli and noted how much more craft beer they now offer (especially local and PA beers), making them much more than just a deli. Take some friends, have a date night, or just run in for a sandwich on a lunch break. The Deli will make sure you are taken care of.
Food
When you hear deli you more than likely think sandwiches...well you’d be spot on. On our visit to The Deli I had probably one of the tastiest and freshest sandwiches I’ve ever had. I chose the “Hot Pastrami Mama” sandwich because, well, I’m a sucker for pastrami. This sandwich was pretty much perfect and didn't try to be more than what it was: pastrami, Swiss cheese, red and green peppers, and a choice of dressing. The best part? The ridiculously fresh, daily-delivered baguette encasing this goodness. I think I need to start keeping bread at home again. I’m now sitting here wondering why the late-teens version of me was too stupid to appreciate good food and normally ended up in the South Side for cheap beer.
Carson Street Deli 1507 E Carson St, PGH
CarsonStreetDeliAndCraftBeer.com
Joe
Location
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Carson Street Deli and Craft Beer Bar (“The Deli” as we will call it) is located in the historic South Side area of Pittsburgh. The South Side is home to so many great places and is a huge part of Pittsburgh’s history. Some of the long-time, classic South Side establishments I have to mention are Piper’s Pub, Rugger’s Pub, and Fat Head's, as these are some of my favorite spots. But East Carson Street has more to offer than just food and bars. Make sure to take a walk from 22nd Street all the way down to 10th Street and check out all of the cool shops the South Side has. Not only that, being so close to the riverfront, there are bike trails and other outdoor activities as well!
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Beer
The Deli prides itself on the relationships it has with some of the local Pittsburgh breweries...and it shows. I’d wager 90% of their beer menu is from Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania breweries, with a few outliers to spice things up. I decided to try a few beers I’ve never had from breweries right here in the Pittsburgh area. First up was Helltown’s “Misfits #17” (7.1% ABV), which is a hazy New England style IPA and was actually served from a cask the day we were there! Helltown never disappoints and
Amanda Location
South Side. Just saying that may bring back memories of the best times and worst hangovers of your younger years. If you haven’t been back to the Sah’side in a while, you should make time for a visit. Carson Street
On the trail or in the woo ds, we’re here fo r your post ri de ... refreshments .
north park boathouse • historic southside
a great sele ction of seasonal craf t beer on tap. Espe cially the local br ews.
otbbicyclecafe.com
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Made fresh everyday, be sure to try the one with peanut butter. Really!
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Food
I was trying to be “good” this visit (ya know, New Year’s resolutions and all) because they do have a few salad options...but once I saw their giant list of mouthwatering sandwiches, I caved pretty easily and I am SO glad I did. I had “The Beast” sandwich, with roast beef, melted cheddar, blackened caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, and sriracha mayo on a ciabatta roll. I’m pretty positive that sandwich (and all of their other ones) is what dreams are made of. I think one of the best parts about it was the incredible freshness of their bread, which we learned is delivered fresh daily from BreadWorks and Mediterra. If you want to share these outstandingly fresh and delicious sandwiches with friends or co-workers, they even offer catering and delivery to make that possible. Go ahead-be the star of your next working lunch or dinner party.
Summary
Once again, writing this column has brought us to a place we’d had yet to visit. And once again...it was a fantastic experience! The South Side is a place for all different kinds of people and is a place you should be sure to visit. Grab a sandwich at the Carson Street Deli when you do! The Hoppy Couple is one part Joe Tammariello and one part Amanda Stein. We don’t consider ourselves beer experts, but we spend a good bit of our free time exploring Pittsburgh and sampling all of the food and drink it has to offer. Say “Cheers!” if you see us out!
Deli is among a few key places to visit before the real drinkin’ crowd hits the town. The Deli is on the 15th block of East Carson Street “sandwiched” (pun intended) between Carson City Saloon and Mario’s South Side Saloon, both staples in the ‘Side. Further down East Carson are a few other staples like The Pub Chip Shop, Double Wide Grill, and OTB Bicycle Cafe. Fun Fact: Up the hill on the South Side Slopes, there are 68 sets of stairs for public use which total 5,447 steps. Get your steps in after filling yourself with good food and booze!
Beer
Mike Murphy took ownership of The Deli about 10-15 years ago, and one of the first things he did was put in a tap. Just one tap: Monkey Boy from East End Brewing. That started it all for The Deli. Since then, it grew to what is now a tap wall of rotating local PA brews, two cask offerings, a cooler of beers from around the state, and now even some specialty cocktails from local distilleries, as well as flights of ciders and meads. They definitely pride themselves on their hefty PA brew offerings and rightly so. I had the Levity “Haze Frehley” Hazy IPA (6.7% ABV) and the Grist House “Hazedelic Juice Grenade” New England Style IPA (6.7% ABV). Both were juicy and hazy, as their names suggest, which, as you probably know, are my favorite types of beers. I have a really hard time turning down a Juice Grenade when I see it out anywhere!
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Atmosphere
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Unlike Joe, I have sadly not been to New York City (yet!) but The Deli has what I imagine a NYC deli vibe to be. The Deli allows you to pop in for a sandwich and a six-pack on your way home after a long day or stay for a few beers with some friends. Their chefs are fast and efficient, so even the longest lines and biggest orders are served up in no time. During our visit, we saw folks out running errands just stop in for a quick bite and a pint, others working on laptops or reading, a few large groups of friends, and a few other couples. Definitely a place for all to enjoy. And in warmer weather, they even have an outdoor courtyard!
ALC 4.0% BY VOL
© 2002-2019
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ALC 6.0% BY VOL
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CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
under construction
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Sobel’s Obscure Brewery poised to fill
“The Glass City”
with Beer Stepping into her future is like stepping into the past. Words Kristy Locklin Photos Buzzy Torek
CraftPittsburgh.com
Jackie Sobel opens the door to her namesake brewery’s soon-to-be taproom and, for a moment, a million dusty knickknacks twinkle in the afternoon sunlight.
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Sobel’s Obscure Brewery, or S.O.B., recently purchased the Gillespie Building on Clay Avenue in Jeannette. Constructed in 1902, the 18,000-square-foot structure housed one of the town’s finest clothing stores until the mid-‘70s, when it was transformed into an antique mall. One day, about five years ago, the former owners quietly locked the door and moved to Florida, leaving behind three floors full of odds and ends. The architectural wonder, which is accented by Roman columns, marble floors, and a tin ceiling, was eventually taken over by the Westmoreland County Land Bank, who sold it to the Sobels. For months, Jackie and her business partners--her father David and brother Gordon--have been weeding through the sea of tchochtkes, selling off valuables and throwing away garbage. Soon they’ll open the space to the people of Jeannette, giving locals a chance to rummage through the wares, which, if nothing else, have sentimental value. By the fall of 2019, the Sobels hope to debut the taproom, which will feature a large event space, patio seating, live music, a rotating line up of food trucks, and 17 beers, including their best-selling Honey Blossom Hefeweizen, an American-style wheat with citrusy notes. David and Gordon began homebrewing about eight years ago for no other reason than they liked the taste of beer and thought they would be good at making their own. Their small-batch offerings were a hit among friends and family. After giving away barrels of the stuff, they decided to try and make some money off of it. Jackie, who serves as chief operations officer, joined the company in 2016. “We’re trying to capture something different,” she says. “We have some unique beers, but we don’t want them to be too complicated. They’re smooth and easy-drinking.” Since June 2017, they’ve brewed, bottled, and kegged at Susquehanna Brewing in Pittston, PA, and stockpile the products at a warehouse in Jeannette. A small storefront down the street from that facility serves as their pilot brewing lab, where they experiment with different styles and ingredients. The latest concoction is a cherry almond stout. The sweet, malty scent attracts curious people from miles around who often pop in to ask where they can buy some.
S.O.B. distributes to 34 counties across the state, including Allegheny County, which alone has more than 120 bars, restaurants and beer sellers offering the gnome-themed suds. Created by artist Don Dillard, the little bearded mascots appear on the labels and will be part of the taproom’s décor. The gnomes bring a fun and whimsical element to the business and, hopefully, good luck to Jeannette. Established in 1888 by businessman H. Sellers McKee and named after his wife, the town once boasted five glass factories and became known as “The Glass City”. It has fallen on hard times in recent years, but is poised to make a comeback. Jeannette officials want to designate the downtown area as a historic district, to preserve buildings such as the Gillespie. Jackie gazes around the enormous room, envisioning what once was and what will be.
CraftPittsburgh.com
“We’re creating a buzz,” she says. “It’s very exciting for Jeannette."
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CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
under construction
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Cinderlands Warehouse Words Brian Conway Photos Buzzy Torek
The new kids on the block are growing up fast. The new Cinderlands Warehouse, located at 2601 Smallman Street in the old Spaghetti Warehouse in the Strip District, opens to the public in just a few months, and will provide Pittsburgh with a brewery space distinct from anything else the city has to offer. Picture this: a two-story, 17,000-square-foot craft beer and scratch cooking wonderland, complete with a top-of-the-line Alpha Brewing system, barrel-aging program, canning line, outdoor balcony space, and room for some 300 people. Throw in a few cushy lounge areas, a grand staircase, some shuffleboard tables, and a humongous, state-of-the-art kitchen, and you might be looking at the city’s next go-to craft beer and dining destination. “We’re going all-in with this,” says managing partner Jamie Warden. “There’s a lot of great breweries in town with a lot of great talent behind them, and we knew coming into this that you can’t just stroll in and expect that you’re going to be successful. You have to come in and give it everything you’ve got right out of the gate.”
It’s hard to believe that Cinderlands Beer Co. has only been around for just over a year. Named one of the 12 best new breweries in 2018 by Hop Culture, their current home, at 3705 Butler St. in Lawrenceville, is sought by craft beer fans and foodies alike for its equal focus on beer and cuisine. Ownership confirmed intentions for the Cinderlands Warehouse before their taproom even opened to the public. The formula for the Warehouse will remain the same: fresh, forward-thinking food and drink, locally sourced and thoughtfully paired, albeit on a much larger scale. The Lawrenceville location will remain, and they’re planning on installing some oak foeders there soon. At the heart of the operation is the brewhouse. Brewer Paul Schneider will make the jump from his current 3.5 barrel setup to a state-of-the-art, 15 barrel Alpha Brewing system, complete with an oversized mash tun, six 15 barrel brite tanks, and six 15 barrel fermenters, alongside two more 30 barrel brite tanks and two 30 barrel fermenters, with room for expansion. “This is a super manageable, comfortable system for me,” said Schneider, who brewed on a similar 30 barrel, three vessel system when he worked Chicago’s Solemn Oath Brewery. He’s run almost 100 batches on the current 3.5 barrel system in Lawrenceville, and over 80 of them have been unique recipes.
He groups his brews into six categories: sour, farmhouse, tea/coffee, hoppy, stout, and “dad beers,” meaning pilsners and lagers. He might have to add a seventh, for “barrel-aged”: there are plans to house 50 oak barrels in the new location, stacked through an atrium two stories high. Schneider is hoping to get the canning line up and running as soon as possible, and would like to have cans of some “everyday drinking beers,” like pilsners and pale ales, readily available for takeout. Currently, Cinderlands beers are available on tap at some half-dozen locations across Pittsburgh, and that number should roughly quadruple as output increases. Warden envisions two different vibes at the Warehouse. Downstairs: a more personal, “warm and cozy” dining experience, with an open kitchen and intimate seating at the feet of the soaring brewhouse. “The brewery is our showpiece,” said Warden. “It’s really nice to turn your head and see where the stuff you’re drinking came from.” Upstairs, he envisions a more lively scene, with communal picnic table seating and an outdoor balcony with room for another 60 people. There’s a private lounge available upstairs, too, not to mention another 45-foot bar, with 16 dedicated draft lines and another four for craft cocktails.
Chef Joe Kiefer has experience working in a larger kitchen, having worked as chef de cuisine at Church Brew Works for a couple years. The hardest part so far, he said, has been finding talented chefs in a city undergoing a culinary boom. He has an enormous smoker coming that can handle 300 pounds of meat at a time, so expect a lot of smoked meats, and not just Texas BBQ. “I like a good char, so expect a lot of open fire cooking,” he said, in addition to lots of snacks and other shareable items, as much of it sourced locally and made in-house as possible. He and his sous chef will expedite from the kitchen, rather than rely on tickets. Currently, he works two sous chefs in Lawrenceville. One will remain, and the other will join him at the Warehouse. Kiefer is still in the market for one more sous chef to join them, alongside a line of some 15 cooks in the new kitchen, plus a pastry chef. The menu is likely to change quarterly, and weekend brunch should begin some six weeks after opening.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
“It’s a big task,” said Warden. “We 100% believe in our people, their skill sets, and what they all bring to the table individually and collectively.”
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Warden said the building itself was constructed around 1900 and was used to fabricate plumbing. Most of the building was gutted except for the exterior walls, though some of the wooden beams will be repurposed into bar tops. The former neon "Spaghetti Warehouse” sign was split in two: the “Spaghetti” portion has a new home at nearby DiAnoia’s, while the “Warehouse” half will remain. By any measure, they might as well keep the old slogan, too: “A warehouse full of food, friends and fun.”
Warm Up WITH A
Cold Brew ,
St. Patrick s Day Celebration SATURDAY MARCH 16
CraftPittsburgh.com
GREENSBURG, PA
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brewer sit-down
Jeff Guidos All
Saints BREWING COMPANY Photos Buzzy Torek
Let everyone know your name and how old you are. Jeff Guidos and my god I have no idea. I was born in '72.
Tell us a little bit about your brewing experience and background. I have a chemistry degree from St. Vincent. I got turned on to homebrewing while I was there and started homebrewing in ‘92. I got a certification to teach, taught for a couple years in Maryland. I got my chemistry degree but ended up teaching biology. When I came home, Red Star was opening up in Greensburg; that’s where I got my professional start. Back in ‘98, I was hired on as assistant brewer. It was pretty cool--back then, the Foundry was still up, the Strip was still up, Valahalla was still up, so I got to know all those guys very well. I just ran into a bunch of them over the weekend at the Brewers of Pennsylvania meeting that we just had.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
I ran into a kid over there—Troy, from Reclamation--who asked me how long I’d been brewing professionally. I said, “Since ‘98”, and he said “That’s the year I was born!”, so that was weird [laughs].
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Red Star closed in 2010, and then, with some friends and family, we purchased this equipment, which kind of always seemed like it was mine anyway from when I was hired on as assistant brewer.
So this is Red Star’s old equipment? It is. When I was hired over there, the head brewer told me, “You gotta pay your dues—shine the equipment, clean kegs. If you want to learn how to brew, come in on your day off.” It was my job to take care of these things in Greensburg. I knew what they could do, I knew what they needed, I took care of them. When Red Star opened, I was already homebrewing for six years. I thought I knew everything there was to know about making beer, but I was following
recipes out of books. The head brewer showed me how to take a blank piece of paper and turn it into award-winning beer. So I owe him a little bit, I guess [laughs]. When they closed in 2010, it took us a year to get [the equipment] back up and running. We got it out of Red Star in March of 2010 and got it in here March 2011. We had beer in the tanks by November and out the door in December of 2011.
Do you remember the first beer you had that made you go 'Oh wow! There’s more out here'?" I think it may have been Sam Adams Boston Lager. I love Jim [Koch, Boston beer co-founder], and what he’s done for the industry is phenomenal. He’s the one that’s out there just pushing it, with the advertisements, waking people up. I think he is probably the biggest help to the industry that we have. The commercials that I remember back in the day were the ones where the big breweries were coming down on him, saying, “He’s not even brewing in Boston, he’s brewing all over the place.” And he came back with a commercial like: “If Julia Child comes to your home with her ingredients and she cooks--it’s gonna be good!” I actually got to tour his Boston facility just this summer, and it was amazing. What was cool is that it’s not much bigger than this. That’s pretty sweet.
If you could go back to any place with a time machine and have a beer at a certain place with a certain group of people…? The most memorable place I’d ever had one was out in Terre Haute, Indiana, near the college. It was one of the first places I’d ever been to that had a beer menu. This was back in ‘95. I’d like to do that again, just so I could study it a little bit more. I think it was, like, Zonko’s or something like that. My cousin lived out there, so he took me to this beer bar. I had an Old Nick’s barleywine, followed
with a Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. The barleywine made that stout so sweet it almost hurt my teeth! It was eye-opening. I’d been to the Sharp Edge, and it was the first place around here that had a beer menu, but it was all Belgians; while I appreciate and respect them, they’re not my favorite. I like something I can drink six or seven of and be fine, but there aren’t too many Belgians you can do that with.
Getting into current day stuff—how hard is it to name beers these days? We just name ours after saints, so we’ll do some work and see how a saint will fit into a name. Whenever we were getting ready to open, I wanted to name the place after a saint, but there were just so many to pick from that we just went with “All Saints” and name the beers after different saints. There’s St. Josef, the Czech pils. We wanted to do St. Wenceslaus, but that was too big to fit on a tap handle. [laughs] He actually made it punishable by death to sneak Saaz hop rhizomes out of the country—so cheers to Wenceslaus! [laughs] We try to keep them simple, so they can fit on a tap marker. Our English brown ale’s called Sister Mary’s Redemption; one of the guys involved with us is a big fan of the Blues Brothers and always told us “Don’t you two come back until you redeem yourself.” [laughs]
Is there anything going on in craft beer today that you wish wasn’t? Well yeah—the proposed legislation to raise our beer taxes. It seems like the government’s trying to tax us and regulate us to death now. There’s the taproom tax, and now, for those of us who give spent grain to farmers, the Department of Agriculture’s poking their heads into some breweries in the state. Supposedly we are now required to obtain a commercial feed license, send our spent grain to a lab, and have it tested before we can give it to a farmer.
Every batch? Every batch, every everything. My farmer who was involved with us from back in the Red Star days, he got out of it, so I’ve got somebody taking it now who just uses it for compost. This is recycling at its finest—it goes from here to a sheep or a cow, then we eat the sheep or the cow. It doesn’t come more full-circle than that! So what, they want it in a landfill or something? What kind of rat population are you going to have if we start doing that? And then with the taxes… Breweries are popping up everywhere. Businesses are booming. We’re creating jobs, we’re creating local economies, and now the government wants to tax it to death. This taproom tax is a 6% per pint tax. It’s only 30 cents on a $5 pint, but imagine if they did that 6% per pint to your gas. 30 cents a pint is $2.40 a gallon in tax. We don’t do beer by the gallon—we do beer by the barrel. That’s $70 per barrel in a brand new tax that we can’t absorb. I’m not in any hurry to raise my prices. Everything’s $5 a pint right now, but when we start busting out into this room here, I might need to, generate some more revenue, and raising a pint a buck-fifty? Two bucks? I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I am ultimately concerned about how easy we can be on our customers’ pocket books. I might be able to get $8 a pint. I don’t want to, so that’s just upsetting me pretty good. We have always paid tax on beer the same ways that bars and restaurants do. It always pissed us off. To take the beer 40 feet from the cooler to the bar, we have to pay tax on it.
We haven’t had a grand opening yet. It’s been seven years and we haven’t had a grand opening. [laughs] We’re slowly, painfully growing into this place, but we want to build out the brewhouse and turn this into the main area. In the grand scheme of all the money and time we’ve put into this place, this step should be relatively minimal - finish painting trusses, do some soundproofing, and lay out a bar.
CraftPittsburgh.com
Do you have any future plans?
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My dad, he’s pretty cool. He’s our chief engineer, and knocked out all these walls for the expansion. He cleaned and saved every block so we can use those now to lay out our bar over and over until we get it right. I want something to go almost from wall to wall, but I don’t want a straight bar. I want something inclusive, but I don’t know how I’m going to do that yet. The next thing will be occupying this room and turning it into something cool, definitely soundproofing it. And then landscaping—that’s the last thing on a very long list of things to do. But I’m definitely looking on having a grand opening one of these days. [laughs]
Is there a kind of music you like to brew to? It’s all classic rock for me, pretty much. This here is a local radio station that broadcasts from Mt. Pleasant. [points to stereo]
Do you have a guilty pleasure beer, like a macro beer you don’t really want your brewer friends to know you drink? If you were to open my fridge, you’d probably find a Stoney’s Light. The family’s got their hands back in making it again, and it’s better than it was just a couple years ago. It’s affordable, you can drink it all day long.
Do you have a “death row” beer? If you knew you had one day left on earth, what are you drinking. Nah, it’s not a beer. I keep thinking that if I end up in a home, I want a cigarette again. [laughs] If I’m dying, just give me some cigarettes and some bourbon. That’s what I’d really like to have. It’s been 15 years since I had a cigarette, and I still dream about it sometimes.
Do you have a least favorite style of beer?
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
The Belgians—I appreciate them, it’s just not something we’ve done here yet. It’s not that I’m opposed to it, but we’re juggling two yeast at any time, an ale, a lager. Then during Christmas time, we use our Hefe strain to do our Christmas beer. Hefe’s a traditional summer beer, but we make ours in the winter. Then to throw a third in there for just one beer—I don’t have a lab. I’d like to have one, something we can culture up ourselves. But to buy a pitch to use just once…
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I haven’t gotten to all the other breweries around to see what’s out there, but they’re mostly using the Wit. I’d like to either have a Belgian strong ale yeast, or—one of the best ones I ever did back in the Red Star days, I used a Drie Fonteinen yeast. You know how they say good Belgians taste like wet horse hair and mushrooms? Ths was right on. [laughs] I might mess around with that. But I can’t drink two or three Belgians, just one, and I like something I can just enjoy. We really try to make every beer taste another one; it’s all about the finish, it’s gotta keep calling you back. Some of those Belgians, for as good as they, I can’t even do two.
What kind of car do you drive? I have two kids that play hockey, so I have a car that can fit two hockey bags. It’s a Ford Taurus; it’s got a trunk that can haul four halves if I need it to. As much
as I’d like to have a truck, they’re stupid expensive, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a hockey rink, but they’ve got the smallest spaces ever! [laughs]
One last question—and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want—but you’re one of the most veteran brewers in Western PA, and well known for your classic styles. What do you think of some of the crazy things brewers are making these days? It makes me smile. It’s cool, and I’m glad they’re doing it. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I get to check it out and have one or two without committing to making the whole thing. They’re filling a niche, and it’s not that I’m not interested in trying it myself, but I only have so much space and I’m committed to making these classic beers. If you want an Oreo beer, there’s one out there. I’m okay with it, and God bless them for doing it. It’s turning people on, it’s creating a buzz, people are talking about it—and I don’t have to do it, so I’m definitely alright with that.
A lot of traditionalists want to shit all over it, like, “Aw, that’s not a beer”. But if it gets somebody into beer… Hell yeah, man! These crazy guys from Blue Canoe up north, they’ve got a Snickers beer, a Country Time pink lemonade beer. This stuff is really good! It’s cool, I’m all about it. I’ll never shit on somebody for making beer. You just gotta get out there and do it. If people are drinking it, you got something. Beer’s for everybody.
Lets see what's in your pockets, the things you carry everyday and can't go without.
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CraftPittsburgh.com
pints & plates
Grist House Iron Born
+ CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Words Brian Conway Photos Ryan Haggerty
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“I don’t usually eat my own pizza, so this is kind of weird.” Pete Tolman has been making and selling a lot of pizza these past 18 months, so you can forgive him for not eating too much of it these days. As chef and owner of Iron Born Pizza, the Kittanning native introduced Pittsburgh to Detroit-style pizza, and in the process, became the first to spin off successfully from popular Strip District restaurant incubator, Smallman Galley. Their cozy new storefront and takeout location, at 413 Grant Ave. in Millvale, is just a few blocks from Grist House Craft Brewery, the site of this month’s Pints and Plates. Let’s get one thing out of the way: “Iron Born” means Pittsburgh Born, and it’s a nod to Game of Thrones, too. Legions have pledged themselves to the Iron Born’s “hand-forged pizza,” for reasons we were soon to learn. We’re the first to arrive at Grist House one wet and ugly winter evening. We’re greeted in from the cold by brewer/co-owner Brian Eaton and brewery representative Zach Rock. Eaton teases that there’s big news coming that he can’t yet share. As we were to learn in January, Grist House purchased a 55,000-square-foot former missile command center outside Collier to be their new production facility and taproom. (Don’t worry, the Millvale location is staying put.) We enjoy a crisp and clean Kolsch on the Run to set our palates, and because when a brewer offers you their beer, you must never decline.
Not that we’d ever imagine turning down a beer from these guys. Since they opened in 2014, Grist House has grown to become one of Pittsburgh’s most highly regarded breweries, cranking out top-notch sours, stouts, and IPAs alongside a lineup of year-round staples and rotating one-offs. Before long, Sara Boyer and Carrie DuMars, Iron Born’s GM and Marketing Manager, arrive with the goods: seven pies, and other assorted treats. There is much rejoicing.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Our table is completed by Grist House marketing manager, Bailey Weigel, and the man who made the pizza, Chef Tolman. We toast our Kolsch: to pizza and beer, and good times with friends.
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We start with the White: garlic cream, roasted tomato, caramelized onion, ricotta, lemon, and arugula. Named one of Good Food Pittsburgh’s “20 Most Iconic Pittsburgh Dishes,” it’s light and full of flavor. It’s the one pie above all that helped fuel Iron Born’s popularity. “This is my lucky one.” said Eaton. “It had three months there where everybody was talking about it. If you’re a first-timer, this is usually the one we recommend.” Iron Born is the first in Pittsburgh to offer proper Detroit-style pizza in Pittsburgh, not counting chains like Little Caesar’s or Jet’s. The style originated in 1946 at a place
called Buddy’s in Detroit. As legend has it, the pies were cooked in square, bluesteel pans or “pass trays,” used by workers at car factories to pass loose items like bolts and screws. The first time Tolman had or even heard of Detroit-style pizza was in Colorado. Those metal pans allow for a thick, crispy crust, piled high with toppings, but surprisingly light. “I was fascinated by it the first time I ate it,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I didn’t know what it was.” Today, despite being known as the guy who brought the style in Pittsburgh, he doesn’t consider his himself a proper Detroit-style pizza parlor. “Some pure Detroiters want it exactly the way they grew up with it,” he said, “but most people love it. I tried to change my recipe to be as light as possible but keep it crispy. Mine is usually a little taller; they knock me on that.” The next pizza, The Forager, best demonstrated Tolman’s innovative, elevated style. It’s made with garlic cream, local mushrooms and honey, ricotta, thyme, garlic, rosemary, and Romano cheese. It’s sweet, salty, herbaceous, and most importantly, delicious. Tolman prides himself on using fresh, house-made or local ingredients whenever possible, something that comes through in every bite.
Eaton pairs the pie with the Black rIPA, an excellent take on an uncommon style we’d like to see more of. He explains how the peppery tang of the rye compliments the sweetness of the mushrooms and honey. At this point it became clear this was not a typical night of beer and pizza. Next, an intermezzo of sorts: a whole chicken wing, sweet and tangy, paired with homemade pickles, and Hidden Valley ranch, “because it’s delicious,” said Tolman. It’s lip-smackingly good, especially when paired with Dark Shaman, the latest in Grist House’s series of kettle-soured beers, brewed with lemon juice, black currants, cranberries, and cranberry orange tea from Allegheny Coffee and Tea Exchange. Eaton has done plenty of beer pairings for meals like this in the past, and tonight he’s pairing the beers on the fly. It gives us a chance to watch his thought process as he weighs the flavor profile of a dish against that of his beer.
This time, it’s definitely awesome. The acid from the sour ale paired wonderfully with umami richness of the wings, and the tea provided a depth of aroma and flavor to the beer. Dark Shaman proved so popular that around Thanksgiving, it outsold Hazedelic Juice Grenade, Grist House’s most popular IPA, in both growler fills and pints.
CraftPittsburgh.com
“Sometimes it works,” said Eaton. “And sometimes, it’s awesome.”
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We still have three pizzas to go, starting with the Broccoli Cheddar, paired with Space Cactus New England-style IPA. Next comes the Spicy Pie: red sauce, soppressata, pepperoni, banana peppers, and hot honey. “It’s never coming off the menu,” said Tolman, and one bite tells us why. It’s sweet, spicy, and savory. Iron Born’s thick pan crust is hefty enough to support this many robust toppings; a lesser pie would be overwhelmed. We pair the Spicy with the hazy IPA, Lucid Liger. It’s the latest in Grist House’s “Lucid” series of IPAs, each of which is brewed with similar hops but a different grain and yeast bill. Eaton explains how the raw millet in this installment gives the beer a creamy, almost milk-like richness at the end that cuts the heat of the peppers and honey. As we prepare for our final pie, all this talk of Detroit-style pizza has us wondering, what about Pittsburgh-style pizza? Places like Mineo’s, Aiello’s, and Antoon’s, are the first to come to mind. “A Pittsburgh pizza, to me, if I close my eyes, is circular, really brown, there’s probably sugar in the tomato sauce, and there’s sausage on it, and it’s greasy,” said Tolman. “And I love that pizza!” Maybe all the IPAs have loosened his tongue, but he lets us in on a secret: If you want those crispy, bowlshaped pepperoni cups, “It has to be natural casing.” The outside dries first while it cooks and curls up, giving the pepperoni an almost bacon-like crispness. There’s even talk of adding a Double Pepperoni pizza to the menu, made with two types of pepperoni. We wonder if humanity is ready. They’re a beautiful site, those ‘roni cups, and our final pie is covered with them. The Red Pie is essentially a classic pepperoni pizza, and like all Iron Born pies, it’s baked with toppings, sliced into six even squares, and blessed with a final ladle of sauce before serving. For now, Iron Born still runs both their Smallman Galley location, but come June, Millvale will be their only spot. “We were looking for a small-town, ready-to-burst neighborhood,” said DuMars, and so far, they say the reception has been incredible, something echoed by Eaton and the Grist House crew as well. We tuck into one final treat to cap our pizza feast: cannoli, stuffed with a mascarpone/ricotta filling, and paired with the Double Vice coffee porter.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
“Cannolis are our sleeper,” said Tolman. The shells are homemade, made with white wine and fried a dozen at a time. We all agree we could each eat a dozen in one setting—perhaps some other time, when we haven’t eaten so much pizza.
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Tolman has a background in haute cuisine, having worked at the Five Diamond-rated Lautrec Restaurant at Nemacolin Woodlands before committing himself to these topping-laden, crisp-crusted, sauce-slathered pies. We ate off paper plates; we ate with our hands; we may have chugged our first beer. It was hardly fine dining, but these lovingly hand-forged pizzas were as delicious as anything we’ve had before. We swear it, by the old gods and the new.
advertise
BEER
CraftPittsburgh.com
INFO@CRAFTPITTSBURGH.COM
31
Words Tom Marshall Photos Jeff Zoet
10 Frames | 10 Beers LIGHT
Mindful Brewing
Straight Kölsch
Kölsch
5%
DARK
Church Brew Works
Poetic Justice
Baltic Porter
8.8%
LITTLE
Dogfish Head Brewing
Sea Quench Ale
Hybrid Sour Ale
4.9%
BIG
Roundabout Brewing
Heini’s Good Cheer [2016]
Barrel-Aged Old Ale
10%
PALE
Mindful Brewing
Drop Bear
Australian Pale Ale
9%
SOUR
Une Annee
Le Seul VII 2017
American Wild Ale with mango
6.5%
MALT
Church Brew Works
Pious Monk Dunkel
Munich-Style Dunkel
5.5%
WHEAT
Roundabout Brewing
Fjordland Farmhouse
Farmhouse Ale with Unmalted Spelt
7.75%
WILD CARD
Pipeworks Brewing
Veranda Vibes
Fruit Ale with Tea & Honey
8%
IMPORT
Brouwerij Boon
Oude Geuze Boon
Gueuze Lambic
7%
Pin Pals is a bi-monthly installment where I interview a veritable who's who of the craft beer world at a bowling alley. We drink beer, shoot the shit, and of course bowl. In this installment, we are bowling and chatting with three of the officers of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Pittsburgh District: Marcus Cox (District Vice President), Head Brewer of Mindful Brewing in Castle Shannon; Steve Sloan (District Technical Chair), Owner/Brewer of Roundabout Brewing in Pittsburgh, and Dan Yarnall (District President), Head Brewer of Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh.
1) Tell the readers about yourself. Dan : My name is Dan Yarnall. I am the head brewer at the Church Brew Works, and I am also the President of the Master Brewers’ Association of the Americas, Pittsburgh Chapter. I am first generation American. My mother immigrated to the US from Germany. She definitely brought the love of beer with her and it was instilled in me. As an American living in Germany, I was picked on because, to a German, American beer sucked. That definitely put a chip on my shoulder, and I would try to prove my German relatives wrong. I am an Army brat and moved to Pittsburgh in 1986. I left twice. Once when I joined the Navy, and once when my wife joined the Navy, but we kept coming back. Pittsburgh is definitely home now.
comparison at the time with American light lagers. It was like comparing a Porsche and some old junker. This predates a lot of the craft breweries in the United States. So even at the time it was pretty easy to pick out which one was better.
Marcus: Consummate bowler...I think that really sums it up. I have been in Pittsburgh for a couple of years now, and I can’t really play the new arrival card. I am not going to say these past two-and-a-half years have been dragging on but I’ve definitely done my time. Native of Australia. Based in Melbourne and moved to Pittsburgh. And here we are at Mindful Brewing. That’s the story to this point.
Steve: Probably from spending a couple of summers in Germany in 1994 and 1995. Not a whole lot of better beer, at least in Michigan that point. Although I did try Bell’s for the first time and loved them from the get-go. But certainly being exposed to better beer over in Germany. At that point it was so different, and I haven't had anything like it at the time in the states. I’d drink a lot of Weissbier from Unertl. It was a small Weissbier brewery northeast of Munich and that was all they made. I was over in Germany coaching and playing American football for a club team. The team was the Landsberg Express. It was a small town of like 30,000 people, west of Munich. It was actually pretty small town for a football team. We played Munich and Hamburg and some of the bigger cities, and I played linebacker and the fullback.
2) To whom/what can you attribute your love of craft beer? Dan: It goes back to my German roots and my Uncle Dieter. He was kind of the antagonist. He was the one that would always say, ‘American beer sucks.’ So that was definitely my driving force as to why I wanted to get into beer and appreciate beer, definitely anything that would come back to that man. He showed me what good German beer was. In Germany there are so many different small, I guess you would call them craft breweries, and each would have really great pilsners. German lagers were an easy
Marcus Cox, Dan Yarnall, and Steve Sloan
3) T ell the readers about your company and your role there. Dan: Church Brew Works is a brew pub located in a deconsecrated Catholic church in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Church Brew Works is owned by Sean Casey and has been open since 1996. Over
CraftPittsburgh.com
Steve: Steve Sloan. Sometimes brewer at Roundabout Brewery. In the industry 22 years or so. Not a very a good bowler.
Marcus: An alcoholic family and Michael Jackson, the beer guy. Not the other Michael Jackson. So really early on when I was 16 or 17 (with the legal drinking age of 18), I thought that if I bought really expensive beer that I saw on “The Beer Hunter” that they’d sell it to me. So I paid $20 for three bottles of Chimay Blue instead of $20 for a box of shit beer that they would not hesitate to sell it to my 15-year-old face. So thank you, Michael Jackson.
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the years Church has won multiple awards for its ales and lagers. I am in my second stint with Church Brew Works as the head brewer. I left for a short time to brew with Rivertowne of Export, Pennsylvania. Marcus: Mindful Brewing in Castle Shannon. I am in charge of making all the beer. We try to make beers that are drinkable, so not necessarily following trends, and we use traditional methods to make the best possible beers. We just celebrated our second anniversary and wrapped our first canning run in mid-January 2019. We brew on a ten barrel brew house and have 20 barrel tanks, and we just put two tanks outside. We have a full restaurant. We have a nook there for everybody, but obviously I am there for the beer. Currently we are running with about 20 taps of housemade beer at the moment. Steve: Roundabout Brewery. We have been open five-and-a-half years. My wife and I own and operate, and we all do a little bit of everything. She is more front-of-the-house, and hopefully going forward, I’ll manage the brewery again instead of being the brewer. We are a very small company with really only three full-time employees. So we all do a little bit of everything.
4) What is the Master Brewers Association?
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Dan: The MBAA is nothing more than a community-oriented organization where we help our fellow local brewers with any technical issues he/she may be having. Obviously, beer is a very dynamic thing. It doesn't always behave the way we want it to, and we're here to help and be a resource whenever we can.
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Marcus: The Masters Brewers Association is a deliberately independent organization and not a commercial organization. It's not about selling beer. It's not about selling ingredients. It is a way for brewers to make a better beer. It's very much about getting brewers that have the same challenges in a room and getting them access to the websites and a massive amount of resources, and a way that brewers can access the information they need to make better beer. Steve: MBAA is an organization of professional brewers trying to improve all-around efficiency, quality, drinkability of beer. I've actually seen the MBAA in a few forms. I was a member when I was brewing in St. Louis which was all A.B. (Anheuser-Busch) people, and that was mainly getting together and eating steak dinners. Then out in California it was mostly smaller breweries or medium-sized breweries. The district was well
established and offered me a lot more relevant information. This is the third go around for me in terms of MBAA. I mean we're, you know, we're trying to get off the ground and do things. I have all the respect for Dan and Marcus here for getting this going. I had big plans when I came back from California to try to restart up the district, but life stood in the way. This district is a fledgling starting district, but it is a great organization that gives access to an amazing amount of knowledge.
5) T ell the readers about your background in brewing. (Curriculum vitae, awards won, time brewing, education-training, etc) Dan: I started home brewing in 1995 after a stint in the U.S. Navy, and I have brewing professionally for nine years. A lot of OJT (on-thejob training), a lot of online courses, and a lot of courses at CBC (Craft Brewers’ Conference). Probably about 60 to 70 different courses through CBC, MBA, and other online training. When I helped to resurrect the old District Pittsburgh for the MBAA, I never claimed like that I knew everything. I was willing to learn and wanted to learn more, but I wasn't getting it from other aspects of the community. I wasn't happy with what was out there. So really the MBAA is kind of an extension of me trying to grasp more and then to learn more. As far as awards, I won a lot of local state awards when I was brewing in down in Virginia. I just got a bronze at the World Beer Cup when I was with Rivertowne for the Maxwell Scottish. I won a gold and bronze at the LA International Beer Competition for the Pious Monk Dunkel. Marcus: I got dragged out of nowhere from a hospitality background right about 15 years ago. I worked for an engineering company that had a sideline making beer. They got too busy to make the beer so I got the hang out with them. I had a very structured background using a lot of systems that were probably overdone to make beer. I did that for quite a few years, and we won quite a few kinds of silver medals and bronze medals, and we had east coast distribution back home in Australia. Then after being there for five or six years, I moved to Thunder Road. We won Best MediumSize Brewery at the Australia International Beer Awards in 2014, and we backed it up with Best Medium-Size Brewery in 2015 as well. So in 2016, I was out of there because there’s only so far you can go. Two-and-a-half years ago I moved to Pittsburgh. I was the first person that Mindful looked at for the position of Head Brewer, and they were the first place I looked at for job. So I think it's a good methodology to look for somebody with some
experience from somewhere else. Instead of having that migratory pattern of a home brewer up to a real brewer, Mindful started with a pro brewer, and I really gave Mindful a head start. Steve: Been in the industry for your 22 years or so. First brewery was Kona Brewing Company in 1996, and I think this is the 13th brewery I worked for (my own). Hopefully the last one, but you never know (*laughs*). I have a Masters in Chemistry from University of Florida, and my undergrad was from Kalamazoo College. I also took a microbiology course at Siebel Institute in Chicago and took the diploma and brewing exam through the I.O.B. out of London. It's nearly the same exam that UC Davis prepares you for, but I just took it on my own. We've won some awards. Heini’s Good Cheer, which I brought tonight, has won two silvers at the World Cup and one silver at the G.A.B.F. As my former head brewer would say, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”
6) What do you hope the Master Brewers Association will accomplish? How important is continuing education/training in the field of brewing? Dan: What we would like to accomplish with the MBAA is to become the standard, meaning that, if any issue arises locally the MBAA is the first resource that local breweries can reach out to for help with solving any problems that they may have. The only consistent thing about beer is that something is going to go wrong. So obviously with the changing styles that we always have, you know, I spent 90% of my career trying to make beers clear and not cloudy. And now they all look like carbonated orange juice. So obviously, that's a change. It's a change in the beer landscape. So we all have to kind of adjust just to that. Obviously, there's always a need for training and education and the MBAA will always evolve with current trends, current style, but stay true to what the organization is about.
CraftPittsburgh.com
Marcus: I think an awareness of the concept of continuous improvement is what the MBAA is trying to accomplish. It's not a dead end. Its goal
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the brewer pays. The idea with the MBAA is that the individual brewer is the unit of interest. Membership to MBAA helps you to get paid better, helps you to be better skilled at your job, helps you to better navigate your job, and it helps you to make better beer. Then you can share the information you have received with the mothership and the other people you work with. mindfulbrewing.com // FaceBook/Twitter/Instagram: @MindfulBrewing. The pub/restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday. Steve: You can checkout Roundabout online at roundaboutbeer. com. You can always email me at steve@roundaboutbeer.com if you have any specific questions or want to learn more about our brewery or MBAA. FaceBook: RoundaboutBrewery and Twitter/Instagram: @roundaboutbrew. Pub Hours: Wednesday to Friday, 4pm - 10pm; Saturday, 2pm - 10pm; Sunday, 12pm - 7pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Tom Marshall is in the persuasion business. He is the sales & marketing manager for Full Pint Brewing Company in North Versailles, The Pope of Chili Town, and a bowling enthusiast. [Twitter: @wearethepinpals]
MBAA invites you to meet
Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head is not to get “X” amount of awards or get “X” amount of members or anything like that. This is trying to imbue people with the idea that every brewer can be better and if every brewery was better then by default every brewery is making better beer, and by focusing on the brewer the MBAA can help to make better beer. Every brewer that gets a job should ask to be a member of the MBAA as part of their compensation so he/she can continuously improve. Even the best brewer can do better. If you got this far, look for opportunities to help accelerate and improve. So MBAA offers a lot of scholarships to attend the conferences, both scholarships on the district level and the national level. A lot of the educators are really active on the MBAA website with the “Ask the Master Brewer”. A guy like Andrew Tveekrem from Market Garden in Cleveland is posting 270 times every month for free, and he's about as good as shit gets. This is a massive North American infrastructure situation for brewers to make better beer. Steve: The MBAA is supposed to be a forum for all brewers to get together and share ideas. In terms of continuing education, it's something we should all focus on, especially as the Pittsburgh beer scene gets more and more competitive. Even the best brewer can get lazy, but the MBAA forces you to get out of your comfort zone and learn something new.
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
7) How can the readers connect with you?
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Dan: You can contact me directly at beergeeks@gmail.com. You can visit the MBAA website: mbaa.com or download the MBAA mobile app for information about the organization. The Pittsburgh District has its own website (that you can access from the MBAA website) that contains all of the contact information for the board members. The MBAA District Pittsburgh also has its own Facebook page @PGHMBAA. You can connect with Church Brew Works at churchbrew.com. FaceBook: TheChurchBrewWorks. Twitter/Instagram: @ChurchBrewWorks. Pub/restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday. Marcus: In a perfect world every brewer's a member of the MBAA, and if you go online to “Ask the Master Brewer” I get feeds from that every day. If there’s one that's in Pittsburgh, I’ll respond. This is very much a brewerforward thing. It's not a marketing tool; as I said earlier, it's all about making better beer and finding the money to pay for your membership to MBAA. To join the Brewers Association, the brewery pays. Pittsburgh Brewers Guild,
April 15 - Teutonia Männerchor 857 Phineas Street, Pgh 15212 6:30pm Social - 7:00pm Presentation
Follow @PGHMBAA on Facebook for ticket info.
Have a brewing question?
Ask a Master Brewer.
Visit MBAA.com or CraftPGH.com to submit your questions. A member of PGHMBAA will answer and we'll re-post the response on the new Education Section of the site.
g n i l ow B B BYO Special thanks to our friends at Crafton Ingram Lanes, the official bowling alley of PinPals. If you're looking to do some BYOB bowling, check them out.
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Hart reviews...
Words Hart Johnson Photo Mike Weiss
styles you should drink more of in 2019
1 1. BREWDOG
2
3
Jet Black Heart
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
4.7% ABV Vanilla Oatmeal Milk Stout from Columbus, OH
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Yinz member way back in 2017 when Southern Tier opened a satellite brewpub in Pittsburgh and everyone on Facebook lost their damn mind? Welcome to 2019 when Sly Fox, Platform, and BrewDog have announced Pittsburgh tap rooms. Things are gonna get weird. Anyway, before they get around to opening up an actual location in PGH, you’re gonna see cans of BrewDog from their Columbus, OH brewery just about everywhere here in the next few months. Does it matter that a Scottish brewery is making the beer in the US now? Does it? Obviously the beer will be fresher, so big plus there. But, it’s no longer an import and thusly loses all that imported mystique. Whatever that means. We’re here with another beer with lactose in it, a rich nitrogenated milk stout dosed with “natural vanilla flavor” and boy howdy for sub-5% abv this beer brings the flavor and body. Viscous without being syrupy, the milk sugar-bolstered body plays well with the roasted malts and big vanilla flavor, my only complaint is I want a coffee version of this for, uh, morning things. Recommended if you like: Young’s - Double Chocolate Stout, Samuel Smith - Oatmeal Stout, Troegs - Chocolate Stout, Rivertowne - Mazy’s Malted Milk Chocolate Stout
4 2. ODDSIDE
5
6
Tangerine Guava Fruitsicle
4.5% ABV Fruited Sour from Grand Haven, MI
Welcome to 2019, the year of popsicle beer! Oh, you think I have jokes over here? Look at that label. That’s a damn popsicle. Beer-flavored beer, you say? Whatever, you remember when drinking beer was fun? You should try that again sometime. These beers, this whole genre of heavily fruited beer dosed with milk sugar and sometimes vanilla, with the whole “MUST KEEP COLD OR THIS CAN WILL EXPLODE” warning labels—these beers have sparked a knee-jerk reaction the likes of we haven’t seen in at least a year whenever hazy IPA ruined beer. I get it, these are delicious, approachable beers that you don't need to adapt your palate to understand subtle tones of horse blanket, bitter lemon peel, and dirty diaper. They’re just good. There are remnants of a sour beer here, a nice tart base to build upon. And seriously, this tastes like someone melted a few popsicles right into a lemonade. And it is singledigit degrees Fahrenheit right now so pardon me while I dream of sitting in a sunny hammock crushing a few of these on a hot July day. Recommended if you like: Dancing Gnome - Underscore, Grist House Kaboom Kandy, Hitchhiker - Subsurface, Insurrection - Velvet Lightning
3. ROUNDABOUT
Heini’s Good Cheer
11.3% ABV Barrel-Aged Old Ale from Pittsburgh, PA
This is my absolute favorite beer of the year, every year, since 2013. Barleywine is Life? Meh, Good Cheer is afterlife. From their website “This batch is 50% 2017 Heini’s aged in a Buffalo Trace barrel for 18 months, 50% 2018 Heini’s aged in a Jim Beam barrel for four months”. Editor, please add that .GIF of me fainting here. What else do you say about that? This stuff is monumental, titanic, stupendous, and colossal. Big. Yeah, big like a pickle. Like ¼ way through a glass and the rest of this review could just be lyrics from the Humpty Dance. There’s so much going on here: red rope licorice, Rolo candy bar, aged plantation rum, bananas foster, saturated oak, bourbon-soaked cacao nibs. This beer is like having a dessert after dessert. It’s decadent beauty. Recommended if you like: That joke from Airheads about who’d win in a wrestling match
3. BREW GENTLEMEN Mise en Rose Table Beer
4.8% ABV Foeder Saison from Braddock, PA We’re seeing sour everything lately and, while I’m not opposed to it, the majority are sour mash, quick turnaround-style beers. Nothing wrong with that if you want a lemonade-y base to build a smoothie upon. But I feel like all of those quick sours are just a filler for weirder things. What the hell’s a foeder beer you say? Think a big sour dough starter of a beer aging in a sizable wooden vat. Mixed culture fermentation, a bit of solerastyle aging, and an ongoing evolution of the beer. There’s a handful of foeders happening around PGH, but I think Brew Gentlemen might have the jump on things, seeing as you can just buy this tart little banger from them whenever you feel like it. And tart might not even be the right word. There’s for a sure an aromatic hit of lemon rind soaked in apple cider vinegar in a stale basement, and the somewhat oak-drenched flavors of all that carry over, but neither sour nor tart is ever the dominating flavor, it’s all just a palette of flavors set to complement a damn fine roasted chicken. Oooo, or poached salmon. Hell yes, drink this beer with food is what I’m saying, at the table. Like the label says. Recommended if you like: Orval, Petrus - Aged Pale Ale, Voodoo Building 3: One, Hitchhiker - Source Code
4. STOUDT’S
Pils
Recommended if you like: Penn - Kaiser Pils, Victory - Prima Pils, Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, Cinderlands - Tracks Again
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5.4% ABV German Style Pilsner from Adamstown, PA
I remarked earlier today about a rift in today’s beer scene. On one end of the spectrum you have the 16oz tinnies pushing things as far as they can go, strawberry-pineapple-shortbread-cookie-milk stout aged in an amaro cask? Don’t act like you wouldn’t line up for it. On the other end you have old guard breweries George Clooney-ing this perfect lactose storm head on with an insistence that a well-executed, classically styled beer still has a home. On the subject of the latter, I’ve been professionally buying Stoudt’s beer for about 20 years now and I’ll swing a plastic Long John Silver knife at your throat if you say their Pils isn’t one of the blueprints for the lager revolution we’ve been promised for the past five years. AHEM. A bit maltier than some of the driest pilsners, the aroma isn’t just a sack of herbal hops but rather freshly baked bread served in a spring field. That lightly toasted bread malt flavor carries through the palate for a minute before a firm swipe of hop bitterness wipes the bread crumbs off your tongue. Remember that, that clean swipe of bitterness—you’ll want that on one of those hot summer days I’ve heard so much about.
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6. HITCHHIKER
Typographic
7% ABV IPA with Nelson Hops from Sharpsburg, PA
I’m supposed to be talking all about things I’ll be drinking more of in 2019 and honestly this is it. This is all I want in 2019. This is the Rick & Morty Simpson’s Couch Gag. It’s everything you loved about IPA ten years ago, those incredibly fresh west coast IPAs consumed while watching the sunset over the Pacific, but with bigger aroma, less bitterness, and made like two miles from your house. This is lusting over a 1985 VW GTI—you know the one, with the round headlights—but instead of tracking down a used one, with problems and rust and whatever, you bought a brand new R32 with heated seats and an engine that doesn’t hemorrhage oil. This is reminiscing over the times you used to wait in line for beer in freezing cold weather while sitting in the warm confines of your home with a fourpack of world class beer you bought on a whim on a random Tuesday night. This is a damn near perfection in the evolution of IPA: soft, crackery maltiness buried beneath an avalanche of pine sap, underripe grape and lime zest hop flavors. This is all I want to drink in 2019 until I get burned out on IPA and start drinking Schnapps or hard seltzer or pilsner. Recommended if you like: Alpine - Nelson, War Streets - North Avenue Nectar, Thornbridge - Kipling, Voodoo - Big Secret Pizza Party
@ MOARHOPS
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Recommended if you like: Pittsburgh, beer, bicycles, curmudgeons, clean draft lines, retweets, dogs, Wade Boggs stories, whiskey, South Side observations, obscure Simpsons quotes.
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homebrewing homebrewing
the Left Hand
BLAC K brewing a baltic porter Words Jack Smith Art Joe Mruk
W
elcome to Beer 101. Let’s start with the basics: There are dozens— perhaps hundreds—of styles of beer. In general, though, every beer is either a lager or an ale. Put your hands down! We have a lot to cover. There will be time for questions at the end. Pilsner, Oktoberfest, Dunkel, Bock, Schwarzbier - all lagers. Pale ale, IPA, Belgian dubbel, saison, Hefeweizen, stout, porter - all ales. Well, mostly. You see, kids: porter is a sticky wicket in our little game of beer pigeonhole. English porter, American porter, robust porter - those are all most definitely ales. But there’s another kind of porter—Baltic porter—that is most often brewed as a lager. But not always. Today’s Baltic porter has common roots to both English porter and imperial stout, but is quite different from both. It evolved in the Baltic states and other countries around the southern Baltic Sea, and really took root in northern Poland—in cities such as Danzig— where, I’ve heard, it’s so common they simply call it “porter.” The finished beer shares traits with English porter and imperial stout but the ingredients and processes used are more continental, kind of a cross between those rich,malty British ales and central European lagers. Think of it as a dark, complex, fairly roasty Bockbier… sort of. When brewing a regional beer—and Baltic porter is very much of a particular place—try
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In the Palm of
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to stick with ingredients from that region for the most accurate flavor. Many porters have a grain bill of, say, Maris Otter, crystal malt, and chocolate or roast malt. But those are British ingredients. Folks in Poland a hundred years ago would have an easier time getting continental ingredients. Instead, go with Pilsner and Munich malt for a nicely layered base, Caramunich and Special B for complexity, and debittered Carafa for color & roastiness. Don’t use black patent malt or roasted barley. These are too bitter, too acrid for this style. They’re great for Irish stout or robust porter, but Baltic Porter should be smooth, silky, refined. Debittered Carafa malt will give you color and roastiness without the burnt coffee flavor you get from those other black malts. If you’re adventurous, you could also play around with Midnight Wheat here as well. Finally, you’ll want some Belgian chocolate malt, too, to accentuate the fruity complexity of the crystal malts and help make the beer identifiable as a porter.
HOPS
For hops, you want enough bitterness to tame the malt-heavy recipe, but this isn’t a hop-forward beer. You do want some hop flavor, and that flavor should be of the refined, noble persuasion. Hallertau, Tettnang, Spalt, Saaz, that sort of thing. Most of the hop charge is for bittering, but you do want a late-ish addition to bring a bit of flavor and aroma. Note also that this beer should age a bit before you drink it, and the hop character will mellow into a very nice harmony with the malt.
If you use an ale yeast, ferment at the low end of its optimum temperature range, like 64-66F. Beware that fermenting cold may cause the yeast to produce a bit of sulfur. This will age out of the beer, and even if a trace remains it will only help you trick people into thinking it’s a lager. If you are able to ferment at lager temps, a good yeast to use is WLP833 German Bock, Wyeast 2487 Hella Bock, or the equivalent. Ferment at 48-50F. Either way, use a yeast calculator tool to help you size a big, appropriately-sized yeast starter and hit the beer with lots of oxygen just prior to pitching. I would inject pure O2 into the wort for two minutes using a stainless oxygen stone. As mentioned above, after the beer is fully fermented out, package it however you like and let it age gracefully for at least six months.
To ferment a Baltic porter, look to a lager yeast. Again, think dark, roasty Bock. Follow a traditional high-OG lager fermentation schedule—plenty of O2 up front and a big, healthy pitch of yeast—and you will have a cleanly fermented beer ready for packaging in a month. Once packaged, let it age at cellar temperature for half-a-year or more, and you will have yourself one tasty treat. It must be said that this style can be fermented with ale yeast, as some commercial examples are. If you do, though, choose a very clean strain known for producing few esters and one that can handle a cooler fermentation. Do not use a Belgian or English strain, that is, and do not ferment as warm as you’d do a pale ale or wheat beer. If you use an ale strain, the finished beer will still benefit from an extended aging before consuming. Now, any questions?
Until You Call on the Dark BALTIC PORTER Batch Size: 5.5 gal.
Boil Time: 90 minutes
OG: 1.081
FG: 1.020
IBU: 30
SRM: 30 (dark brown)
ABV: 8%
Difficulty: Advanced (requires fermentation temp. control) *Assuming 65% brewhouse efficiency
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
GRAINBILL
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• • • • • •
8 lbs German Munich Malt 8 lbs German Pilsner Malt 1 lb Caramunich (51L) 8oz Special B (120L) 8oz Chocolate Malt (350L) 6oz Carafa III (525L) Extract Brewers: Replace the Munich and Pilsner malts with 4.5 lbs each Munich and Pilsner DME. Steep the Caramunich, Special B, Carafa, and chocolate malts in a muslin sack in a gallon of 150F water for half-an-hour, drain the liquid into your boil kettle, add water and DME, and boil as you typically do.
• 56 grams Hallertau (4.5% AA) @ 60 min. • 14 grams Hallertau (4.5% AA) @ 10 min.
MASH & BOIL
I often tout the merits of a complicated decoction mash or at least some multiple-rest step mash for lagers, and I bet a decoction would only add to the richness of this beer, but truth is the grain bill alone brings a lot of flavor to the party. A single-step infusion mash at a very middle-of-theroad 152F is perfect. Hold it for an hour, then sparge, lauter, and boil for 90 minutes, adding hops with 60 and 10 minutes remaining.
YEAST/FERMENTATION
SUGGESTED PAIRINGS
A big, complex, malty beer like this usually means dessert beer, sippin’ beer. Sittin’ by the fireplace beer. And that’s absolutely true here. But this beer ain’t that big, ain’t that boozy. It’s a food friendly beer, as long as you have the right food. Yeah, it would go well with desserts, but that’s a little predictable and the flavors of the beer and dessert may be a bit samey-samey. Try it with something savory and rich like slow-braised pot roast or short ribs with root vegetables. This slow-drinkin’ beer is at home alongside slow-eatin’ food. It’s a special beer to share over a special meal with special folks. I’m picturing pulled duck confit over garlic smashed potatoes with a side of home-pickled beets in day-old creme fraiche. Take a bite, take a sip, take a bite, take a sip. Repeat, slowly, for at least halfan-hour. Remember to take it slow, enjoy the meal, enjoy the beer, and enjoy the company. 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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CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
cooking with beer
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I’ve found in my career that lamb is a polarizing thing; most people either love it or hate it.
a whole leg before. So I made this amazing garlic and herb marinade and slow roasted a whole bone-in leg and that was it. Why on earth were we wasting time with that fussy, finicky rack of lamb when we could be eating beautifully braised lamb instead? A whole leg of lamb is not always practical, but shanks? Much more so.
I could take it or leave it. Then one Christmas— maybe the first hosted at our house, but you’d need to ask someone with a far better memory for details than me—I decided was going to roast a leg of lamb because it was a dish I thought my Nana would love, though I had never worked with
Lamb shanks aren’t a thing you are likely to find just wandering around your grocery store meat department—you’re going to have to order these special. I promise they are worth it. (Pssst...if you hate lamb, I get it. Special order pork shanks instead and follow the recipe, they are equally as delicious and I won’t tell.) From where? Tom Friday’s in the North Side is my first choice. I have also found them through Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance—they work with local lamb farms and are really great about helping facilitate what you want. Or your favorite butcher—if they don't have lamb in
Words Mindy Heisler-Johnson Photos Mike Weiss
Victory
Wisdom’s Hour
BRAISED LAMB SHANKS
As to my beer choice—Victory Wisdom’s Hour—I went hunting for an old ale or a barleywine and this caught my attention; the barrel-aging would bring in some red wine qualities that would work really well with the natural gaminess of the lamb. The Wisdom’s Hour was perfect as anything of that kind would be—barrel-aged sour, sour brown ale, barleywine, old ale—nothing hoppy, mainly things that would remind you more of a wine than a beer. This is a six-hour cook time, and anything bitter, or even with bitter tendencies like a porter or a stout, will get down into the meat and the pan sauce. That is not good eats.
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the case they can get it, just have to ask. This recipe makes six to eight, double it for 12 to 16 (and get a really big pan), and I allot 1.5-ish per person at a minimum because I feed eaters, I like leftovers, and the meat makes killer gyros.
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You have your shanks? You have you beer? All we need now is a Dutch oven-style pot and away we go!
Sour Ale Braised Lamb Shanks • 6-8 lamb shanks • ½ lb diced bacon • 1 large sweet onion, small dice • 1 cup small diced carrot • 1 cup small diced celery • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1 tsp Herbs de Provence (or thyme) • 2 Allspice berries • 1 bay leaf • Salt & fresh ground black pepper • 6 sprigs fresh rosemary • 24oz sour ale like Victory Wisdom’s Hour • Chicken stock, if & as needed • ¼ cup cornstarch slurry
CraftPittsburgh | issue #41
Oven on to 325° and rack moved to accommodate your Dutch oven with the lid on, heat up your Dutch
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oven over medium-high heat and add some oil - let it get hot. Generously season your shanks with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Sear in your Dutch oven in batches until they are browned on all sides. As they are done remove from the pan, rest on their bottoms, and hold while you build your braising liquid. Get the bacon in the pot and render it in the lamb drippings. When it is crisp, add the onion, carrot, and celery, and saute until the onion starts to soften. Add the garlic and spices, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat until the garlic smells sweet and loses the rawness. Deglaze with the beer and bring to a simmer. Set the shanks, evenly spaced and on their bottoms, in the stock in the Dutch oven. Add the rosemary sprigs around the top and add chicken stock to cover the shanks. Bring back up to a simmer, turn off the heat, cover it, and get it into the oven. Walk away for about four hours. At four hours see if they are starting to get tender; at this point they should be cooked, but not really tender. Check them again at five hours—they might be done, but it’s more likely they will be starting to get tender and still aren’t ready to pull off the bone yet. At hour six(-ish) they should be done. How do you know? Well they want to come off the bone—they WON”T without very minimal effort, but they want to really bad. Get them out of the oven, remove the lid and let them rest for 15 minutes or so. Move them to a platter GENTLY—you don’t want them to fall apart. Strain the sauce, discard the veggies, and bring the stock to a boil. Taste and decide if it needs to be seasoned or reduced. Slurry when it is ready into velvety gravy. Get the shanks back in to reheat a tick. At this point serve family style, plate, or refrigerate it all and reheat later. I served with horseradish mashed red potatoes and roasted broccoli and carrots with sea salt, and of course a pile of crusty bread--this makes a sauce that is perfect for bread sopping. It’s also really good with couscous, or over buttered egg noodles with fresh parsley. I also like to shred down any leftovers and make them into gyros that are next level, so I always make extras. Also banging with pork shanks, osso bucco—veal or pork—and beef short ribs. Go nuts!!
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