Monday Rant: Craft Tidal Wave at PNC Park

I've ranted and raved about the post-game happy hour special at PNC Park's Hall of Fame Club over the past few summers. It was this past Saturday night after the Pirates 5-1 victory over the Miami (will always be Florida to me) Marlins that I noticed the plethora of craft beers available to happy hour participants.

I remember when I first started joining in on the $2.50 per-brew fun in the Hall of Fame Club a few summers back. That was when there was just Yuengling and Miller Lite on tap and a small variety of bottle such as Magic Hat No. 9 and Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA making up the selection.

I felt like I was in a town's only local pub, but it wasn't the best selection in the world. Besides, when it's $2.50 for each beer in the house and you can snag yourself a few good crafts, you do so.

From then up until this past weekend I've noticed a tidal wave of craft brews being sold, not only throughout the park, but in the Hall of Fame Club as well.

Earlier this year, the Hall of Fame Club boasted the addition of a few local crafts which included Penn Brewery's Pilsner, Kaiser Pils and Penn Dark. As of Saturday night, you can find many of Penn Brewery's beers and more.

East End Fat Gary was on tap as well as Church Brew Works Pious Monk Dunkel, which is one of my favorite beers. The Hall of Fame Club has even ventured as far as Colorado to bring in Boulder's Sweaty Betty Blonde. Not far from that was Lagunitas IPA.

I've also noticed numerous advertisements for local brewing establishments and restaurants such as Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh and Rivertowne throughout the stadium's concourse. It looks like PNC Park is starting to embrace the craft movement around Pittsburgh and it can only be a positive thing.

Some of you might have come across this piece via Examiner.com about other craft offerings around the park, including the new Budweiser Bowtie Bar.

Beer Review: Magic Hat #9

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.1 percent

Appearance: The body of #9 is somewhere in between a dark gold and a very light amber. Head was very active and fluffy, but I've also had this on draft only to have no head at all. So, take what you can get with this one. On this particular occasion, the head fade away fast and there was barely any lacing left inside the glass at all.

Smell: A lot of people say they smell hints of honey and apricot. There is a small touch of sweet apricot. This beer also smells very yeasty to me. Plain as that.

Taste: This beer seems like it's a sweet tasting one at first, but the bitterness hits you on the finish. Reminds me of a roller coaster ride. The apricot is there all of the way through. The paleness and the wheat gets you on the finish. I can see why this beer has such a cult following.
Overall Rating: 

A really interesting beer. For whatever reason it's different in bottle and on draft. It's fruity, sweet and you get a small surprise at the end with the paleness and the wheat. For me, this was one of the early craft beers for me like a Yeungling Traditional Lager was.