Holy Thursday: Celebrate Local

I couldn't call my self any form of a Pittsburgh beer blogger if I made no mention of the upcoming celebration that starts tomorrow and runs all of the way until next Sunday. That's correct, folks. Pittsburgh Craft Beer week is primed and ready to roll for it's annual celebration of all the glory of the local craft scene.

If you're in the area, be sure to check out an event or two. The PCBW website is a bit spiffier this year and has a neat searching page that enables you to filter by date, event, location etc. The Real Ale Festival presented by Pipers Pub and the Beer Barge are annual events that are returning once again due to popular demand. There are also plenty of tap takeovers and beer pairing dinners to go around. I'd bet on the fact that the beer dinners are having tickets go fast if not completely sold out already. So, step to.

I usually try to make it to an event or two every year. The two I'm setting my sights on this year are both the Trivia with Tom of Yards Brewing at Hough's Taproom and Brewpub on April 29 and the Beer and Oyster Festival hosted by Blue Dust that will be set under Homestead's High Level Bridge. There will be plenty of music as well as exotic brews to go around. Remember the pumpkin beer festival at the same location? Yes, nothing short of a hit.

The Real Ale Festival and the Oyster Festival both take place on May 3. Real Ale looks to be from 1-5 p.m. while the Oyster Festival is from 2-10 p. m. So, technically you could go to both if you wanted to. It's sometimes all about timing.

The bottom line is we live in a special area when it comes to good beer and food. This week annually acts as a token of celebration or remembrance for that sole fact. I've wasted so much time on this blog writing post after post that beer is so subjective and open for subjective. I'll toss out that notion for this post. We definitely know what we're doing here in Pittsburgh. Let's enjoy it.

Holy Thursday: Homage

In preparations for yet another edition of my sarcastic Catholic ways, I noticed something on the calendar of one of my favorite craft beer pubs. A quick look at the Blue Dust event calendar will not only show you the upcoming Craft Beer Week events the bar has on the books for the Pittsburgh celebration, but something that's worth noting. An anniversary.

I would have told you that you were crazy if you would have told me that Blue Dust (or as us regulars call it "The Blue Dust" exactly like those idiots on Monday Night Football that hail from Ohio State or Miami) has been that cozy little craft pub in Homestead for five years on the 20th. I couldn't believe it, but that can also be because I haven't been of legal age to drink for as long as the place has existed.

Still, I always try to fit Blue Dust in whenever I can to pay some for of homage. After all, it was that bar that I've always credited with plunging me into this exploratory world of what is great beer. North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock was only a taste of what it could be. Discovering and frequenting Blue Dust helped this obsession to bloom. My visits to Blue Dust early on are probably the biggest reason of which led me to start recording my thoughts on this blog. Here I am two and a half years later.

I've always been able to try what ever I wanted when I've been there. They've usually shared my posts on this blog through their website and social media feeds. I'm eternally grateful for that place being my gateway to such an intricate and interesting world. Members of my own family would hate it, but I've probably spent more time trying new beers and interacting with other regulars than actually going to mass. Surprise, right? Still, Blue Dust is indeed holy ground.

Also, next Thursday is the actual Holy Thursday. So, I might have to cook up something extra sarcastic.

A beer flight at Blue Dust from way back.

Holy Thursday: Hops at Pipers and Blue Dust

"They went with divine intentions of quenching their dry thirsts, but then proclaimed; thine ale tastes bittereth!"

Once again on the theme of the newly-released hoppy brews (a time of year in which I disdain.). I have some good news for all of you fans of hops. All of the hop bombs are currently in the Pittsburgh market as I see it.

Two of my favorite places in the entire area for craft brews and pub grub are currently boasting the presence of both Lagunitas Sucks and Troegs Nugget Nectar. The beers are listed on Blue Dust's (close to me here in Munhall) website draft list and on some of Pipers Pub's social media pages. Pipers is even boasting a battle between good and evil to the death! Sorry, I meant East and West coast.

Hell, If I end up at either establishment maybe I'll even go as far as trying one or the other.

Just vented firkins of @TroegsBeer Nugget Nectar & @lagunitasbruhws Sucks. East Coast vs West Coast hop war begins tomorrow.
— Pipers Pub (@piperspub) January 29, 2014

Holy Thursday is a weekly post (usually every week) generally about beer. It includes almost any topic relating to beer, but with a certain spin. A slightly religious spin Still, I'm not doing it to preach anything but beer. I'm just poking fun at myself for a being a terrible mass attendee!

Pumpkin Beer Under the Bridge

My favorite local gastropub, Blue Dust, has been planning a reincarnation of its highly successful pumpkin beer festival last October. The festival took place alongside the bar in the empty lot at the corners of Amity Street and 7th Ave.

This year, a new twist has been employed as the lot that was used last year is now being used as some form of a Homestead community garden. The pumpkin beer festival or Son of Pumpkin Fest as it's dubbed this year will happen under the Homestead Grays aka High Level Bridge. Thus, the event goes on rain or shine.

The word is that 12 pumpkin beers will be featured at this year's festival. Those that are supposed to be present are listed on the wall of Blue Dust's event page on Facebook. There was plenty of live music last year. So, expect plenty more this time around.

The pumpkin beer festival is from 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Saturday Oct. 12.

The Session No. 76: Compulsion

Holy hell it feels like last month's session post was only about a week and a half ago. That went by fairly quick. The June edition is on the subject of compulsion and is hosted by Glen Humphries of Beer is Your Friend. Glen notes that this session is sort of a spin-off of the one done by Pints and Pubs a few months ago about a personal beer audit, but asks what might compel those of us with too much beer to keep buying more and how we feel about it all.

I'm not sure how many times I've had to tell this to people when I explain to them how much beer I have, but I almost always justify myself by saying that drinking beer isn't my problem. It's buying it and keeping it around. It might have been that beer audit session that inspired me to talk about my hoarding of said beers, but I don't remember ever going more in-depth about how I feel about it.

If I have an achilles heel when it comes to my beer collecting, It's when I'm at a place with a cooler crammed full of tasty new beers I haven't tried yet. Adding to the problem is that mellow feeling you get after drinking a few pints of wonderfully crafted beer. It's almost a given that I'm going home with at least a six pack. This almost always happens at my favorite place, Blue Dust, or at D's Six Pack and Dog's in Edgewood. Hell, it's pay day today and I'm fighting the urge to go and get a new case (or two) that I probably don't even need due to all of the times I've put together six packs of beer.

Once I'm home and stuffing the bottles into an already semi-full fridge my mind is somewhat clearer. That's when I look at some of the crazy beer's I've bought and shake my head because I bought something wacky and strong like a Lagunitas Undercover Shutdown Ale at a very high 9.6 percent ABV. Something that I'd rarely get a pint of at a craft pub. The only regret I feel is the agony my tongue might be going through once I actually drink it. That's about as far as I go in that area.

I've mentioned many times on this blog that the beer I have is almost treated like money I don't always want to spend. Just imagine Scrooge McDuck swimming in all of his money on an episode of Ducktales. That's pretty much me under the kitchen table (where most of my beer is stacked).

 

The Search is Off

This week is certainly turning out to be some collection of local shout-outs. I'm sure there are some out there (especially those receiving said shout-outs) that aren't bothered by it at all. I've been searching for a particular case of beer for the better part of a year. I came to the assumption that it wasn't distributed to this side of Pennsylvania even though it was brewed in Philadelphia.

Yesterday morning I got a tweet telling me that it was finally possible to claim a case of this beer for myself. A mission had finally come to an end. I honestly couldn't believe it.

@burghbeersnob your unicorn has arrived twitter.com/BrewsOnCarson/…
— Brews on Carson (@BrewsOnCarson) April 22, 2013

I have a sort of Mount Rushmore of beer gods here in Pittsburgh. The first two that come to my head are the owner of Blue Dust Jerry Miller and the publisher of Craft Pittsburgh Magazine Tim Russell. Miller seems to be able to pull any strings he wants to get the beer that he wants for his gastropub. Russell's publication has done a lot in promoting the local beer scene here in the city.

Bringing some cases of the Tavern Spruce to Pittsburgh elevates Jake Nickman, the owner of Buddy's Brews on Carson to such a status (might not count as anything to you but it sure as hell does for me). His bringing in of this lost Yards beer reminded me of Miller finagling a ton of pumpkin brews for his outdoor pumpkin festival late last fall. Oh yea, there's also a ton of beer to choose from as well as a cool automatic door when you're carrying out your case.

Maybe a beer review tomorrow?

My Old Pennsyltucky Home

If you were able to try the three collaboration brews during last year's Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, there's no doubt that you're looking forward to the ones that are being anticipated for this year's celebration. Craft Pittsburgh Magazine's Twitter account tweeted a photograph of the tap handles for this year's brews.

Tap markers for this year's #PCBW collaboration brews: twitter.com/CraftPittsburg…
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) April 10, 2013

I honestly didn't even remember that some local breweries and home brewers would once again be working together to produce another set of beers. The tweet reminded my of this facet of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week and prompted me to actually head to the event website to read as much as I can about the beers.

Two of these brews caught my eye and sparked a little interest. First was Fear of a Black Walnut which has a few brewers working on it from North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock. This brew is going to be a smoked walnut oatmeal stout. I always have to take an interest with anything North Country does. After all, I did go to school there. The second was Pennsyl-tucky Uncommon which is labeled as a PA Swankey/Kentucky Common on the event website. Scott Smith of East End Brewing is apparently playing a big role in that project. I am on a roll with drinking some of East End's stuff lately. So, I'll definitely be trying to get some of this very uncommon brew.

What the Hell is Kentucky Common?

Reading the beer styles on the photograph in the original tweet caused me to immediately start looking as to what Kentucky Uncommon actually is/was. Honestly, the best thing I found was the Wikipedia entry. The only thing it really says is that it was traditionally a dark beer.

The second question you're probably asking is about the PA Swankey style that was noted on the tap handle and the event website. What I do know is that North Country brewed something called Keystone Swankey and it was a California Common (i.e. steam beer). In essence, I'm not really sure what this beer is supposed to be. Still, I'm interested in finally finding out and trying it for myself.

A Good Place to Hang During PCBW

I did the same last year and I'll do the same this time around. I always try to give a shout out to my favorite craft pub, Blue Dust near the Waterfront shopping complex. Stop in on April 25 for a double-dosage of craft tasting. Bell's and Troegs will be there. Some awesome flights will be available. On April 27, Founders Brewing will be there for a tasting and some sort of brunch event. I'm told that All Day IPA will be featured. I'm not sure when the Founders brunch starts, but the Troegs/Bells one starts at 7 p.m.

Brew Links: Week of 9/28

Just thought I'd pass along a few interesting beer-related links I found over the past week or so. Here's a quick round-up of what I found.

The craft pub I'm always raving about is planning a pumpkin beer festival on an empty lot beside the bar in Homestead. Aside from the place being amazing, its web presence isn't exactly the best out there (it's not like it really needs some anyway). So, the best piece of information in terms of this festival is the Facebook Event  they created.

Full Pint Brewing in North Versailles announced via its Twitter account that a new pumpkin beer would be tapped at the brewery this weekend as well as finding its way to outside parties within the next week. It's looking like this is a draft-only.

The Carson Street Deli's planned renovations are looking to now be under way. From what I can find, The Deli intends to not only give the place a new look, but to up the tap list to 20 brews, including 12 Pittsburgh beers.

This was news a few months ago, but it's started to poke through in the national media yesterday. The Rogue beer that's to be made with yeast from the brewmaster's beard is being talked about once again. I'm assuming they're getting closer to actually starting work on this? Interesting. (Via Beer Pulse)

Big Pour Pre-Tasting at Blue Dust

Just as I said, I did make it down to Blue Dust on Friday evening to partake in the second night of the bar's Big Pour Pre-Tasting event. Craft breweries that were featured on Friday included Troegs, Victory and Dogfish Head.

The night was lead-off by the tapping of a Flying Mouflan firkin while it was on the bar. That was an exciting way to begin the event, even though I'm not the world's biggest fan of barley wines. It wouldn't have mattered to me what was in that firkin.

I decided to go with the Victory Flight since I have been wanting to try its Golden Monkey for a while now. The flight also included its new Festbier and I'm always up for trying a new Oktoberfest. The third brew that was aside the other two was Hop Wallop.

I was slightly disappointed with what I tried. The Golden Monkey I had seemed watered-down, the Festbier didn't taste anywhere close to an Oktoberfest and if any beer has "hop" in its name the odds are I won't like it.

I was also confused as to the true identities of both the Festbier and Hop Wallop. They both were hoppy as all hell. In my opinion, one thing that can screw up the tasting potential of a decent Oktoberfest is way too much hops. To be frank, I couldn't tell which I was drinking because of the intense hop presence. Look for more details on these brews when I actually get a chance do review them individually.

Blue Dust to Have Big Pour Preview Tasting

For all of you out there that half to work and miss the Big Pour this weekend (myself included) Blue Dust is having two nights of preview tastings on Thursday and Friday evenings, according to the bar's Facebook page.

Beers from the following breweries will be present on Thursday: Great Lakes, Ommegang and Southern Tier. On Friday, you can expect to see Troegs, East End, Bell's and Dogfish Head.

From what I can read and what I've been told, some really good brews will be there to be sampled such as Southern Tier's Pumking and Creme Brulee, Dogfish's Punkin and Great Lakes Burning River.

I will try to be present for one of these tasting nights. More likely to be there on Friday rather than Thursday. I'll be in the fedora. Come and say hello.

Post No. 150: A Case of Nostalgia

Compared to numerous other beer and food pairing blogs out there, this one is still in its infancy when I say that this is my 150th post. I figured that I should pick out a few of my favorite images I've gathered and posted on this blog to highlight some of my beer drinking and food eating adventures.

This one is from my Troegs Nugget Nectar review. From my recollection, this is one of the first beer reviews I did with my current digital camera. It was taken the night the beer was tapped at Blue Dust in Homestead, which means it was one of the first tappings of Nugget Nectar in all of Pittsburgh.

When you blow the picture up, you can see the detail in both the body and the carbonation of the beer. Nugget Nectar appears to have a lovely color as well. To me, this looks like a perfect pour. The crown of the beer looks well bogged down in the top of the glass and I also love how the beer seems to poke out from the darkness like it's some holy entity.

I fell in love with this image as soon as I uploaded the set from the camera. I've grown to enjoy looking at it so much, that I've tried to incorporate it into many of the backgrounds I've experimented with over the last year or so that I've been writing this blog.

This next one is from my post about a visit to Fat Head's Pittsburgh. After trying a few great beers on tap, my stomach was craving one of my favorite aphrodisiacs, chicken wings. Upon checking out the sauces Fat Head's had available I saw the intriguing Jalapeno Cheddar flavor.

I had to try them. The sauce is pretty much spicy cheese sauce with jalapeno chunks spread about in it, but it was an adventurous meal.

Did you think I was really going to have only one photograph featuring a lovely-looking beer? This is a really dark one, but also extremely delicious. It's from my Mary's Maple Porter review a few months back.

It was just a limited-release by Brooklyn Brewery and I was lucky to sample it, once again at the craft beer capitol of Pittsburgh, at Blue Dust.

I sometimes find it fascinating to stare at the heads of darker beers and inspect the different shades of beige and off-white colors they exhibit.

This one had a head that was more than the thickness of two fingers and was so bubbly. It had such an interesting texture. Complimenting the head was one dark abyss of a body.

The taste of this beer was pretty awesome. If I could pour this over pancakes in the morning, I'm sure it would be an enhancement from syrup.

The next two are from a few very recent posts, both of which were on my trip to Gettysburg. This burger shot is from the town's newest bar and grill joint, the Blue and Gray Bar and Grill. If you read my post about it, you'll see a few examples of the exotic, Civil War themed burgers the place has on its menu.

This one was in a typical southern tradition and featured peanut butter and bacon. One of the best burgers I've ever eaten. There's plenty more where that came from.

This last one is from my recent review of Appalachian Brewing's Cream Ale. I've been known to have some sort of an attraction to beers with foaming heads in pint glasses, but this one was a different take.

The beer's head wasn't as active as some others are, but was just thick enough to appear as an appetizing layer of cream. The beer's body was hazy and opaque, but it just had an effervescence to it that was extremely appealing. The deep gold in the body and the white creminess of the head played off of each other well. The rustic atmosphere in the photograph's background doesn't hurt either.

 The sweetness on the front and the hop character and tanginess on the back also helped me love this beer.

PCBW Event That Jumps Out

If you've been highly anticipating the arrival of Pittsburgh's inaugural craft beer week, then there's no doubt you've been eying up some of the scheduled events in between this Friday and next Saturday.

There are now well over 300 craft beer events, tastings and dinners planned. One I keep coming back to is the Rogue Ale and Cheese Pairing at Blue Dust on April 27.

It's denoted on the event's page that there will be a portion of the event dedicated to which cheese should be paired with the well-known Voodoo Maple Bacon Ale go with, which is the most intriguing aspect of it for me.

I've been told that the ale isn't something to get that excited about, but I'm still interested in trying it for myself. Some interesting pairings can't be a bad thing either.

I'm also looking into attending quite a few more of the events, schedule permitting.
View Larger Map