Tag Archives: beer

A Doggone Good Day With Beer

On one of the first warm days after what has been never-ending and cold winter, we got to go outside and take our dog to the dog park (in our case, the Highland Park Dog Run). And thank goodness we got to go out; our little dog has been chomping at the bit after being limited to short walks. The dog park was super muddy, which made it even more fun!

Tennis Ball + Dog = ❤❤❤❤❤❤

Our adventure was your pretty standard with a long classic game fetch; i.e., we throw a ball, and our dog, kind of, brings it back.

After forty minutes of running around in the mud it was time to head home, wind down, and just hang out. Luckily, we recently got our hands on a special mix of beers from Great Lakes Brewing Company, which included: Dortmunder Gold Lager, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Turntable Pils, Commodore Perry IPA, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, and Holy Moses White Ale. While we can’t deny that we have an affinity for beer made right here in Pittsburgh, the Steel City is a diverse powerhouse that has stepped out onto the national stage, we, of course, have access to beer from all over, like from our neighbors in Cleveland, Ohio.

Amongst these tasty brews, we found ourselves lost in thought when drinking the Dortmunder Gold Lager. It has the drinkability of an American lager with a subtle depth of flavor. A light underlying sweet maltiness is complemented by a touch of bitterness that results in a smooth medium-bodied beer that perfectly fits with our day. It’s the kind of beer that makes you want to be outside taking in some sun or hanging on the porch with your four-legged friend in your lap (well maybe not in your lap until your pup has had a bath to remove all that mud!). While we do like lots of different types of beer on this day this lager is totally ours. The only thing that would make the day better would be to add pierogi to go with this beer.

Dortmunder Gold Lager

You can fetch Great Lakes Brewing Company beer (yeah pun!) here in Pittsburgh by using the following link: www.greatlakesbrewing.com/beer-finder. (On this list, is the Tipsy Cow that allows dogs in their outside seating).

 

Bonus: Swag

Great Lakes Brewing Company is also giving away swag. Who doesn’t love swag?

Here’s how:
Go on the Twitter or Instagram machine
Post Great Lakes Brewing Company brew is yours – perhaps with a photo or video and tag @IheartPGH, @GLBC_Cleveland, and #GLBCisMine
Await contact for some super awesome swag.

 

Disclaimer: You must be 21 to drink alcohol in the state of Pennsylvania. We were asked to try this beer and we really did like the Dortmunder Gold.

Our night at Pennsylvania Beer Alliance’s PGH Beer Blogger Dinner

We love beer, and so we were happy to have been invited to the PGH Beer Blogger Dinner last Wednesday on December 6th. The event, presented by the Pennsylvania Beer Alliance (PBA), a full-service trade association representing the wholesale tier of distributors of malt and brewed beverages in PA, featured beers from Fat Head’s Brewery and Great Lakes Brewery paired with dishes from Lot 17 where the event was hosted.

At the beginning of the event, attendees were given a packet full of PBA related information, including a document that indicated the economic impact of the beer industry here in Pennsylvania. According to this one-pager, Brewing, Beer Wholesaling, and Beer Retailing contribute 36,512 jobs, more than $1.2 billion in wages, and $4.1 billion in economic output for PA. The document also indicated the economic impact on other industries, including agriculture and construction. Please feel free to review this document for yourself below.

After introductions from Alyssa Gorman, Communications and Outreach Coordinator for PBA, the pairing of six beers and six dishes began.

Starting things off was Fat Head’s Holly Jolly (ABV 7.5%) paired with a sweet potato skin with maple bacon drizzle. The pleasant smell of nutmeg came through on Fat Head’s Holly Jolly, and the taste was very smooth. This holiday brew went well with the candied maple atop the potato skins. It’s the kind of pairing you’d want during the gift-giving season.

Up next was Fathead’s Headhunter IPA (ABV 7.5%) paired with Swedish meatballs. The Headhunter IPA is crisp and delicious. The yummy taste is so distracting, it made us forget to take a photo of this pairing as well as made it hard to taste the flavors found in the meatballs.

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter(ABV 5.8%) came next paired with a porter beef stew in a bread bowl. This pairing is the kind you need when you’re snuggling up by the fire. The double porter flavor from both the beer and stew will warm you up, and the bread bowl’s starch will lull you into a well-deserved winter sleep.

Just past midway in the night’s pairing event came Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale (ABV 6%) served with a portobello mushroom and crab meat. Those who drink beer as much as we do will understand the complexities of switching from a porter to a pale ale. If you’re not familiar, just know, porters tend to coat your taste buds pretty well. That being said, the Burning River Pale Ale is the kind of beer that you can drink all day and all night. We actually began our evening and finished our evening with this solid beer.

Great Lakes was up next with its own Christmas Ale (ABV 7.5%) paired with rosemary filet slider on a brioche bun. Great Lakes Christmas Ale goes with cinnamon as its holiday spice. The sugar-sweet taste went well with the savory meat found in the sliders. The Christmas Ale, along with the new friends found at the event, definitely got us into the holiday spirit.

Finally, Fat Head’s Bumbleberry(ABV 5.3%) served with a berry bread pudding closed out the night. The Bumbleberry has a strong blueberry smell, is soft and refreshing, and goes with Lot 17’s must-have bread pudding. If you’re seeking a perfect way to end a romantic winter evening, do yourself a favor and order Fat Head’s Bumbleberry with Lot 17’s Berry Bread Pudding.

All and all, this was a pretty fantastic event. Although it’s pretty hard to mess up anything with beer and food, we’d like to toast PBA for inviting us. The brews from Fat Head’s and Great Lakes overall were pretty fantastic and covered a wide range of flavors, any of which would make a Pittsburgh winter day, merry and bright. If you’re interested in trying any of the beers or dishes noted from this event, swing by Lot 17 in Bloomfield.

Ice Cream Sundays at East End Brewing

One of the best kept patio secrets in Pittsburgh, is the patio at the East End Brewing Brewery in the Larimer neighborhood. Last year they transformed the parking lot into a delightful beer garden.

The East End Brewing Brewery has always been a family-friendly spot for spending an afternoon. The patio makes this a great place for everyone to spend a hot summer afternoon with a cold beer (or root beer, which they usually have on tap). Just a heads up that East End Brewing also has a location in the Strip District, the East End Brewing Taproom, so make sure to point your GPS to the East End Brewing Brewery on Julius Street if you are looking for ice cream.

Ice Cream Sundays at East End Brewing

Well the good folks over at East End Brewing have come up with a way to make Sunday afternoons even better… ice cream. Starting this Sunday, July 9, there will be a different ice cream vendor at the brewery.

Here is the line up of tasty frozen treat vendors….

Keep an eye out for some limited-edition beer-inspired flavors of ice cream and my sources say there may even been some beer & ice cream floats.

If you aren’t an eat dessert first kind of person, the Tango Food Truck will be on site each week* so you can have something savory before a sweet treat.  *(Tango food truck will not be at the Brewery on August 6.)

Good Beer, Delicious Ice Cream, Really Nice Neighbors

I can’t say enough good things about East End Brewing. Scott Smith who is the owner as well as everyone who works there could not be nicer. This is by far one of my favorite businesses in town and they also make some great beers. If you have not yet had an ice cream sandwich from Leona’s Ice Cream, you are missing out. Last week I arrived at the market in Aspinwall, Feast on Brilliant, just as they were closing for the day. I was determined to pick up some Leona’s ice cream sandwiches. So I talked the poor clerk into letting me come inside to buy some ice cream sandwiches before they locked the door. Like Scott Smith, the owners of Leona’s are also incredibly nice people. Leona’s is also local, just down the street in Wilkinsburg, they have been an active participant in some of the redevelopment activities.

The best way to keep up on the Ice Cream Sundays at East End Brewing and all of the other food vendors that stop by the brewery is this “Come Hungry” calendar on their website, which is also a Google calendar you can subscribe too as well.

What’s that you say? You need a better way to keep track of tasty cool treat happenings? How about a twitter list of ice cream shops in Pittsburgh! You can find that list right here.

 

Steel City Pizzafest Starwars

Steel City Pizzafest #2 – Za Wars!

The Second Steel City Pizzafest of the season.  ZA Wars! Now we will have Craft Beers!

Free to the public (you pay for food and drinks). All ages. Dog friendly. Family friendly. Local Celebrity pizza judges. We have the whole block of 56th next to the brewery. Parking in Shop n’Save lot. Cheers!
May the Sauce be with you!

  • Pizza Eating Contest at 2pm (Spak Bros. Pizza)
  • Judging at 5pm
  • Rain or Shine
  • Lots of craft vendors!

The Pizza Shops participating in Steel City Pizzafest #2

  • Pizza Taglio
  • Benny Fierro’s
  • Riveria Pizza
  • Pittsburgh Pizza Truck
  • Demore’s
  • Supreme Pizza
  • Calente
  • Frank’s
  • Grazziano’s
  • Pissaro’s

Pizzafest Music! 4 live bands.

  • Photo Joe and the Negatives.
  • Lofi Delphi
  • Love Dumpster
  • Elkhound

Learn more about Pizzafest

Healing garden larimer pittsburgh

Help East End Brewing Build a Healing Garden on Sat. Oct. 3

I'd like to cycle with good firends who like good beer!

East End Brewing Cycling Jersey

One of the many good people that I have gotten to know through writing a blog about Pittsburgh, it Scott Smith, owner of East End Brewing.  The tagline for East End Brewing is “Buy a Good Friend a Good Beer.” Not only does East End Brewing make some good beers, but they quietly do lots of good stuff for the community. Last Christmas, when I was working with lots of other good Pittsburghers to deliver literally thousands of toys in time for Christmas, Scott sent a tweet offering to lend a hand. Within hours, he showed up with truck, pallet jack and beer, of course. I thought it would take 20 minivans and at least 5 hours to move the toys over to the North Side. With Scott’s help – we were done in 60 minutes. That is just one of my personal stories of some of the good Scott and East End Brewing brings to Pittsburgh.

East End Brewing is working to help one of their neighbors spruce up a vacant lot in Larmier and could use your help this Saturday.

Help Build a Healing Garden
Saturday, October 3, 2015
10am-1pm
160 Meadow Street, Pittsburgh, PA
FREE but please RSVP here.

Here is the request from Scott:

Healing garden larimer pittsburghThis event is a little outside of the normal “Super Cool Thing at the Brewery that involves beer” type of event. Instead, we’re looking to help out a true leader in our Larimer Community, Miss Betty Lane, to continue a project we helped out with a while back.

We (with lotsa help from you guys!) cleared an overgrown city lot that had been overgrown with invasive plants and other debris. And now, it’s time to turn that same lot into something special… A Healing Garden, for everyone in the community to use and enjoy for years to come! Here’s a description of the plan for the day… We will be using clay and rocks to line a freshly dug pond and build a fountain. There may be some plantings to be done as well. This is not technical work, it’s child’s play with a little direction. The pond is to be a major feature of the larger Healing Garden at 160 Meadow St as a peaceful nurturing place and ecological oasis. People of all ages are invited to help.
If you’d like to come out and help improve a Pittsburgh neighborhood that needs your help, work with people who are making Pittsburgh a better place, one lot at a time, now is your chance! And we’re happy to provide you with a little refreshment to toast your hard work, after it’s all done.