The reminders of the building’s past are still there. A row of heavy firefighters’ turnout coats hanging in one corner. A pile of coiled canvas hoses stacked under a metal stairway behind the bar.
But the conversion of the building that had been Homestead’s old fire station to Voodoo Brewing’s first Pittsburgh-area pub — the first one, actually, other than the original at the brewery’s home in Meadville — was thorough, from the long bar and the floor-to-ceiling menu blackboard to the beer hall-style tables fashioned from old shipping pallets. The space is quirky and inviting, like the beers that Voodoo has been turning out for years.
The pub’s presence should work out well for fans of the brewery who can’t make regular trips to Crawford County, because we’re going to get some draft-only beers we don’t usually get to sample here. Our visit included tastes of the latest in the brewery’s single-hop series, as well as Hail To Pitt, a hop-forward Homestead exclusive that tastes like it’s loaded with resinous simcoe.
Voodoo partner Jake Voelker said the pub has so far been embraced by the community, from people who volunteered to help with renovations to the space to shot-and-a-beer neighborhood guys who just wanted to get a look at the old municipal building. The century-old building that was the hub of Homestead could be that again.
Post-Gazette coverage of Voodoo Homestead: