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#PCBW collab Beard of Bees creates a buzz

Beard of Bees, a collaboration between Spoonwood and Apis, debuted on Saturday at Spoonwood … and the buzz was noticeable.

This imperial honey porter spent a few months stewing in Wild Turkey bourbon barrels. By the time we got our first tastes on Saturday, the beer had become a beast with sweet finish: boozy and woody, with huge roasted notes smoothed out by the honey.

For beer, it’s the best week of the year

Even with a slightly pared-down schedule, the prospect of mapping out Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week activities seems daunting.

But I’m going to give it a shot anyway.

The sixth edition of the region’s craft beer showcase gets started Friday with the Commonwealth Press Beer Barge, a floating festival that sold out in seconds again this year, and wraps up with the third edition of the Brewers’ Olympics, the contest held at Grist House. I’ll be at both of those (and as of this moment, you can still get tickets to the Grist House event).

The rest of the week isn’t so tidy, at least not for me. Organizers had a goal of looking for quality events rather than hitting a specific number; they did that successfully, but there are still plenty of instances when it could be tough to choose between two or three good ones going on at the same time. But at the most basic level, beer week is about two things: events and beers, so let’s break it down that way.

A highlight every year is the collaboration beers brewed by teams from multiple breweries. There are a bunch this year, but in a new wrinkle, they all have two things in common: each beer had to contain honey malt and 007 hops, an experimental variety from Idaho. That was a nudge away from the norm, and the teams reacted appropriately. The geekiest of beer geeks will know what a grisette is (and if you don’t, make sure to track down the Men at Works collab from Church Brew Works and Butler Brew Works). But do you know what a sahti is? I didn’t, Turns out it’s a delicious ancient style with roots in Finland; the Buzzerker, from Rivertowne and King View Mead, reminded me of a slightly herbal barleywine. But as you run down the list of collabs — I got to taste most of them at a preview event last week — you won’t find a bad one in the bunch, and that’s a testament to the brewing talent we have in town.

And those are just the official collabs. As you poke around during the week, you’ll find others. I’ll make a special trip to Caliente in hopes of getting a taste of Won’t You Be My Neighbor IPA, a collab with Helltown. And on Saturday, I plan on stopping by Spoonwood for a taste of barrel-aged Beard of Bees, a collab with Apis Mead and Winery.

If you’re more of the hands-on type, you should get out to South Park on Saturday morning; that’s where members of Three Rivers Underground Brewers will host a homebrewing class and demo for the second year in a row. The classroom portion of the event comes with a fee (it’s worth it, boys and girls — these are some of the best brewers in town); after noon, though, you’re welcome to stop by and watch as these folks brew and answer your questions. There is also plenty of homebrewed beer there to sample.

Leave it to Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery to up the creativity on their new offering for 2017. The same folks who brought you Brewtal, last fall’s beer and heavy metal fest, have dreamed up PCBW’s first video game tournament and craft beer combo festival, to benefit Variety Pittsburgh. Contestants will play Super Mario Cart or Mortal Kombat 2 on big screens, non-contestants can drop quarters on some old-school games that will be wheeled in for the event … and everyone can enjoy a lineup of local beers.

That doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, but it’s a start. You can also find me having breakfast at Piper’s Pub on Wednesday and dinner with my friends from Grist House there on Thursday. And I think I’ll venture up to Cranberry on Tuesday to get my first look at Pig Iron Public House … and a taste of a comic book beer.

What will you be up to during beer week? Let me know with the tag #PGBeerMe and I’ll see you out there.

Post-Gazette coverage of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week 2017:

Bonus Beer Me: Saying goodbye to Bocktown

Bocktown Beer and Grill wasn’t the first craft beer bar in Pittsburgh. It was never the biggest, nor did it have the most taps.

But there aren’t many other places in town that have done as much for local craft brewers, especially the guys who are just starting out. There would’t be many places that have done more to make craft beer accessible for those giving them a try for the first time.

And I don’t think there is anyone who has done as much to help me get to know craft beer and the people who have built our incredible community here.

Difficulties with her lease led Chris Dilla to announce the closure of the original Bocktown. But my hope is that it won’t be long before she’s back in the business in one way or another.

It looks like you have through the end of the month to grab one last beer at Bocktown and give Chris your best wishes. Make sure you don’t miss that chance.

Five years, dozens of beers — that’s Beer Week

pcbw pipers chalk board

When you reach a five-year milestone, it feels right to take a moment and reflect on the path that got you there. And if you think back to the first Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week — especially if you do so right after completing the fifth — you’ll understand just how far the industry has come in that time.

Were there a dozen Pittsburgh-area craft breweries back then? And will there be three or four times that many by the end of 2016?

As we learned last week, it’s not just the number that should leave an impression. It’s the quality of the beer as well. Just look at this year’s collaboration beers: breweries that haven’t yet opened or got started in the last six months contributed to five of the seven official collaborations, and all were excellent.

Summarizing my beer week is always a tough task. But let’s give it a try.

Favorite events: I made a point to try to get to some new stuff (to me, anyway), and I liked everything I got to. A standout was Oysterfest, the annual party under the Homestead Grays Bridge put on by Blue Dust — and I’m not even a fan of oysters, although the festival’s namesakes drew huge lines all afternoon. The beer choices were unique — don’t pass up a chance to try stuff from Shawnee Craft Brewing as it shows up around here, boys and girls — and there were plenty of food trucks for those who didn’t want oysters. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Summer Craft Brewhaha, a summer seasonal preview held at Altar Bar; the selection was far from predictable and the space worked out better than I expected. I hit some staples as well: the annual Wednesday beer breakfast at Piper’s Pub featured an extra delicious menu this year, perhaps in celebration of its spot on the calendar (April 20, ahem); the Helltown Brewing cask takeover at Piper’s, this year with beef braised in the brewery’s Mischievous Brown Ale as the dinner special; and if I can help it, I will never miss an edition of the Brewers’ Olympics, the event at Grist House that puts a perfect cap on the week.

Favorite beers: Here’s a great sign — the collaboration beers are more consistently good every year. With one slightly embarrassing caveat — that this North Side resident never got a taste of the Mash Paddle vs. Hipster India Red Lager collab from Penn, Spring Hill, War Streets and Allegheny City — I’ll say that the standout among the collaborations was Greenfield Bridge is Falling Down, the deliciously juicy Vermont-style IPA from Spoonwood, Helltown and two newcomers: Helicon and Dancing Gnome. I loved all of the other collaborations, but I have to give specific mention to one more, mostly because I made such a big deal about it in my beer week previews: white stouts — like Prospero, from Rock Bottom, Hitchhiker, Bloom Brew and and Eleventh Hour — work wonderfully, even if one’s brain can’t figure out in advance how a white stout might work. A few others: I really liked 5 Point Black IPA, the collaboration between Carson Street Deli and Rock Bottom; Big Boots Gose, a margarita-esque effort from the women of Pittsburgh’s Pink Boots Society; and as it starts to get warmer, be on the lookout for Grapefruit Chinookee IPA from Full Pint — it was a standout at the summer festival.

We need more than a week for Pittsburgh beer

beerweek growlers

Let’s get one thing straight right at the top: Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week isn’t just a week.

I count 11 days, from the kickoff party at Rock Bottom in Homestead on April 14 through the end of the Brewers’ Olympics at Grist House in Millvale on April 24. And while I didn’t count the scheduled events, I’m told there are once again more than 300 on the list.

And that seems about right for a region that will have somewhere near 40 breweries by the end of the year.

PCBW can seem overwhelming, sure. But it’s also the best time of the year to get a sense of what craft beer lovers have going for us in Western Pennsylvania. There are collaboration beers — seven of them officially, more if you count unofficial efforts — and beers brewed especially for the occasion. But you’ll also have a chance to get a sense of what our breweries — both those that are established and those that soon will be — are all about.

With all of the newcomers on the way, I’m especially excited about the preview opportunities available this beer week, the PCBW’s fifth. For example: North Side new guys War Streets, Allegheny City and Spring Hill have teamed up with big brother Penn Brewing for one of the official collaborations, an India Red Lager called Mash Paddle vs. Hipster; Helicon, Eleventh Hour, Dancing Gnome, Mindful and Reclamation — all either just-starteds or almost-readies — all have contributed to collabs as well. And if you take a look at the official schedule — at the PCBW site or on its iOS or Android app — you’ll see lots of preview events, many at 99 Bottles in Carnegie or at one of the Bocktown Beer and Grill locations.

You’ll find me at some of those previews, for sure. You’ll also likely see me enjoying a boozy confection on Saturday, having breakfast at Piper’s Pub on Wednesday, wrapping up the week at the Brewers’ Olympics next Sunday … and at a bunch of others in between.

It’s the best (a little bit longer than a) week of the year, boys and girls, and it’s ready to begin. See you out there.

Post-Gazette coverage of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week 2016: