Even if you put Christmas, Halloween and the Fourth of July together in one week, it’s not going to be as much fun as Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week.
The annual showcase of the region’s craft beer industry, now in its fourth year, gets started this weekend with collaboration beers, beer dinners, beer brunches and what has become the biggest bash of the week — the instantly sold-out Commonwealth Press Beer Barge.
And that’s only the first weekend.
The rest of the week keeps up a similar pace, with a dizzying list of events all the way through Sunday, April 26. This is the week when it becomes a little easier to track down some of those holy grail beers — you know, stuff like Founders’ Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout, Deschutes Abyss — when they show up at this week’s special events.
Even better? We get the full sense of exactly how good we have it here in western Pennsylvania. We have beers brewed specifically for this week. We have eight different collaboration beers, all made by the talented brewmasters we have in the region, available all over town.
Want some highlights? On Tuesday, you’ll probably find me at Carson Street Deli, which will host a mini firkin festival featuring Grist House and Hop Farm. Breakfast at Piper’s Pub on Wednesday is an excellent idea, especially if you don’t need to be productive later in the day. Thursday? Yikes — get to the South Side and plan on staying there.
Finally, don’t miss the Brewers’ Olympics at Grist House in Millvale on the week’s final day. You’ll pay $15 for the privilege of laughing at with our favorite brewers, and money raised during the event will go to help out the folks at Blue Canoe Brewery in Titusville get back on their feet after last month’s fire.
Are you ready? The fun’s about to begin.
Post-Gazette coverage of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week: