A loud and buzzing crowd of industry peers and other friends and neighbors toasted the long anticipated if “soft” opening of East End Brewing Co.’s Mt. Lebanon taproom on Thursday night.
Owner and Mt. Lebanon resident Scott Smith warmly toasted them and the artists and craftspeople who helped decorate the space at 651 Washington Road in the heart of the South Hills town’s business district and just above Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail station.
Smith started the brewery in 2004 in Homewood and moved it in 2012 to Larimer, where the now O.G. craft beer maker produces a wide array of beers, cider, seltzers and soft drinks.
Those all were available at the invitation-only soft opening, along with wine and a couple of guest beers, as well as with a couple of the “East End Chewing” pizzas that will be served there, along with a selection of other dishes, soups and snacks.
The new space is to be (quietly) open this weekend, but for drinks only, though there will be soft pretzels as the taproom organizes its kitchen staff.
Watch for more opening details at https://www.eastendbrewing.com/taproom and on the company’s social media. (East End’s Good Wood Festival of barrel-aged beers of its own and a dozen other breweries is set for noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.)
Grand opening just up Washington Road/West Liberty Avenue in Dormont starting on March 16-18 is the taproom of Back Alley Brewing: https://www.backalleybrewingpa.com.
Another beery opening this weekend will be Monaca Brewing Co. in Beaver County, starting from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday. Two of its “community tap” guest beers will be East End — a doppelbock and North Oakland Steam Beer, and a full menu of food will be available from partner Steve and Benny’s. Get all the details at https://www.facebook.com/monacabrewing.
Among other openings that are brewing, Johnstown’s Stone Bridge Brewing Co. recently announced its plans to open a second location in Greensburg in April.
On the breweries you may not have gotten to yet, Trailhead Brewing Co. out in Rockwood, Somerset County, is celebrating its year anniversary this weekend.
As the Pittsburgh Independent first and happily reported, South Side’s landmark Piper’s Pub is open again, with limited hours and limited food. The place will be rocking this Saturday and Sunday for football.
Plans are coming together for another Three Rivers Craft Beer Week April 12 to 16.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
