Pittsburgh or Bust (Friday)
Posted In Beer
No kids, no pets, no ankle bracelet monitoring my house arrest, so on Friday morning with no weekend plans, Pittsburgh came to mind.
East End Gratitude release Check
Pittsburgh Hofbrauhaus Check
Beer Passport event Check
Hotel room Priceline…
No beam me up Scotty… crap, I knew I forgot to pack something.
After a 4 hour drive among many slow, brake-happy drivers with broken turn signals, I arrived in
Steel City just after 8pm. My stomach has since eaten itself and my tongue was about the consistency of sand paper, so I headed to Church Brew Works for some “soul” food. The brewpub is the former St. John the Baptist church, a congregation established in 1878 to serve the emerging Irish and Scotch Catholic immigrants, a group well-known for consuming a pint or pitcher on occasion… The current location was erected in 1902 and survived a major fire and the Depression before being deserted by the Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1993. It remained empty for 3 years until it was remodeled and opened as The Church Brew Works in August 1996. There is a pew in the women’s restroom and the men’s commode hosted the former altar boy’s, where many a young man has been touched by the hands of God, or maybe a priest. By design, the steel and copper tanks of the brewing operations are located on the altar- worship this!
The setting is sublime. It’s as if the Beer Gods opened a bar for us to worship the four disciples of Malt, Yeast, Hops, and Water. Perhaps if craft beer had been served at church, I may have been more inclined to go. I grabbed a stool at the end of the bar and confessed I needed a sampler. The beers were hit or miss. It could have been a dirty glass, but some of them had a metallic tinge, especially noticeable in the Celestial Gold. 
The Black Gold Pepper Pale Ale was not really my taste, but it was unique and flavorful. I did enjoy the Coconut Porter, a sort of liquid Almond Joy. And the Thunderhop IPA didn’t appear to be that fresh but its citrus hoppiness is definitely my preference. The food was also average. The hummus was OK, but the pita triangles resembled communion wafers- a little stale. The Plantain Sandwich, one of the more unique menu choices, tasted more like Fried Durkee Onions on a roll with some mayo. The duck special of the night was inconsistently cooked. The rarer bites were good but it was drenched in some sort of overpowering ginger brown gravy. Friends made recommendations after I got back though- I heard good things about the untraditional pierogies and the wood fired pizza so let me steer your taste buds in that direction. It is also a divine place to drink, you can’t miss the fact that you’re drinking in church. My intent was a nightcap at Fat Heads but parking was nonexistent as was my energy.