Sunday, September 16, 2007

Steel City Big Pour

Yesterday was the much anticipated 1st annual Steel City Big Pour at Construction Junction, located in Pittsburgh's North Point Breeze neighborhood. With your choice of two sessions (12-3pm and 5-8pm), it was an incredible festival of beer, food, music, and art. And if you ask me, it was worth every cent of the $30 entry fee. The second one had sold out, so we were lucky we got tickets in advance.

Adam, Leslie, and myself arrived at 5:30, having just gotten back late from a mountain bike ride. Construction Junction is basically a big warehouse, but the beer fest was confined to a small portion of the building. This festival was just as crowded as the State College Beer Expo, but at least the lines were considerably shorter. Inside the building was beer, food, and music; outside was porta-johns and hotmetalhappening, where they were making cool stuff out of molten iron.

Some of the highlights and favorites:
  • We started off at Sprague Farm Brew Works, where they had a full-size working fire engine with a kegerator built in and four taps on the back of it to serve their brew. They even cranked up the siren and lights a few times during the night.
  • Bocktown Beer & Grill - one of the few places in Pittsburgh with excellent beer AND food - was featuring their She Crab Soup. Having been born and raised in Maryland, I normally don't trust anything involving crab outside of my home state, but this rich and creamy soup was exceptionally good.
  • Great Lakes Brewing Company - this brewery has a solid portfolio of beer, and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter is no exception. It's a dark, rich, smoky porter.
  • Flame Barbeque - this seems like a Clem's-esque roadside BBQ pit, apparently located up the road in Shaler. Their pulled pork sandwich - albeit a bit salty - was one of the best I've ever had. Definitely try this place if you like BBQ pork.
  • East End Brewing Company - local brewer Scott Smith only had to travel a few blocks to get here, and he brought a nice selection of beer. The Big Hop Harvest Ale (a variety of the Big Hop, but with fresh hops added) was on tap, as well as a cask-conditioned Black Strap Stout. The Harvest Ale seemed like "it wasn't quite done," said Adam, but I still thought it was pretty decent. The Black Strap on cask was delicious.
  • Point Brugge Cafe - I noticed this cafe for the first time as I was riding to the Big Pour, and they had a really tasty roasted tomato/spinach dip for sampling. I think I will be paying them a visit sometime soon...
  • Legacy Brewing Company - just like Great Lakes, they have a great lineup of beer, and their Hoptimus Prime is a hophead's delight (pardon the cliche). But stay away from it if you hate hoppy beers - like Leslie.
  • Sharp Edge - this place is like Zeno's (yes, another State College reference), but roomier, smoke-free, and better food. And it's located within stumbling distance my apartment. They had some good cheddar/beer dip with pitas that kept us coming back all night.
  • The Taste of New Orleans Cafe - they claim to be authentic, but regardless, they had some kickass jambalaya. "We ain't playin', we cookin!" was their motto. I need to familiarize myself with East Pittsburgh so I can pay these folks a visit.
  • Last but certainly not least: Black & Tan ice cream from Oh Yeah! on Highland Avenue. These two scoops (one a Guinness-flavored ice cream and one a Bass-flavored, both made with the real thing) were the best I have ever tasted. Yes, even better than Penn State's University Creamery.
Plus, the kegerator art was pretty cool, and the band was decent. We were able to stay until about 8:30 before they started to kick us out. It was only the second beer fest I've been to, but it was (surprisingly) much more enjoyable than the State College one. It was the unique local food vendors who really made the difference. I can hardly wait for next year's Steel City Big Pour...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I thought the Black Strap Stout from East End Brewing Co. was the best brew of the night - simply delish!

Unknown said...

Mmmm, can come next year?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the nice review. I was the "main instigator" in organizing the Big Pour with tons of help from dozens of people and organizations, including the great people from Construction Junction. The idea for the event was developed by a bunch of the regulars from the Sharp Edge. We were tired of traveling ot other cities for beer fests. We are glad you enjoyed our handy work. The second annual Big Pour is scheduled for Septembeer 13th, 2008. See you there!

Anonymous said...

Snacky D! I just stumbled across all of this great info! Thanks for all the written support for great events such as the Steel City Big Pour, and Pumpkinfest at Bocktown! We are so glad there are great folks out there like you that 'get' beer! See you soon. Black Strap was my favorite of the day too... I snuck over for the very first pull from the hand pump! I will have to say that our booth was by Ommegang... and I had Rare Vos and Three Philosophers at my disposal too! Two fun dates mark on your calendar: September 13th, 2008 SCBP II and this December 19th at 6pm, Bocktown's Christmas Beer Showcase, free as usual.