Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Plate: by Bob Batz Jr.
It’s that time of the year that one of my homebrewer and beer enthusiast friends describes as “more events than I can attend season.” Otherwise known as Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week.
Starting Friday and running through April 24, the promotion of the region’s craft beer industry -— in its fifth year — crams more than 300 events onto its online schedule (at pittsburghcraftbeerweek.com). This year there’s once again a printed guide -— available at local breweries, bars and distributors -— and, for the first time, an app to help you find your way with your smart phone.
But there still are more events than humanly possible to attend, so you’ll want to do some planning to find the ones that appeal to you and fit your schedule.
Do try some or all of the collaboration brews. We already wrote (in Sunday’s Post-Gazette) about the half-dozen-plus creative beers that have been brewed especially for events this week by teams of craft breweries, with established ones teaming with some of the more than a dozen that plan to open this year.
All of the collaborations are to be on tap for the “Unofficial Kickoff” starting at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Caliente in Bloomfield. (Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Homestead, meanwhile, is holding a Kickoff Party from 6 to 10 tonight.)
The collabs include Plum Puckered, a fruit saison brewed (with three barrels of plum puree) by Rivertowne Brewing with the help of Bloom Brew, Hop Farm Brewing and Reclamation Brewing.
All of those places will have some to pour during the week. Rivertowne will serve some at its annual Meet the Brewers of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week event from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday at Rivertowne North Shore, where at least 20 local brewers are expected, and they’ll all be bringing brews for the Pittsburgh brewery tap takeover.
