An Autumn of Happy Hours

Draai Laag

I think Draai Laag is one of the coolest breweries in Pittsburgh. Their beers are remarkably unique and a testament to how far Pittsburgh has come since the days of Iron City and Rolling Rock. (Side note, Iron City is no longer brewed in Pittsburgh and Rolling Rock is no longer brewed in Latrobe. Iron City is now made at the site of the former Rolling Rock brewery in Latrobe and Rolling Rock is made in Newark, NJ by Anheuser–Busch InBev which is based in Belgium.)

Draai Laag, however, is actually brewed in Pittsburgh. Their beers are developed through a spontaneous fermentation process and are probably unlike most beer you've had in your life. (Unless you are a fancy beer snob.)

Their taproom in Millvalle offers some fantastic food. Pictured above are the "Bomb Mi" Tacos - a take on the classic Vietnamese sandwich and the walking taco - your standard taco ingredients haphazardly thrown in a bag of Doritos. The walking taco is basically the perfect food for the modern slob on the go.

Check out Draai Laag and be a part of the Pittsburgh beer renaissance!  (You can even walk home with a taco.)

Full Pint Wild Side Pub

I've been familiar with Full Pint's beer for many years.  They've been making some excellent products at their brewery in North Versailles for quite some time, but they just recently opened their Wild Side Pub in Lawrenceville. It actually has a separate dining room and bar, I walked into the dining room and was pretty confused at first.

My favorite Full Pint beer is their Belgian white that they market as White Lightening, but I also like the Milk Plus milk stout and the Rye Rebellion imperial stout. At their Wild Side Pub they offer a nice happy hour discount on their drafts as well as a number of flatbreads and sandwiches.

I ordered the Mexican pizza with chorizo, brown ale queso, provolone, jalepeno and onion. It was not shabby, but it's hard to imagine that anyone would go out of their way to eat at the Wild Side Pub with the plethora of dining options available in Lawrenceville.

Burgher's Lawrenceville

Burgher's just opened in  a very shiny new space in lower Lawrenceville. Their original location is in Harmony and I can only imagine that they are looking to expand further. I've been told for years that they have some of the best burgers in the city and I've always wanted to check them out.

Somehow, I blew it and didn't manage to order a burger. Burgher's offers a very nice happy hour menu which included sharp discounts on their fried chicken and their everything bagel dog.

I couldn't tell you exactly why I ordered the "everything bagel dog." Let's call it a morbid curiosity. Boy, was it delicious. I don't think I've ever enjoyed the combination of cream cheese and avocado, it is heavenly. The bacon also added a nice texture in addition to the "everything" seasoning.  I never knew I could like hot dogs, thank you Burgher's of Lawrenceville.

I should also note that their fried chicken is a steal at $2 a piece during happy hour!

TRES RIOS

The historic South Side of Pittsburgh does not want for Mexican options. There's La Palapa, Doce Tacqueria, Steel Cactus and Emiliano's. Emailiano's is actually the owner of Tres Rios.

I love the taco shells at Tres Rios. They offer a think homemade softer shell that is quite unique. Tres Rios is meant to be a more upscale option. Some of our favorites were the barbacoa, the duck tacos and the ceviche.

By the way, in case you wanted me to rank the Mexican restaurants in the South Side, here you go:

1) Doce
2) Emiliano's
3) La Palapa
4) Tres Rios*
5) Steel Cactus

*It should be noted that although Tres Rios appears next to Steel Cactus in my rankings, they are magnitudes apart in terms of quality.

City Brew Tours

Pittsburgh is the newest city to join the City Brew Tours family.  Their other cities include Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, Boston and Burlington. Apparently the owner, Chad Brodsky, got his start in Burlington running around town in lederhosen telling people to get into his suspicious van.

The current City Brew Tours van is much less suspicious and seats about 16 people. For $99 they will pick you up and drive you around to tour some of the following breweries: Spoonwood, Penn, Draai Laag, Cobblehaus, Couch, Allegheny City, Grist House, Aurochs and Hop Farm. They generally select which breweries your tour will visit, but can customize your tour upon request.

You can expect plenty to drink, some fun banter about the history of beer, an inclusive lunch paired with some local brews and a lot of information about the brewing process from the brewers themselves.





Auroch's was my second favorite stop of the day. It is located on Rt. 65, aka the Ohio River Boulevard in the last place you would look for a brewery. (Right next some establishment where you can wash your dog. How anyone would go somewhere other than their home to wash a dog makes no sense to me. Throw the beast in the tub or hose it off in the yard.)

An auroch is a type of extinct cow whose demise was thought to be brought on due to the expansion of agricultural development. The name is quite cute as Auroch's is a gluten free brewery. Their beer is made from quinoa and millet and uses a process that includes no gluten whatsoever. (Many other gluten free beers are made by stripping the gluten from the brew after the fact.) Their faux wheat beer and their session IPA were some of the best beers I tried on our tour. I could not even tell they were gluten free which was quite uprising.

I asked the brewers if they'd be interested in taking on a purine free beer. They didn't seem super interested. (The gout is brought on by the over consumption of purines which are extremely prevalent in beer.) The gout affects more people than gluten intolerance, and as such, I certainly hope to see some purine free beers in the US market soon. Several purine free beers exist in Japan, apparently they are not very good. For more information, check out this great reddit post.

We had a wonderful lunch at Hop Farm. As I said above, your lunch is included in your ticket price. We were treated to a buffalo chicken ceaser, soft pretzels, a beef slider and some gouda beer mac.  Each course was paired with a different beer, you can check out the pairings on the menu above. If you've been following my musings closely you are already aware that I simply love the food at Hop Farm and I have many nice things to say about them.

Carl hated all the beers. (I'm just kidding, he seemed to really enjoy them.) My favorite beers of the day were served by Draai Laag. I've always though of Draai Laag as a small time operation that played second fiddle to Millvalle's  Grist House. Boy was I wrong. Draai Laag is actually distributed in some 39 states throughout the country. Their beers are uniquely sour and yeasty in a way that makes me tingle. I've started drinking their products basically anywhere I can find them, and I can't wait to go back.

Overall, I have to say the beer tour was excellent! A ton of great information and a wonderful excuse to get out and enjoy the city. If you are considering booking a tour, just do it. You'll absolutely enjoy yourself.