Church Brew Works - Pittsburgh, PA

 

-What is there to say about this place...it's a brewery built inside of an old church. This place is HUGE! So much space and the bar itself is just massive.  Depending on the time of day, you may get a strong yeast smell which doesn't make everyone in your party happy.

-I got the sampler of course, not much to say all the beers were good none stood out as AMAZING.  I actually preferred their pale ale over their IPA. But the sampler is worth trying.

-The pizza is fantastic, I've been twice and both times enjoyed it very much.

-All in all if you are in the area check this place out, it's got good food, good beer and just the scenery is fantastic..check out below.
-Check them out.. http://www.churchbrew.com/

Fat Heads Brewery - Pittsburgh, PA/Cleveland, OH

 

I visited both Fat Heads locations, Pittsburgh and Cleveland so I will just review both at once.  Their Headhunter IPA has won quite a few IPA contests.  We never really had it, so I decided to head down to Pitt to see what all the hype was about...and I can agree why it wins contests..it's PHENOMENAL.
Pittsburgh:
-The Fat Heads Saloon is located on East Carson which is a great strip of bars in downtown Pitt.  We stayed at the Double Tree which offers a free shuttle so it worked out beautifully.  After our beer buying trip around town we headed back to Fat Heads. It's a big place with a very nice bar.  Early in the day it's pretty dead, but at night its PACKED. 
-At lunch I had tried the Headhunter which was outstanding.  I also tried a Ballast Point Sculpin because I had heard how great it was and we didn't get it in Buffalo.
-Fat Heads has a great beer menu with lots to choose from. Not only do they have about 10 beers of their own, they also have about 20-25 guest taps.
-The food was okay, servings were WAY too much food but I guess that's why it's called FAT Heads.
-Upstairs is merchandise and beer where you can create your own six pack. There's only about 4 coolers full of beer and let me tell you it isn't cheap. A six pack of sculpin was about 40$..ouch.
-On my next trip to Pittsburgh we went back and enjoyed their delicious beer once again. However this time around we got to experience Sunshine Daydream and this was a fantastic beer. A session IPA, at only 5%. I've had session beers and this one kills them all.
-If you're looking to buy their beer they only sell the Headhunter and Blueberry in bottles, the rest you can get growlers filled, however it MUST be a Fat Heads growler (they will take your non-Fat Heads growler however and replace it with theirs for free). But you can purchase their bottled beer at Fat Heads or simply walk up East Carson and buy a case at the beer store down the street.
-Street parking only. Check them out...www.fatheadspittsburgh.com/

Cleveland:
-Fat Heads in Cleveland was probably double maybe even triple the size of the Pitt location. It has a massive bar, a small merchandise stand at the entrance and lots of seating.
-This location offers a 8 beer sampler, whereas the Pitt location does not offer any type of sampler.
-Just like in Pitt they had many of their own beers and also tons of guest taps.  
-As for the beer, once again I had Headhunter, but also got to try the IBUsive which was part of the reason for our trip. The IBUsive was no shocker...AMAZING! Brought home two growlers and 3 cases of Headhunter.
-This location also had much more merchandise for sale than the Pitt location.
-This location had LOTS of parking in a massive lot.
-This location felt much more like a restaurant/brewery than the location in Pitt which felt more just like a brewery/bar with some dinner tables set up. Check them out..www.fatheadscleveland.com

Pictures from Pitt location:

Cleveland Pictures

And all the goodies

Pittsburg, PA

Within the past 8 months I have visited Pittsburgh twice.  On both trips I hit up many breweries in Pittsburgh, neighboring cities and on the road back. The next few posts will cover all of these stops starting with those closest to Pittsburgh. But first I wanted to mention some non-brewery things within Pittsburgh.
-First off, we were unaware but you cannot walk into a beer store in Pittsburgh and buy a 6 pack, you have to buy a case. The only place to find six packs or singles is in a bar and the prices are usually doubled in those locations. On both trips we went to a place called McBrooms...we called ahead and they even held cases of Sculpin for us, great store with a great selection.
-Another interesting thing is you cannot fill a growler unless it is a growler with the name of THAT brewery on it. For example, if you walk into Fat Heads it must be a Fat Heads growler if you want to fill it.
-Beer store we stopped at was called House of 1000 Beers. Wasn't what I pictured but they have a very good beer selection.  They also have about 10 beers on tap to drink while you shop. (They get away selling singles and 6 packs because they technically are a bar).

-Food places included Fat Heads(read my Fat Heads review for details),
D's Six Pax & Dogz (awesome hot dogs and beer menu, they also have a great beer selection in the back for purchase, but pricey),
Piper's Pub (across the street from Fat Head's, they have great food and even better beer menu),
Beermuda Triangle (dive place, but have TONS of beer on tap just about everything and the food wasn't bad)

Primanti Bros (famous for their sandwiches, I honestly wasn't blown away but hey you gotta check it out if you're in Pitt, plus the bar side of the restaurant has a lot of beer),

-As for late night, East Carson Street is awesome. Fat Heads, Pipers Pub, and lots of other cool bars with awesome taps. However my favorite place was hands down Charlie Murdoch's Dueling Piano Bar, if you were into live music it is a TON of fun. We got their early and got seats at the front of the bar at the stage. Basically two guys perform lots of songs on the piano, then the whole band comes out and they rotate instruments and do about six songs, then the process is repeated all night. The beer is limited which sucks, and forewarning you CAN smoke inside, but other than that it is a BLAST.

Beer Trappe Beer Store - Lexington, KY

I threw this in here because if you do make it to Lexington, check out the Beer Trappe. It's a cute little beer store that has about 6 rotating taps and a decent selection of micro brews. Very nice and helpful workers also.Check them out! www.thebeertrappe.com/

 In the bathroom, just thought it was original!

West Sixth Brewery - Lexington, KY

 

On our way to Asheville we wanted to check out Lexington, KY for two breweries. Our first stop was West Sixth. Walking in, this place is huge. Lots of open space and very clean. It's only about a year old, but I was very impressed with the scene.

-Lots of board games to choose from to play with your friends, plenty of sitting room and a wrap around bar.

-The bartender was very nice and friendly.  They can a few of their beers and sell them in the cooler next to the merchandise. One major plus I will give them is the price of their merchandise.  The glasses were only 2 or 3$ depending on which type of glass.

-As for the beer..I tried a sampler. The Wheat was good. The Amber was a little different but very good.  The Brown was decent. Loved the IPA, it's one of the things they can so we bought some to take home.  The Stout was eh. The Tripel was good. Black IPA wasn't bad.  Irish Red was okay and the Double IPA was pretty thick but I liked it.

-Overall I highly recommend this place if you're ever in the area. Most the beers were very good and the setting is relaxing and nice. Check below for a video tour and pictures.
Check them out! www.westsixth.com/

Troegs Brewery - Hershey, PA

On our way home from Asheville we decided to spend a night in Hershey, PA since it is a long drive back to Buffalo.  Nugget Nectar was a staple in our family so why not go to the source? The GPS was not our friend, but after calling the brewery we realized we were just a minute away, it was right next to the outlets.  Tons of parking, this place is massive as you can see below. Check them out! https://www.troegs.com/

Walking in the gift shop is bigger than most breweries all together and it's on our right, straight ahead is the tasting room which is more like a restaurant. Lots of tables and bar space. We chatted with the bartender, very nice woman...she directed us to the food counter so we could order some grub.  Minutes later it was ready.

 As for the beer, I won't really review them since they are sold all over, but the Perpetual IPA tasted better than I've ever had. Unfortunately Nugget Nectar wasn't as good as we were used to but still good.  All of their other beers in the sampler were good though.

Food was all tasty, nothing was jaw dropping but for dinner it was a good amount of food and the prices were nice.

 I really liked that you can do your own self guided tour of the brewery. Of course the tour pops you out at the gift shop.

As for the gift shop, they offer more gifts than any place I've ever seen. You name they logo'd it. I do have one major complaint however. I went there with buying a Nugget Nectar tin sign in mind since I didn't want to pay shipping since I knew we would be going there.  Well the cashier said they're sold out. However there were two on the wall.  She stated the next order was coming in the next day. I asked if I could have one off the wall, she said they don't do that..okay I can understand its screwed into the wall and can be a pain. However, I would of hoped they would let me buy it that day and maybe give me free shipping? But no. So I tried ordering it online days later, willing to pay shipping and it wouldn't process my order. I get an email to call the brewery to complete the order.  I call the brewery an hour after they open, I'm told the manager is on lunch.  I leave my name and number..never got a call back. I refuse to BEG to give them my money, so I gave up.  

 With the exception of the poor management of the gift shop, I was there for the beer and wasn't disappointed, highly recommended to check out if you are ever in the Hershey area! The outlets, theme park and much more are all within a mile.

***Update (5/30/14): I visited Troegs again on our to AND from Philly since it was just THAT good. They had 4 Scratch beers on tap, 2 were Session IPAs and 2 were IPAs and they were all good with one of the IPAs being outstanding! Bought a bunch of growlers, and everyone in my group all kept saying how nice Troegs Brewery was.  It was packed both times we stopped, but it is a juggernaut and knows how to quickly serve it's customers! I would rank this easily in my top 10 breweries and it reassured me how great this place really is.