With good beer and a little luck, Four Points Brewing is bound to find gold when it opens in the old Shamrock Inn on the North Side.
Dave Barbe, owner of the Charleroi-based business, is debuting the taproom at 919 Western Ave. on Friday, April 30. Weekend hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Recently occupied by Mana Boardgame Tavern, the space will have 10 beers on tap and seating inside and out for about 120 patrons. Four-packs will be available to go. Four Points has been selling takeout cans from the site since the end of March.
A rotating lineup of food trucks will provide the grub and patrons are welcome to bring in meals from nearby restaurants such as Peppi’s and Nicky’s Thai Kitchen. Barbe says they might offer an in-house menu soon.
Four Points Brewing — named after the four-pointed stars on the American Iron and Steel Institute’s logo — grew out of Fourth Street Barbeque, the eatery Barbe opened in Chaleroi nearly a decade ago. He wanted to offer a wide selection of local craft beers, but not many breweries delivered to the Mon Valley back then.
Barbe solved the problem by brewing his own beer in the building next door.
Four Points opened in July 2018. Brewmaster Adam Boura has been creating stellar IPAs and fruited sours using a five-barrel system, along with more traditional offerings such as brown ales, lagers and imperial stouts.
To kick off its grand opening weekend on the North Side, the crew is releasing two new beers. Pi: Apricot & Peach is brewed with milk sugar, cinnamon and conditioned on apricot and peach puree with a touch of vanilla. DBL Cherry Berry Biotix is an imperial version of the company’s original fruited sour.
The brewery’s canning line was up and running right before the pandemic hit, so they were able to quickly move to a distribution model to get through quarantine and beyond. Barbe’s girlfriend, Brigitte Nguyen, designs the labels and other branding materials for the brewing.
Planning for the second location started several years ago. Barbe grew up in the Mon Valley, but now lives on the North Side and wanted a place close to home.
He never visited the Shamrock Inn when it was in business. Opened in 1947 by Art Rooney Sr.’s brother-in-law, the Shamrock was a popular hangout for decades. There’s still a Shamrock Inn sign painted on the side of the building, the only remnant of the historic structure’s half-century stint as an Irish bar.
Barbe hopes Four Points will become just as iconic as a four-leaf clover.