Brew Gentlemen’s Steel Garden opens Downtown
After hosting a grand reopening for its renovated taproom last winter, Braddock’s Brew Gentlemen is debuting a Downtown beer garden at the U.S. Steel Tower Plaza.
A collaboration with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, the spot will be open throughout the summer. There, you’ll be able to sip the company’s flagship beer, General Braddock’s IPA, along with seasonal offerings and a variety of quaffable lagers.
The opening party is Thursday, June 2, from 3 to 8 p.m., with tunes from DJ Samuel Andres and DJ Alex Rivera, a food truck — and $5 beers from 4 to 6 p.m.
This isn’t the company’s first time in the heart of Pittsburgh. Last summer, Brew Gentlemen supplied the libations at Allegheny Overlook pop-up park.
Can sales this weekend at Arboretum Trail Brewing
Arboretum Trail Brewing is celebrating its move from a tiny garage in Pleasant Hills to a 5,700-square-foot space in Larimer. On Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5, from noon to 4 p.m., the brewery is setting up a tent in front of its new location at 1351 Washington Blvd. to sell four-packs and merchandise.
A grand opening is slated for this summer.
Acrospire Brewing relocating to a familiar North Hills spot
Acrospire Brewing Company opened in 2020, three weeks before the pandemic shutdown. Located in a small facility at 1650 Butler Plank Road in Glenshaw, the growlers-to-go business model seemed tailor-made for the pandemic.
“We both had families and full-time jobs, so we wanted to ease into the whole thing,” co-owner Eric Truscott says. “It didn’t happen that way.”
Due to the high demand for their beer, the Acrospire guys are moving their 1.5-barrel operation to a larger nearby space located at 1702 Mt. Royal Blvd.
The new location is slated to open this fall, adding to the growing North Hills beer scene, which also includes Mastic Trail Brewing, Strange Roots Experimental Ales, Grist House Craft Brewery and Necromancer Brewing Co. In the meantime, you can visit the Butler Plank Road site — which has outdoor seating — for pints and can pickups on Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 9 p.m.
For years, the 3,200-square-foot future brewery housed the Shaler Lounge. Truscott and his business partners Greg Long and Kevin Murphy want to maintain the same neighborhood vibe while making aesthetic changes. Windows will be added to bring in natural light and the large, U-shaped bar that dominated one room has been removed to create a seating area.
Acrospire will serve a limited food menu along with a wide selection of brews, including flagship offerings such as Honeycomb Oat Honey Ale, Serendipity IPA and Caramel Porter.
“We try to be pretty diversified in our styles,” says Truscott, who named the company after the plumule, or shoot of a grain used in malting. “We want to have something for everyone.”
The Shaler resident hopes the taproom is up and running by Sept. 24, which is Shaler Area High School’s Homecoming.
“It has such a tremendous history,” he says of the lounge. “It was one of the most popular places that everybody knew about. We don’t want brush that aside.”
