East End Brewery
Owner Scott Smith founded the brewery after quitting his job with a consumer products company. The brewery started selling beer in December 2004.
The brewery was originally located in a 4,000-square-foot (370 m) brewery in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh's East End. In 2011, the company began pursuing a move to a 17,000-square-foot building in the nearby Larimer neighborhood, and completed that move in November of 2012. In order to finance the move, Smith sold $1,000 vouchers to customers/investors, which will be redeemable for future beer, merchandise and special access to new brews. The move was completed in November 2012. The new location will allow production to increase from 2,500 barrels brewed per year to 5,000 barrels.
In 2008, it sold 700 barrels; in 2010 it sold 1,800 barrels of beer. Sales are primarily done through growlers and kegs sold to local bars. In 2010, sales were expanded to the Pittsburgh Public Market in the Strip District.
As of 2010, there were 28 varieties of beer. Big Hop is the flagship beer. Specialty beer varieties include Big Hop Harvest Ale, and Gratitude barleywine. Smith delivered the bike-themed beer Pedal Pale Ale via bike trailer. Smith commemorated the enactment of a smoking ban within Allegheny County with "Smokestack" smoked porter.
The brewery is closely associated with Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cited East End Brewing as an example of Pittsburgh's superior beer culture compared to Philadelphia's. Demand for East End beer spiked after the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII.
In 2012, Pittsburgh Magazine named it one of the best breweries in Pittsburgh. It is among the most popular Pittsburgh businesses on Twitter.
April of 2023 brought East End's first satellite location: a taproom in the Mt. Lebanon suburb of Pittsburgh.
Special events
In 2007, after mistakenly ordering a quadruple batch of New York-grown cascade and centennial hops for his Big Hop Harvest beer, Smith shared his hops with local breweries for a "Wet-Hopped Beer Festival" at an East Liberty bar. Church Brew Works, John Harvard's Brew House, Rivertowne Pour House, Johnstown Brewing, Victory Brewing participated by using the excess hops.
In 2008, the company was threatened by high hops prices. After the prices eased in 2009, East End Brewing celebrated with a specially brewed beer called "Out of the Woods."
The brewery was the final stop on the 2012 Venture Outdoors hike; successful hikers were rewarded with a beer.
Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride
The Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride is a charity cycling event hosted by East End Brewing Company each year to ceremonially deliver the first keg(s) of the summer seasonal Pedal Pale Ale from the brewery to a location unknown to the participants of the ride. Since its inception in 2006, the number of participants has grown to 600 in 2012.
Gallery
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East End Brewing Company merchandise shelf at Pittsburgh (Larimer) location. -
Brewery equipment at the Homewood location -
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References
- ^ Batz, Jr., Bob (November 6, 2012). "It's pouring at East End's new place". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
- ^ Cato, Jason (April 30, 2011). "East End Brewing Co. eyes Larimer expansion". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Stroup, Mark (September 6, 2006). "The (Art and) Craft of Brewing". Pop City. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz, Jr, Bob (March 30, 2012). "East End Brewing Co. is minting 'money'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Klein, Hal B. (November 14, 2012). "East End Brewing makes a big expansion". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
- ^ Schooley, Tim (March 30, 2009). "East End Brewing Co. happier as hops more plentiful". Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Schooley, Tim (August 13, 2010). "East End Brewing coming to Public Market". Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz, Jr., Bob (September 21, 2006). "East End Brewing's alt taps "wet" hop freshness". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz, Bob (October 13, 2005). "Gold medal goes to Church bock beer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz, Jr., Bob (March 29, 2012). "Being grateful for beer, again: East End Brewing's 'Gratitude' is back". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz Jr., Bob (April 16, 2009). "Beer: 'Beer Wars' will be followed by chat". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz, Jr., Bob (July 3, 2007). "East End Brewing smokes out a beer with an unusual flavor". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Rich, Andrew (October 1, 2009). "Our man at the Great American Beer Fest". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Batz, Jr., Bob (March 6, 2008). "Beer: Philly a better beer-drinking city than Pittsburgh? Sez them". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ "The 'Burgh Beer Bible". Pittsburgh Magazine. October 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-03-31. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
- ^ Millman, China (July 12, 2009). "Restaurants try out Twitter patter". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ Batz, Bob (September 27, 2007). "Beer: What to do with too many hops? Brew up a festival". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Schooley, Tim (October 27, 2008). "Brewery raises prices as costs bubble up". Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Gigler, Dan (March 28, 2012). "Novelty hike ends at East End brewery". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ "Briefs: East End Brewing Co. a highlight of Venture Outdoors hike". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. May 28, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Iva (1 May 2012). "ALTERNATIVE FUEL: EAST END BREWING 2012 KEG RIDE". I HEART PGH. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
External links
Media related to East End Brewing Company at Wikimedia Commons