This summer marks the return of many events that Pittsburghers have grown to know and love. And for beer lovers, one of those is Beers of the Burgh, and it’s making its full-throated return this year.
For the first time, the city's premier beer fest will happen over two separate days, Sat., June 4 and Sat., June 11, at the Carrie Furnaces. The festival also took place there in 2019, with over 50 area brewers, as well as food trucks, live music, and more.
Compared to previous years, the 2022 event attracted an overwhelming number of participating breweries, to the point that they wouldn’t all fit in the venue during a single day.
“It's really about the continued growth of new breweries in the area,” says Mark Turic, lead organizer of the festival. “If all of them were to come, we would have close to 100 breweries at the event. It's really not possible for attendees to sample beer from that many breweries in just one day. So this year, we wanted to try something new and decided to spread the breweries out over the course of two days.”
If you’ve been to a brewery in Pittsburgh, chances are they’ll be pouring at Beers of the Burgh. Hell, if you’ve had a beer in the Western Pennsylvania region, they’ll probably be there. Expect Pittsburgh favorites like Dancing Gnome, 412 Brewery, and Cinderlands, as well as newbies like Altered Genius, Coven, and Tortured Souls. Out-of-town spots like Crooked Tongue, Fermata, and Allusion Brewing will also be in attendance.
The turnout demonstrates how connected the Pittsburgh brewing community is, as well as what the festival has meant to the area over the years. It also speaks to the growing popularity of the festival since it launched in 2014. As of now, many passes on the Beers of the Burgh website are marked as "Sold Out" or "Low Inventory."
“We have the actual brewers or employees from the brewery pouring the beer at the event,” says Turic. “So not only do attendees get to talk with folks from the actual brewery, but the event serves as a pretty fun way for breweries to network with one another. The festival is all about local beer, whether you are an attendee or one of the breweries at the event. ... You should have a pretty great time celebrating local beer and our beer community.”
There’s no shortage of beer festivals across Pittsburgh, but if you want one that will showcase just about everything that the city has to offer, it would probably be wise to stop by Carrie Furnaces on one of the Saturdays in June.
“It's hard not to be excited for all the new breweries that will be pouring at the event for the very first time,” says Turic. “But what I am really excited about is the expansion of live music that we will have at this year's event. We are having two stages this year and some really awesome local musicians will be playing on them. It should be a lot of fun.”
Beers of the Burgh. Sat., June 4 and Sat., June 11. 801 Carrie Furnace Blvd., Rankin. $29-64. beersoftheburgh.com
Beers of the Burgh returns, and it's bigger than ever
