Caliente Pizza and Draft House has been nothing short of a rocketship over the last few years. Launched in 2012, the local pizza chain has expanded to seven locations, signed an exclusive partnership with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and generated a reputation as a local go-to. The company will soon branch into original craft beer as well.
On Fri., July 7, Caliente will open Dough Daddy Beer, a new brewing company. Kicking off with a launch party, the beer then be served at all seven Caliente locations.
Before craft beer was a multi-billion dollar industry, Nick Bogacz, owner and founder of Caliente, was ready to carve out a niche in Pittsburgh.
“Early on, I realized that craft beer and pizza go so well together, not just from a dining perspective, but because of the similarities between the two worlds,” Bogacz says in a press release. “Brewers are highly skilled at their craft and are known for using unique, high-quality ingredients in their brewing. Often, this starts as a passion project for them out of their homes. A lot of pizzerias start the same way, cooking in their home kitchens, doing something they love, with the best ingredients possible.”
Caliente sought out talented and local brewers to kick off Dough Daddy, contract brewing at Strange Roots’ facility, itself a Pittsburgh craft beer institution. Caliente had worked with Strange Roots before, using them to produce and debut its first craft beer, the Hazy Dough Dazy IPA, in 2021.
"They were always working with Strange Roots – Caliente was leasing with them but brewing their own beer through Strange Roots’ facility," Maggie Medoff, a PR professional who represents Caliente, tells City Paper. "The Dough Daddy announcement has made that partnership even stronger and more official since they’ll be brewing even more signature beer at Strange Roots, through the launch of Caliente’s new beer company."
Customers can expect a number of seasonal releases for the launch, namely the Hazy Dough Dazy IPA, a flagship brew featuring fruity flavors like pineapple, passion fruit, and mango. Others include the more traditional Crust Crusher Double IPA, the lighter Guava Grenade IPA, and the Mango Daddy Wheat Ale.
Caliente is technically entering the brewery space, but, in many ways, it has been there the whole time. Caliente boasts that it has hosted "more craft beer events than any other bar in the city," and has collaborated with "at least 12 breweries throughout the state and around the country." After years of winning awards for its pizza, the company has a whole new territory to try and master.
Caliente embarks on all-new brewery business with Strange Roots
