Ambridge Borough Manager Mario Leone says that, just four years ago, very few — himself among them — would have thought there was a market for $6 or $7 pints in his sleepy river town.
Although Leone has only held his post for about three years, he has lived in Beaver County his entire life, and has been hoping to see the day when Ambridge returns to its former vitality.
“As I sit in this seat today, I’m amazed at the amount of people that the breweries have attracted to Ambridge,” Leone tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “And I think with those people coming in, it’s just created a new vibe.”
Ambridge — a 1.7 square mile land tract about 30 minutes north of Downtown Pittsburgh — was purchased in 1905 by the American Bridge Company, from which the town took its name. The American Bridge Company factories ceased supporting the majority of Ambridge residents when the steel industry collapsed in the 1980s.
As the steel industry powered on through the 1960s, Ambridge had a population of 13,865, according to Pa. census data. But by 2020, the town’s population had essentially halved.
Altered Genius was the first brewery to open its doors along Ambridge’s main corridor, Merchant Street, in 2020. Co-owner Donny Cardone says that in Ambridge, and Pittsburgh generally, beer culture harkens back to the days of industry.
“The steel mills and places used to have local bars where everybody would hang out,” Cardone tells City Paper. “It’s kind of like that, but, hopefully, with a lot better beer.”
Cardone and his business partner Mike Haas met at their day job as alternate education teachers — "alt ed" becoming "altered" as their business name. They began brewing with kits in their garages for themselves and some small events. There, experimenting with different malts, hops, and grains, Cardone and Haas crafted recipes for many of their flagship beers on tap today.
Altered Genius’ Lenore — a chocolate fudge coffee stout — began, for instance, as a custom brew for a friend's wedding.
“He had a coffee club at school,” Cardone said. “He would always go to [Prestogeorge Coffee & Tea] in the Strip District, they have a bunch of different flavored coffees and stuff like that. He came in one day with this chocolate fudge coffee, and I went ‘wow, this is really good.’ He was asking us about the beers for his wedding, and he was like, ‘Can you do a beer with that coffee in it?’”
Lenore clocks in as the brewery’s third best seller. In a close second is Hoptruvian, a lighter-bodied American IPA which balances piney hops and semisweet notes of citrus. At the top is Prim Pilsner, a light German pilsner with a flavor similar to domestic beers, making it an easy entry point to craft beer for the uninitiated.
The pair name their beers themselves, sometimes after their curriculum. “Lenore” was chosen by Haas, an English teacher and Edgar Allen Poe enthusiast.
Neither opening a brewery nor striking out in Ambridge, Pa., were on Cardone’s and Haas’ radar until their mutual friend, Barber School of Pittsburgh President, Ken Jaram, tried their beer at a superbowl party and offered them the building — previously home to the barber school, and, before that, a Brighton Hot Dog Shop franchise.
“[The building] was great. At the same time, they were starting to redo the street in front of it,” Cardone says, gesturing out toward Merchant Street. “This was all torn up when we first started talking about it. They redid the sidewalks, streetposts, all that stuff.”
A sweeping streetscape improvement project was started by the borough’s previous manager, Joe Kauer, in 2018, with the goal of updating the area’s appearance. Sidewalk and road construction stretched from Fourth Street — the corner on which Altered Genius sits — to Eighth Street throughout 2018 and 2019, which sent the brewery looking for alternate locations. One such building now houses Ambridge’s second brewery, Fermata Brewing Company, which opened in 2022.
The improvements “started a momentum of revitalization for the community,” according to Leone.
“We have plans for [Eighth to 12th Streets], and we’re hoping to put that project out, the bid in September of this year and being in construction in 2024,” he adds.This stretch of Merchant is home to Fermata, as well as other local favorites: the recently opened Merchant Coffee Company, Bridgetown Taphouse, and locally-treasured Police Station Pizza.
Updating the street’s physical appearance — as was done between Fourth Street and Eighth Streets — will help make the area as appealing as its staple businesses. A conceptual image of the street revitalization replaces crumbling, uneven sidewalks with newly-poured concrete and adds the same lampposts and crosswalk art Merchant Street boasts just a few blocks south.
Pittsburgh has also been subject to numerous revitalization efforts in the past two decades on the path back up from the collapse of its namesake industry. Sometimes that plays out unevenly, driving out low-income residents who can’t keep up with soaring rental prices.
Ambridge has historically been home to ethnic minorities from across the European continent. During and after World War II, Czech, Greek, Polish, Ukrainian, and other European immigrants fueled both the local workforce and diverse cultural identity. Now, Leone says, an increasing number of residents are from South American countries.
According to Department of Labor statistics, median annual earnings for Hispanic men and women are among the lowest in the country.
Leone believes that Ambridge residents will not be pushed out of the area.
He points out that 37 businesses opened up in Ambridge in the past two years, adding that a $1 million park improvement featuring a playground, splash pad, and calisthenics fitness area is on the horizon, and a six-court indoor recreational complex — a project Leone hopes will be his legacy — looms in the future. These, and other local ventures, such as a new winery and a sit-down restaurant, will create opportunities for stable and fulfilling work, he says.
“Will we see economic development happen and revitalization and newer townhouses built and maybe old blighted properties torn down?” Leone says. “Well, yeah, those units that used to sit on that land now are going to be higher density units, more upscale, and command a higher rent. But I don’t see Ambridge being imploded and completely redeveloped.”
