In celebration of Pittsburgh hosting Homebrew Con 2022, several area breweries will collaborate with local homebrewers on a wide range of beers.
Homebrew Con is an annual event put on by the American Homebrewers Association. This year’s gathering at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh (June 23-25) is expected to attract about 1,500 homebrewers and suppliers.
In conjunction with Homebrew Con 2022, the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild (PBG) partnered with the Masters Brewers Association (District Pittsburgh) and Three Rivers Association of Serious Homebrewers (TRASH) to pair up top local performers at TRASH’s annual homebrew competition, which was held April 23, with a number of PBG member breweries.
Below are the planned collaborating partners and the category in which the homebrewer earned a top TRASH competition score.
● Abjuration Brewing will collaborate with Adam Sullivan of McDonald (Specialty Beer)
● Arboretum Trail Brewing will collaborate with Pete Paredes of Millvale (All American)
● Cobblehaus Brewing will collaborate with Carmelo Medina of Jefferson Hills (Lager)
● East End Brewing will collaborate with Bill Bickerton of North Hills (Top Overall Score)
● Helicon Brewing will collaborate with Chris Radi of Pine Township (Best of Show)
● Hop Farm Brewing will collaborate with Roland Warzel of Ligonier (United Kingdom Session Ale)
● Leaning Cask will collaborate with Adam and Laurie Bashline of Green Tree (Stouts & Porters)
● Mindful Brewing will collaborate with Nick Smith of Butler (India Pale Ale)
● Southern Tier Brewery Pittsburgh will collaborate with Dem Bones Brewing and John Koziel of Kennedy Township (Light Ale)
● Spoonwood Brewing will collaborate with Steve Hartman of South Hills (Belgian)
● War Streets Brewery will collaborate with Tom Zacher of Greenfield (High Gravity)
In addition, Hitchhiker Brewing plans to welcome any interested local homebrew club member for an open brew day to be scheduled later at its Sharpsburg brewery. Andy Kwiatkowski, Hitchhiker’s head of brewing operations, remains very active in the homebrew community and served as a judge at the competition.
More information about when and where the collaboration beers will be available will be shared soon.
“A number of folks in our industry, including brewery owners and head brewers, started as homebrewers,” says Malcolm Frazer, head brewer at Hop Farm Brewing in Lawrenceville and a Pittsburgh Brewers Guild board member, who helped organize the collaborations. “With these collaborations we get to celebrate and reinforce that connection between professional and amateur brewers. Our member breweries are very excited about this. The response has been tremendous.”
