| East End Brewing Company | |
| Location: | 147 Julius Street, Pittsburgh (2012-present) 6923 Susquehanna Street, Pittsburgh (2004-2012) |
| Owner: | Scott Smith |
| Opened: | December 2004 |
East End Brewing Company is a Pittsburgh brewery. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it is a "force in the local beer market."[1]
Owner Scott Smith founded the brewery after quitting his job with a consumer products company.[2] The brewery started selling beer in December 2004.
The brewery was originally located in a 4000square feet 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.[3] The move was completed in November 2012.[4] The new location will allow production to increase from 2,500 barrels brewed per year to 5,000 barrels.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7] Specialty beer varieties include Big Hop Harvest Ale,[8] and Gratitude barleywine.[9] Smith delivered the bike-themed beer Pedal Pale Ale via bike trailer.[10] Smith commemorated the enactment of a smoking ban within Allegheny County with "Smokestack" smoked porter.[11]
The brewery is closely associated with Pittsburgh.[12] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cited East End Brewing as an example of Pittsburgh's superior beer culture compared to Philadelphia's.[13] 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.[14] It is among the most popular Pittsburgh businesses on Twitter.[15]
April of 2023 brought East End's first satellite location: a taproom in the Mt. Lebanon suburb of Pittsburgh.
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.[16] 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.[17] After the prices eased in 2009, East End Brewing celebrated with a specially brewed beer called "Out of the Woods."[18]
The brewery was the final stop on the 2012 Venture Outdoors hike; successful hikers were rewarded with a beer.[19] [20]
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.[21]