Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh

Religion, history, beer and food, all under one big roof. The Church Brew Works is a great local brew pub located in a historic 1903 Roman Catholic Church at the edge of Lawrenceville and the Strip District. Think it's sacrilegious? Think again; in the 7th Century AD monasteries in Europe covered operating expenses by brewing and selling beer. Saint Benedict is known as the patron saint of beer, Arnold, Bishop of Metz is said to have lectured followers to drink beer not water, Arnold of Soissons is the patron saint of hop pickers, Saint Columbanus is even credited with saying, "It is my design to die in the brew house; let ale be placed to my mouth when I am expiring, so that when the choir of angels come, they may say: 'Be God propitious to this drinker.'" So, beer and religion have a long and intertwined history.

The history at the Church Brew Works begins in 1903 when the Roman Catholic Church constructed St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church to serve the local blue collar mill workers. After 90 years of service to the local community, the Catholic church closed in 1993 due mainly to the decline of the area's population as the mills were shuttered. In 1996 a local businessman worked with the local Catholic diocese to purchase the property, and the Church granted permission for the brewery. The restaurant even retained the original pews for some of the benches at the tables, and the bar was built from the planks of other benches. Our favorite feature was the liquor locker in the confessional behind the bar.

I have been wanting to stop here since about 1998 when I first heard of the bar, but it is located a good two mile from downtown Pittsburgh, and there is really nothing else in the neighborhood to justify the long hike out to Lawrenceville. On a recent trip to Pittsburgh, we finally decided to get a cab and make the almost-religious pilgrimage to the Church Brew Works. After a $7 cab ride, we arrived at this church turned restaurant.

We spent about an hour and a half here at the bar. We tried five fo the eight beers that were on tap that night including the Heavenly Hefeweizen, Pious Monk Dunkel, Millenium Trippel, Black Gold Pepper Pale Ale, and the Celestial Blonde. The dunkel (German for dark) and the trippel were both delicious. The trippel tasted almost exactly like a Belgian Leffe Blonde, one of my all time favorites. Beer prices ranged from $4.44 for the regular beers to $5.14 for the dunkel.

For dinner we decided to stick with a few appetizers. We chose the Kobe Beef quesadilla, which is stuffed with kobe beef, andouille, garbanzo beans, jalapeno and pepper jack cheese and served with guacamole, pico de gallo and red pepper sour cream ($10). We also had the untraditional pierogies, which are a rotating dish described as "a unique twist to a traditional Pittsburgh favorite." On this day we had pork pierogies with a tangy barbecue sauce for $7. Both appetizers were excellent, but I was disappointed by the small quantities; the pierogies in particular were only served a small group of four.

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Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh

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