PCBW’s Commonwealth Press Beer Barge Recap & Photos
The Commonwealth Press Beer Barge set afloat Pittsburgh’s three rivers on the evening of Friday, April 26th. As a part of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, CWP hosted two separate beer-filled voyages aboard the Gateway Clipper. For this unique PCBW event, craft beer, good music, and a scenic boat ride was the recipe for a great time. While attendees were enjoying skyline views and sipping on a varied selection of craft beers, they were treated to some live tunes provided by 3 local bands – White Wives, Ben Dumm and The Deviants, and The Beagle Brothers.
Breweries in attendance included All Saints, Anderson Valley, Bell’s, East End, Fat Heads, Finch’s, Founders, Helltown, Lavery, New Holland, Oskar Blues, Penn Brewery, Red Star Kombucha, Rivertowne, Rock Bottom, Shmaltz, Terrapin, TRASH (homebrew), TRUB (homebrew), Victory, and Voodoo.
After sampling some brews and talking with those aboard the CWP Beer Barge, homebrew concoctions by members of TRASH and TRUB, two Pittsburgh-area homebrewing clubs, were the most talked about craft beers of the event. Keith Kost of TRASH was serving up a Coconut Stout, a Belgian blonde, a Witbier, and a Barleywine that were just outstanding. Also of TRASH, Malcolm Frazer provided samples of his English Dark Mild Super Session and Cream Ale with Lager Yeast for the attendees to enjoy.
Tickets for each of the CWP Beer Barge’s two sessions sold out in minutes. Due to the great success for this event, it is likely that this event will make another appearance for next year’s Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week. However, it’s going to be difficult to wait an entire year until the CWP Beer Barge sets sail again. Hopefully, the creative minds at CWP can come up with another way to entertain us until then!