In this episode of The Slaw: Staying on top of Pittsburgh, we talk to Lauren Hughes, who is the assistant head brewer at Penn Brewery about beer, women in the Pittsburgh brewing industry and dive bars. For our collaboration of the week, we’re talking bagels and coffee and we’ve got details on a new event for the New Year.
📸Header photo credit: Penn Brewery.
Lauren Hughes, Assistant Head Brewer at Penn Brewery
In this episode, we chat with Lauren Hughes about her career path to brewing. We catch up on some of the new things at Penn Brewery, as well as some of her other favorite places in Pittsburgh. We also talk about Pink Boots Pittsburgh, an organization that works to get more women involved in the brewing industry.
You can follow Lauren on Instagram @littlelopgh.
Lauren first started working at Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis when she was in college. Lauren moved to Pittsburgh to work for the Pittsburgh Symphony. After a few years, she decided to go back to the brewing industry. She has worked for Hop Farm, Hitchhiker as the taproom manager, Rock Bottom Brewery and is now the assistant head brewer at Penn Brewery.
Lauren recently completed the Brewing and Malting Sciences Course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B43n4hrB12c/
New at Penn Brewery
- In addition to the Penn Brewery classics like lagers, on their small-batch system, Penn Brewery experiments with some hazy IPAs and sours.
- Penn Brewery now has a taproom Downtown
- All of the beer that Penn Brewery sells, is produced on the North Side.
- Penn Brewery is located in a building that has housed a brewery since 1856.
Lauren’s favorite for food & more beer
- Big Jims in the Run – A Pittsburgh establishment that has been featured on the Food Network’s Diner, Drive-Ins & Dives. (The Run is a tiny neighborhood next to Greenfield).
- Eggplant parmesan
- Kelly’s Bar in East Liberty
- Mac & cheese
- Roundabout Brewery in Lawrenceville
- Roundabout hosted a summer pop-up beer garden on the bike trail, follow @roundaboutpopup on Instagram for photos and updates.
- Hitchhiker Brewing in Mt. Lebanon & Sharpsburg
- Pittsburgh Sandwich Society
- Not familiar with the Pittsburgh Sandwich Society? Take a few minutes to watch our video about this Pittsburgh food truck.
Pink Boots Society
Pink Boots Society is a national organization that has chapters throughout the United States.
Mission: The Pink Boots Society was created to assist, inspire and encourage women beer industry professionals to advance their careers through education.
Pink Boots Society Pittsburgh holds monthly meetings where women who work in the brewing industry or who are interested in working in the brewing industry can share information. You can contact Pink Boots Society Pittsburgh here: [email protected].
Pink Boots Society Pittsburgh events:
- Partnership with Pittsburgh Glass Center
- March – collaboration beers for International Women’s Day. The Pink Boots collaboration beers are available on tap around the city.
Very Local tagged along with Pink Boots for their brew day at Hop Farm last year. You can read more about the brew day here.
https://www.facebook.com/VeryLocalPGH/videos/2425326401125774/
Breweries outside of Pittsburgh
- Lavery Brewing
- Erie Brewing
- Insurrection Ale Works
- You can find the Insurrection beers
Lauren’s favorite podcasts
One wish for Pittsburgh brewing community?
- More female brewers
A very Pittsburgh Collaboration: Pigeon Bagels & Redhawk Coffee
Pigeon Bagels now has a brick & mortar location in Squirrel Hill. Redhawk Coffee’s flagship location (in Oakland) and their downtown coffee bar (inside Shop PG&H) now have a third addition to the family. The Pigeon Bagels shop boasts a complete coffee menu, curated and operated by Redhawk Coffee.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RXqthBTVI/
Event: New Year/New Galaxy with Starship Mantis
We are partnering with Dancing Gnome, Black Forge and Epicast to bring you an event that is out of this world. Join us at Black Forge II in McKees Rocks for music and a special beer release.
Music:
- Starship Mantis
- Trio+ featuring Shad Ali
- DJ Femi
Details:
- Date: Saturday, January 4, 2019
- Time: 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm
- Location: Black Forge Coffee House II – McKees Rocks
Tickets are $15 (be sure to listen to the episode for a discount code)
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