Animal Rescue Partners is a charitable animal-centric organization that seems to have cracked the code for getting people to come out for a cause: give them great beer. They’ve been putting on successful craft beer festivals for 7 years in cities like Cincinnati and Columbus. This year, they added Pittsburgh to their list of Beerfest cities, and more than 80 different breweries attended the festival to show their support for the city and all of the animals that the festival was set to benefit. 

As expected, the beer was top-notch. One of my favorites was the Rochestafarian Wee Heavy from Three Heads Brewing, an up-and-coming brewery from my hometown of Rochester, New York. This heavy behemoth managed to be full-flavored and very refreshing at the same time. Another big hit for me was Church Brew Works Coconut Stout. This jet-black stout smelled more of coffee than coconut and tasted about the same. For me, the balance was wonderful – the medium-bodied stout reminded me of coconut iced coffee, a summertime favorite of mine. Lastly, Great Lakes Brewing Company‘s new Double IPA, the Lake Erie Monster, is a golden masterpiece that I could drink all day! Ok, maybe not all day… it’s over 9% ABV! But even with the high gravity, this Imperial IPA doesn’t taste of alcohol, but rather of apple and pear with hints of citrus and spice. This smooth brew would definitely do Bessie proud. 

The festival also offered a few other fantastic and fun elements that really upped the ante. There was a tent serving up boozie cigars, and Pittsburgh’s coolest new bar-crawl-mobile, the Pittsburgh Party Pedaler, was in attendance. The bands playing at the festival were fun and high energy, and once the sun set, they were accompanied by some very talented girls dancing with light-up hula hoops (it sounds weird but after a few hours of drinking, it was really cool).Two of my favorite food trucks, the Pierogi Truck and a Nakama Truck (Sushi and Hibachi) showed up to satisfy the hungry crowd. I was also extremely distracted by the beautiful Staffordshire Bull Terrier hanging out with Biggie’s Bullies, an organization devoted to rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing bully breeds such as pit bulls. 

In the end, Pittsburgh Beerfest was a huge hit – the festival sold out and everyone seemed to have an amazing time. I think the most exciting thing for me was seeing that Pittsburgh Beerfest will be back this winter. See you when the snow is on the ground!