Pittsburgh, Part 1

If you asked us for a surprising American city that's a great location to drink, we wouldn't think twice before offering up Pittsburgh. For the Wisconsinite Lounge Lizard, Pittsburgh's vibe isn't (spiritually) far from the comfortable confines of Milwaukee, quintessentially a Midwestern suds-drinkers paradise, replete with German beer halls and their patrons spilling out to river overlooks.

One of these halls that you should not miss when you stop in Pittsburgh is Penn Brewery. Nestled on the plateau of the Troy Hill neighborhood in North Pittsburgh, the red-bricked Penn Brewery presents a dramatic view over the Allegheny River to the Steel City's downtown. Inside, German fare abounds, from wurst to schnitzel to the ubiquitous pierogi, while the beer styles are dominated by brews adhering to the strict quality standards of the 16th century Bavarian Reinheitsgebot purity laws.

We didn't hesitate to order a round of pierogi and our first two beers, a Penn Pilsner for me and a Penn Gold for Cindy. The Pilsner is the brewery's flagship beer, an amber-colored draught with a bready nose and a toasty toffee finish. The Penn Gold is their easy-drinking pale lager which filled the crowded tables of nearby pub crawlers.

After devouring our meals, we decided to grab two more brews- I elected for a Sour Stout and Cindy (of course) went straight to dessert with the Penn Chocolate Meltdown. The Sour Stout was as sour as advertised. The Meltdown is a milk stout married with the confections of Pittsburg's own 1938 chocolatier Betsy Ann. The Meltdown was as sweet as the Sour was sour; both beers were a one-time tipple.

Although Pittsburgh rivals Milwaukee for their brews, we ventured out to see what downtown Pittsburgh had to offer by way of cocktails. We will tell you what we found in the next post...