Church Brew Works

October 5, 2008
Still feels and smells like a church when you walk in, but impressive...busy atmosphere at times... best brick oven pizzas around... good beer selection, beer samplers are a bit pricey though...

August 18, 2008
Visited 31 July 2008 (Thursday) at 11AM. Beautiful church tastefully refitted with the brewery. Six 15-barrel serving tanks (42°-44° serving temperature, individually controlled). Two 15-barrel and two 30-barrel fermenters. Free WiFi. Chicken rice soup was excellent. Most beers were above average, with the Celestial Gold pilsner standing out as excellent. The Pious Monk Dunkel, Pipe Organ Pale Ale, Referendum Ale, and Belgian Black Ale were also very good. Service by bartender was excellent, and she was quite knowledgable about their beer. BEERS (sampler of 7-5 oz beers for $9) - detailed ratings of these beers at www.BuildABeer.org.

July 23, 2008
A must see, unbelievably large and empty on a Tuesday afternoon. The emptiness and cheesy music was kind of creepy given the surroundings, but I got used to it I had a good time. Beer is OK, nothing exceptional and could definitely be refined. I’d like to see this place when it is really busy.

July 5, 2008
Incredible place. Nice big bar area. Brewing system is sitting on the altar, very awe inspiring. I thought they had a very good selection of brews, think we had 8 in our sampler platter. Pews for seating at the tables. Just an amazing place to walk into, a must stop if in town.

June 4, 2008
Very cool ambiance. A large old church where the kettles have taken the place of the alter. The brew is very decent and there are a number of unique offerings usually available. The food is your typical, rather upscale brew pub grub. A little pricey. Interesting menu choices. In general you get slightly less than you pay for, however, the food is good. A must see in Pittsburgh.

April 21, 2008
This is one of the coolest places to drink, hands down. Located in an old church, the atmosphere has retained the church setup in a major way but has taken small measures to incorporate the beer as well (i.e. the angels painted on the walls have beers in their l’il hands). I visited this location in October and had a Oktoberfest pizza that I am still talking about. Growlers available as well as bottled beer to take home. Had some experimental beers on tap when I was there that were fairly tasty. Unfortunately though, at the time of my visit, smoking was still allowed in the bar area which was a major disappointment.

February 20, 2008
Ambience-wise, hands down the drop-dead coolest brew pub I’ve ever been in. A converted Catholic church with all the stained glass, stonework, and much of the religious artwork still intact. Brewing is done on what was the alter (how fitting, eh?) and the booth benches are made out of the actual original pews. I was there last summer and I don’t remember what beer I got or how good it was. I do remember that the quality of the food was four-star-resturant fare. Awefully good for a brew-pub! If you are in Pittsburgh, this one is an absolutely must-not-miss stop!

January 24, 2008
The most interesting brew pub ive ever been to. The whole place is a converted church, booths have pews for seats, and at the alter you can find the brewing vessels. The beer was decent, and the food at least looked good.

January 8, 2008
Terrible food.. I have had beef jerky better than the 1 oz. piece of grissle that they called kobe beef. My girlfriend ordered it, so I ended up splitting my filet with her (which was also pretty pathetic.) I tried 4 beers and none of them were above the middle of the pack in their class. The venue itself is impressive, just poor quality food, average beer and weak service. Don’t recommend.

January 8, 2008
(Visited 08/2006): Church Brew Works is located on Liberty not too far from downtown. It’s pretty easy to spot assuming you know you’re literally looking for a church. Parking is readily available on the surrounding streets. Converting a church into a brewpub is not in and of itself a unique idea, but keeping so much of the original church’s character certainly is. From the main aisle down the middle, to the original stained glass and pews, to the almost reverent feel of the place, it really does a good job capturing the essence where other places might treat it as a gimmick. The bar is along the left with the tanks in full view. The remainder of the establishment is devoted to restaurant seating. The beer selection here is decent. They have around 8 taps with half being seasonals and/or specials. They also recently began bottling some of their beers in six-packs and bombers. The beers range from a Pale Lager to Stout, with most of the standard brewpub styles represented. The service here is really good. The bartender knew the beers and was even kind enough to give us directions to another nearby brewpub. No food was sampled on this visit. Overall this is a must-see beer spot in the Pittsburgh area. I will definitely make it a point to visit it again.