East End Brewing Company

East End Brewing Company is located just beyond East Liberty near Bakery Square. This brewery is native to Pittsburgh and has a small town family feel. East End has two locations and is growing rapidly in the Pittsburgh area. They have a tap room located in the Strip District, and then the brewery! I stopped in the brewery for their "Grains to Glass" tour. Seth, our tour guide, is an educated beer enthusiast who knows just about everything there is to know about Beer, and East End.

Even though this was my very first brewery visit, Seth did a great job explaining the beer making process so people like me could learn the basics. Upon arrival, you are given a tasting glass to "sample" the four featured beers on your tour. These beers change all the time according to season and popularity. The four stations though the tour take you through the process of beer making literally from grains to glass. We were even able to taste some of the malts East End uses in their beer making process. On our tour, we tried Fat Gary, Big Hop IPA, Monkey Boy Hefeweizen, and a bourbon-barrel aged beer.

Seth was not stingy whatsoever when it came to the samples through the tour. You receive a generous pour of each beer, and are welcome to seconds if you'd like! My favorite beer of the four was the Monkey Boy, this one was very low in hops and had a subtle sweet taste almost like bananas! When you finish up the tour, you get a token worth $15 to spend on anything at the brewery. They have really cool merchandise and of course, plenty of beer on tap. I decided to use my token to get one of their small growlers full of beer, and a glass of the Monkey Boy.

This place is definitely worth a visit and if you decide to do their Grains to Glass tour I would recommend purchasing tickets online beforehand since this place fills up fast on the weekends. The tour is $25 per person which includes the tour with tastings, and the $15 token! Such a great deal for fresh, local beer! Check it out and let me know what you think!