USA, PA: Golden Age Beer Co. finally fully open in Homestead

Golden Age Beer Co., like the lagers it loves, is taking some time to be completely ready, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on April 15.

The brewery, reborn during the pandemic, opened partially back in November, if only tentatively and mostly in the outdoor courtyard. It briefly (2018-19) had been Enix Brewing in the former Levine Bros. Hardware on Homestead’s main drag.

From the start, the new owners — the same guys who run Independent Brewing Co. and Hidden Harbor in Squirrel Hill and Lorelei in East Liberty — pledged that they would be pouring a lot of lagers, or the type of old-school beer beer that tends to mature slowly and at cold temperatures. Never mind that their first beer release was a pale ale. That was just quicker to make and more popular with a lot of people, at least for now.

The brewery’s grand opening this weekend completely lines up with lager having a sustained moment, including in the Pittsburgh area. Breweries here aren’t just making and selling lagers, they’re also celebrating them, as Old Thunder Brewing Co. in Blawnox did back in February with its “A Celebration of Pennsylvania Lager.” Golden Age was there.

On April 30, the North Side’s Allegheny City Brewing is holding, in its new outdoor beer garden space, its local lager celebration “Logger Jam,” featuring Golden Age and 20 other breweries, food and music ($49 per person). Larimer’s East End Brewing Co. will be there with its just-launched year-round lager, a beer like your grandpa drank called Everyday Pilsner.

And on May 14, Golden Age is holding its own lager luau — its first Golden Age Lager Fest, bringing 20-some breweries and four live acts for two sessions (1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m.) — not to its brewery, but to the This is Red event space in a former Slovakian Catholic church in neighboring Munhall ($50 per person).

You can get an advance taste at the Homestead brewery space, which is now open indoors as well as out and redecorated with Golden Age graphics and colors that are evocative of 1970s beer cans. There’s a small food menu and a big range of its own beers. Made by head brewer Aaron Dahl, they include a grand opening Helles, as well as other breweries’ brews, and now a cocktail menu. In a stance that will be controversial with some customers, the brewery says right on its website: “We welcome dogs and children.”

The former can hang in the aforementioned courtyard, which has a stage that already has hosted a range of events, including, recently, Sad Karaoke.

But in the meantime, they’re doing more stuff indoors, including some food, such as a local beef as well as a veggie smash burger ($11); a house-made bratwurst ($10) and grilled chicken sandwich ($12); pierogies with smoked cheddar, charred leek and chive compound butter ($12); and bourbon wings (six for $10), herbed fries ($8) and a Caesar salad ($12 or $19 with chicken).

It’s meant to go well with the beer, which Mr. Dahl describes as “lager focused.” They’ll always have a pale ale, maybe a couple of ales including the Kolsch and rotating guest taps, but most of the choices will be lagers. You might be surprised at how diverse those can be in color and taste. This weekend’s list includes a dry-hopped pilsner, a Czech pilsner, a Vienna lager, a Schwarzbier and a Weissbier. He wants to dabble in Rauchbier, or smoked beers, in varieties as specific as Polish smoked-wheat Grodziskie.

Mr. Dahl is a Chicago native who was working there at Alarmist Brewing when his Le Jus won a 2018 Great American Beer Festival gold medal for the juicy/hazy India pale ale category. He, however, yearned to make traditional German- and Czech-style lagers, so on a visit to a Pittsburgh beer fest, he also brought his first pilsner. It and he hit it off with Pete Kurzweg, who’s one of the co-owners of Independent Brewing/Hidden Harbor/Lorelei/Golden Age, and who’s been singing lager’s praises for years. He’ll remind you, lager remains the most popular beer for people all over the globe for reasons, including its easy drinkability.

“I always say, lager is what you drink and enjoy without having to think about drinking it and enjoying it,” he says, while showing off Mr. Dahl’s sparkling brewhouse, which was built for this — in Germany.

Mr. Dahl, too, is happy to tell you what he knows about this wide category of beer, starting with, “Lager is the truth.”

They’re going to be serious about this but also playful and are planning fun such as a Maifest and Mai Tais day next month that might have some Prussian purists rolling in their bratwurst buns. The owners also are hinting about opening what’s upstairs, which “rhymes with ‘rolling alley.’"

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .