It was a beautiful day for Beers of the Burgh last month. Among the great beers I sampled were an ice cream sour from Abjuration Brewing, a summery lime ale from Old Thunder (The Long Light) and a classic double IPA from Brew Gentlemen (Albatross) that hits a world-class rating of 98% on Beer Advocate.

I was really struck by the variety of nonalcoholic options at the festival — more than last year, and up from almost none just a few years ago. There were samples from Two Frays, the first local to brew an NA more than three years ago; East End Brewing, Cinderlands, Penn Brewery and more, along with spirits and mocktails from Goodlander and Lucky Spirits, to name a couple. 

“This is definitely a trend with some staying power,” said Mark Turic, Beers of the Burgh’s organizer. In fact, this year’s festival was the first to offer a ticket for NA samples only.

“They were about $20 cheaper (than full-price tickets), and we sold about a hundred,” Turic said.

Not just NAs, but low-alcohol styles like lagers, pilsners and kolsch are gaining popularity. Scott Smith, who opened East End Brewing Co. in 2004, sees it as “a pushback against the alcohol arms race that was going on at one time,” when connoisseurs equated higher alcohol by volume (ABV) with better beer.

The new easy-drinking trend is reflected in East End’s taproom lineup, which includes Everyday Pilsner, Sports Beer light lager and a seasonal watermelon gose, which all hover at about 4% ABV. East End also has its own NA brew — Dry Hop — inspired by their flagship beer, Big Hop. Other nonalcoholic options include Barmy Soda, Hop Water and nonalcoholic seltzers.

Beers of the Burgh Festival 2025. Photo courtesy of Beers of the Burgh.

When big beers are not the main attraction, events are key. East End, like most local taprooms, offers a full schedule of diversions at all three of its locations. There’s weekly Drew’s Clues trivia at both Larimer and Mt. Lebanon, yoga at the summer pop-up on the North Side, occasional bingo and monthly bluegrass or Scottish music in Mt. Lebanon. Alternate Histories’ Matt Buchholz hosts holiday Crafts and Drafts. Look for World Cup watch parties too.

“Habits have changed,” Smith noted. “We’re not gonna go out for beers. We’re gonna go out and do something and maybe have some beers.”

For Smith, it’s all good. 

“I used to think we were a beer company, and while we are, we’re a community gathering place that has beer that we make.”

Mel Babitz, owner of The Open Road, apparently saw all of this coming back in 2020, when she started selling NA beers, wine and cocktails. She opened a store on Arlington Avenue in 2022 and moved to a larger space in Garfield last year. Babitz has dozens of NA beers. In addition to locals from Two Frays and East End, and regional selections from Voodoo and New Trail, almost every major corporate beer brand has its own, including Pabst Blue Ribbon and Corona. There’s even an NA version of the Belgian Delirium Tremens: Delirio, with the same distinctive blue bottle, “flies off the shelf,” Babitz says.

Mel Babitz of The Open Road, a nonalcoholic drinks shop, displays the list of NA options available at last month’s Beers of the Burgh. Photo courtesy of Mike Poggi.

Babitz’s most popular category is “weed drinks” – NA beverages infused with hemp with potency ranging from 3 to more than 20 milligrams of THC and/or CBD.

“In Pennsylvania, if you have a liquor license, you can’t sell any hemp products,” though breweries in other states are producing hemp beverages, Babitz said. 

(Though recreational marijuana is illegal in Pennsylvania, a loophole in a 2018 federal Farm Bill has permitted hemp sales. This may change in November, when a law prohibiting the sale of hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC is set to go into effect.)

She also sells tinctures, kava drinks and more. It’s all “about health and wellness,” and not just for the younger generations who are famously less interested in alcohol. 

“Our clientele skews older,” including people who can’t, or may not want to, drink as they once did, Babitz noted. 

For those over 21 who are sober, or sober-curious, or just want to check out the weed drinks, Babitz and her staff are a valuable resource as the NA space grows and changes.

Virtue Signal hits town

In related news, the area’s first business dedicated solely to high-quality nonalcoholic beer has had a busy few months.

“Things are going well,” said Mike Poggi of Mt. Lebanon, founder of Virtue Signal Brewing. Like Babitz, he saw an opportunity in a burgeoning field: His beverages are “as good as an alcoholic beer.” His company released their first three styles (Presumed Innocent West Coast IPA, Bougie Bliss Belgian-Style Wheat and No Clucks Given vanilla dark porter style), earlier this year, and it’s not hard to find them around town. Old Thunder, Back Alley and Acclamation are among the taphouses carrying Virtue Signal. It’s available along with Brew Gentlemen beers at Riverlife’s Shore Thing and at a growing number of restaurants, including Mediterra and F & F Pizzeria in Mt. Lebanon. More than 20 local beer distributors and retailers, including The Open Road, sell six-packs featuring all three varieties, as well as single cans, Poggi said.

Virtue Signal Brewing’s first three styles of NA beer at a 412 Food Rescue event. Photo by Tyler Newpol.

Thirsty visitors were lining up at Poggi’s Beers of the Burgh table last month, to his delight. 

“I kept telling them, ‘You have to smell it first,’” he said. “Then you’d see their eyes light up.

“You need to pour (the beers) into a glass, to get the head, the smell and the mouth feel,” Poggi advised. “For people who care, that makes a big difference.”

Black BrewHouse attracting visitors

Black BrewHouse, the joint venture between Marcus Wyatt, owner of Windy Bridges Brewing, and Erika Turner, founder of TLC Libations, has been open Downtown on Forbes Avenue for about two months, and they’re staying busy. Juneteenth weekend was a big party, with DJs, food, yoga and line dancing. Last weekend, they hosted a Barrel and Flow meet and greet on Saturday, plus gave out beer and cocktail samples during Open Streets. 

“It’s getting better,” Wyatt said, noting their Thursday and Friday happy hours, which attract Downtown workers from PNC and other companies. “We’ve created a destination for people.” 

The challenge for both Windy Bridges and TLC is increasing their production to keep up with growing demand, but “it’s a great problem to have,” Wyatt noted. TLC also continues to operate its Homewood lounge.

The BrewHouse is an inviting, living room-type space with couches, comfy chairs and a small bar. The front area is often open to catch evening breezes. The drinks menu includes  a rotation of Windy Bridges beers. Recently, Wyatt offered a cream ale and strawberry lemonade sour. TLC cocktails included espresso martinis, strawberry guava and pineapple mimosa punches, and their own spin on classics like old fashioneds and margaritas. The BrewHouse often hosts food trucks, or patrons can grab food from Forbes Tavern across the street.

Wyatt and Turner are looking forward to welcoming Picklesburgh visitors July 16-19, and not long after that, hosting Steelers fans. 

“We complement each other,” Wyatt said of his partnership with Turner. “You open a business, you’re really taking a leap of faith.”

Important information about Barrel and Flow

Pittsburgh’s Black brewfest returns on Aug. 8. African American brewers and distillers including Daelyn Schellhaas, owner of Altered Genius in Ambridge, Wyatt and Turner, as mentioned above, and brewery owners from across the country will converge at the Stacks at Three Crossings for the annual celebration of Black creativity. New brewers include WNBA legend Tina Charles, who owns 78 Brewery in Connecticut. (Sports fans might know the 78 is in honor of her college team, the UConn Huskies, which posted a 78-game winning streak in 2009 and 2010.)

Left to right: Barrel & Flow Founder Day Bracey, Community and Business Outreach Director Chardaè Jones, Festival Coordinator Tyra Jamison, Operations and Communications Director Ummey Karim, and Tom Marshall, head of collaborations and owner of New France Brewing. Photo by Annette Bassett.

As the big day gets closer, founder Day Bracey has an urgent message for festival goers: be sure to download the new Barrels Festival app on the Apple Store or Google Play Store. It provides all the information needed on vendors, artists and performers, along with a list of brewers and collaborations, merch and the event’s history. 

Explaining the purpose of the app, Bracey said, “A lot of people hit me up with dumbass questions. I hate it.

“It’s a free app,” he added. “Don’t you dare ask me questions when I paid all this money for the app.