A Beer For Every Neighborhood

Photography Courtesy of East End Brewing Company/ Story by Maggie Weaver/ Beer by East End Brewing Company

In 2019, East End Brewing Company released the first can in the YOU ARE HERE series, a project celebrating Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods by creating a beer for every, single one.

Almost two years later, the brewery is looking towards the 45th can release, which will mark the project’s halfway point.

“Now is the part of the program when I get anxious for what we’re going to do when we run out of neighborhoods,” says Scott Smith, owner of East End Brewing Company.

Every beer in the YOU ARE HERE series is a new recipe, but the brews aren't typically specific to the character of a neighborhood. Smith and his team pick the beer’s neighborhood at random.

They started the project with Allentown, 7.5% imperial shandy and most recently released Oakwood, a 4.0% blueberry grisette, and Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, a 5.6% Vienna lager.

East End’s brewing team has been cranking out these different styles. At one point, Smith says, he had to tell the brew guys to slow down.

“They were like, I get to make a different beer every time? This is like, my dream come true,” Smith laughs, saying that the process has been “a bit like a laboratory.” The YOU ARE HERE project has allowed them to sell out of some more obscure styles, like in April, when they released a Hays, a rauchbier (smoked beer).

Out of the 44 different YOU ARE HERE beers, Smith doesn’t have a clear favorite. But, he says the Larimer beer, release number 15, was close to his heart.

The beer, an all-local American ale, was produced using ingredients found within 100 miles of the brewery and modeled after East End's flagship beer, Big Hop. Smith and his team released the brew – named for their home neighborhood – in December of 2019, their 15th Anniversary.

Typically, with each YOU ARE HERE beer release, Smith and the team do a neighborhood event. Smith says that with COVID, it’s been a challenge.

“That’s been the really cool part about this, is exploring these neighborhoods and finding a location on the West End or Fairywood to host a beer release,” he says. The brewery was able to do one in-person release, Bloomfield, at the neighborhood’s winter market.

“We’re looking forward to some warmer weather, looking forward to a time when we can gather indoors again,” Smith says.

All YOU ARE HERE beers are made in limited quantities; once they’re gone, they’re gone. Releases are announced on East End’s social media pages, and cans can be purchased online.