The Pittsburgh area will get the first brewery in a former Nike missile command center when Grist House Craft Brewery opens a, uh, satellite location there.
The brewery, which opened in Millvale in 2014, has maxed out its capacity there and has been working on expanding for at least a year and a half.
Co-owners Brian Eaton and Kyle Mientkiewicz appeared before the Collier Township Planning Commission in June of 2017 to seek a zoning amendment to allow a brewpub as part of the development of the former Nike site. Specifically, they wanted to be able to open one in what’s known locally as “the bunker building,” or Building 14. In the 1950s and ’60s it was one of several U.S. Army-operated bases using anti-aircraft guns and then Nike and Hercules missiles to defend industrially important Pittsburgh from Soviet attack. The building and surrounding parking lot are atop a ridge on Sgt. Messerschmidt Road, just off Nike Site Road, at one of the highest points in Allegheny County.
What’s now Collier Community Park, on the other side of Nike Site Road, also once was part of the base, parcels of which the federal government has donated or is donating to the township for park land or has sold to a developer. Collier Manager Kyle Thauvette says the township hopes that this second location of Grist House spurs more development and helps put Collier on the map with more of an identity.
The future brewery, on which Grist House closed its deal this summer, is a low, 55,000-square-feet structure with thick concrete walls that will become the brewery’s main production hub. In addition to the ground floor, there are two stories beneath that. The huge location also will have room for an extensive basement barrel-aging program, a large taproom and a retail space.
A blog post sharing the news Wednesday notes, “We have already started placing barrels in the building, so you can expect some very cool barrel aged beer coming from Grist House!”
The announcement also notes that “you can expect a place to enjoy our beer outside,” as a large deck is part of the plans in progress. There has been talk of a possible dog park at the site. The original, dog-friendly and bedecked location at 10 E. Sherman St. in Millvale will continue.
Grist House isn’t saying when it will open, but it will use social media to keep its fans posted on progress on the new location, which has great views, including of the top of the U.S. Steel Building, Downtown. The brewery is marked by the adjacent Federal Aviation Administration radar tower, which looks like a giant golf ball.
Mr. Eaton says, “Our vision for it is to really be a destination brewery” like Troegs Independent Brewing in Eastern Pennsylvania. “Western Pennsylvania doesn’t really have anything like that.”
Bob Batz Jr.: bbatz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1930 and on Twitter @bobbatzjr.
First Published: January 2, 2019, 8:28 p.m.
