Steel City Big Pour '08
The 2nd Annual Steel City Big Pour took place this past weekend (September 13) at the Construction Junction (doesn't it make you want to sing that Schoolhouse Rocks song, Conjunction Junction) in Pittsburgh. The Big Pour is a really awesome melding of the best food, brews, art and music in the Pittsburgh area.
There were two 3-hour sessions where (I'm guessing) about 1,000 Pittsburghers got to visit numerous (there had to be over 40) booths featuring both tasty treats and good old beer. There were representatives from breweries like Bell's, Weyerbacher, The Church Brew Works and local restaurants like Bocktown (which is simply awesome). They also had some really cool kegerators that were painted up by local artists to raffle to the ruffians (I didn't win - though I have no clue where I would put such a monstrosity) and live displays of art such as glass blowing and chain saw wood carving.
I was worried this would become a drunk fest (people chugging beer out of boots, passing out, being rude), but that was not the case. The crowd was really cool - civil and under control, but still having a great time. It is almost as if people can control their own actions - novel.
I recommend it for anyone who has enjoys an occasional brew - it was definitely worth the $35 to enter. As Homer would say (the animated one, not dead one who wrote epic poems - both are really ugly though), "Mmmm... beer!"
On a side note, Tram's Kitchen on Penn Avenue served me up one of the best meals I've ever had in the 'Burgh. It was really astonishingly good. There's no way I was hungry enough to eat the entire portion of shrimp over fried rice they served - but I did - and I could have eaten even more. Check it out if you get a chance.
