Surviving December: Whiskey Before Breakfast (& Pittsburgh Boozes)

Let's be honest. A lot of drinking happens in December. There are holiday parties with friends and for work. There are holiday dinners with family. There is New Year's Eve.

As I write this, I'm recovering from my work holiday party. Well, a work holiday party preceded by a day of whiskey drinking, which started before breakfast thanks to Pittsburgh's Wigle Whiskey.

Wigle Whiskey

2401 Smallman Street (in the Strip)

I never used to be a whiskey drinker. It's been a semi-new development over the past year. See, when your main mode of transportation is a bicycle, it's not terribly easy to get a case of beer from the distributor to your fridge. It's a whole lot easier to transport a bottle of whiskey, and thus I have become a whiskey drinker.

Yesterday morning Wigle released their first bottles of aged whiskey. I arrived with friends a little before 9 a.m. and got in a line that was already wrapping around the building. While waiting, we placed our orders for the whiskeys we wanted to take home. We were also served a delicious drink called the Bees Knees (Wigle White Wheat + cream + honey). I picked up one of each of the aged whiskeys (one regular, one cherry wood, and one maple wood). Anyone who, like us, got out of bed early enough on a Saturday to get their hands on these limited bottles was welcome to sign one of the small casks used in the aging process. It's nice thinking our names will be on that cask and that the cask will be a part of Wigle's history for (hopefully) many, many years to come.

My aged Wigle whiskeys, at home atop my fridge.

Now, if whiskey's not your thing, Pittsburgh has other options for local alcohol. Fortunately for me, two of those options (as well as Wigle!) are located along my route home from work. 

East End Brewing Company

147 Julius Street (Larimer)

East End Brewing may be located in Larimer (they've recently moved into their newer, bigger building on Julius Street), but they have a very convenient growler station at the Pittsburgh Public Market in the Strip. They stay open til 6 p.m. on Fridays, which is the perfect for a quick stop after work to bring home a growler of one of my favorites (Pedal Pale Ale, Big Hop, Fat Gary...).

Arsenal Cider House & Wine Cellar

300 39th Street (Lawrenceville)

Arsenal Cider House is such a treat to have in the neighborhood. Really. The ciders are tasty and the fun of sampling and choosing which growler to take home with you is made even more fun when your growler is labeled with your name and a ranking. Last time, I received my growler with "Admiral Allison" on it. 

December is a long month. Thankfully, we've already survived half of it. As the rest of the month goes into the books, make an effort to drink locally. Wigle, East End, and Arsenal are only a few of the many ways to do so. With so many hardworking local businesses serving up homemade and homegrown brews and libations, there's good reason we've been described as a football town with a drinking problem. 

Let's Drink to Wigle: Wigle Whiskey's Inaugural Tar & Feather Party

You wanna know what's an excellent thing to do on a beautiful late-August Friday right after getting done with work (for the week!)? Having some whiskey. What makes that even excellenter? Having those whiskey drinks made for you by Wigle Whiskey. At the Inaugural "Let's Get Tarred and Feathered" event, there were three whiskey drinks available for the tasting. I drank a few lemonade whiskeys and a few extremely tasty pomegranate whiskey drinks.  

Unlike the Food Truck event from several weeks ago, there was tons of space in the Wigle parking lot, which made nice to hang around with friends. For a while we sat on the ground snacking on pierogies (from the PGHPierogiTruck) and soups (from Soup Nancys). (Excuse the black and white photos. My phone's camera is somehow dead. Getting that taken care of this week, I hope.)

Kate and Zack, snacking on some pierogies and haluski. 

Different nonprofit organizations interpreted "tar and feathering" in various ways. Upon entry to the event, everyone received a feather to use as a vote for your favorite. Coming back from the bar, I got involved in Attack Theater's interpretation, which involved a lot of spinning around in a tight circle. It was fun, but I was dizzy as hell. Which is a good way to feel before you start on your second whiskey drink. I think someone got a picture of me doing this, but it's probably better that doesn't surface.

Here's what Attack Theater's tar and feather interpretation looked like, without me in it.

This was a really great event. I've talked about it with a few friends who were there, and everyone agreed that this was a really great way to spend a Friday evening. I should get getting back to Wigle soon for a tour; I'm taking my dad there as part of his Father's Day present. The same day as this party, Essential Pittsburgh aired a segment with highlights from the Wigle Whiskey tour. Listen to that while surfing through the Wigle site, which is really fun and will make you wish it were 2013 so that the aged stuff is ready.

Bike's in the Shop: My Walk to Work

In order to better the odds that I am actually able to make it to Washington D.C. by bike, I had to do something I really really hate doing: giving it up. Red had to go into the shop for some MAJOR work before the trip. I was going to be without a bike for both a morning and an evening commute. The worst possible thing. For no particular reason, I haven't been able to wake up very early lately. I've started taking cereal and instant coffee into work because there is nothing I can do to get up and have breakfast at home. Simply put: I don't wake up early.

However, take away my bike and force me to face the brutal reality of the bus? I will wake up early and walk. (Disclaimer: I believe the bus is a very important and vital tool to our city. I use it from time to time and it is something that really allows me to live without a car in Pittsburgh. I just like to use my own two feet to get around.)

Ultimately, walking to Downtown takes a bit longer than busing to Downtown. So I really would save time and sleep longer if I rode the bus. But it had been a while since I walked to work. I used to walk to work all the time in Boston before I got a bike. I'm never one to turn down a long walk, so I forced myself awake by treating me to a nice coffee for the way in.

And I took some photos along the way.

Flowers in Bloomfield

Looking over Lawrenceville into Millvale from Penn Ave.

I see this every morning coming down Penn. But I'm normally on wheels and not feet, so it was considerably easier to take a picture.

This place on Penn does great business in the mornings around 8:20 a.m.

If there were an award for most colorful building in Pittsburgh, Salem's would have to be a contender.

Troy Hill in the distance. Love that colored wall.

So, a few weeks ago, I started to see this mural slowly going up on the wall of Altar Bar. It's PRETTY incredible. We've got New Found Glory (which I initially thought was Meatloaf, cause it kinda makes more sense in my head that it would be Meatloaf), Hank Williams III (I think?), Snoop Dogg (because of course; he loves Pittsburgh, at least the Pens and Steelers), Leon Russell (???), and the Misfits. I almost hope they rotate new celebs up there seasonally. 

And I got to work *right* at 8:30; I couldn't have timed it better if I tried.

PGH Beautiful: Murals, February 2012

A couple murals. The winter hasn't been too bad, but exploring has been drastically reduced. I really cannot wait for warmer temps and the ability to spend entire days adventuring around town.

From along the Eliza Furnace Trail.

At the intersection at Penn and the 16th Street Bridge. I see this every morning riding into downtown on my bike.

PGH Beautiful: Graffiti and Street Art, February 2012

A few inspiring messages/scrawlings found around town.

Technically neither graffiti or street art, this quote, part of a mural, stuck out to me on a walk down Penn into downtown one Sunday afternoon.

I honestly feel like this has been a mantra for me for 2012. DO THINGS.

Ahhhh, yes. The glory days.

The World's Heroes and Pittsburgh's Oldest Bar

This winter has been a tricky thing. Earlier in the fall a Post Gazette article warned of a brutally awful winter season, but so far, we've had two really cold days and just a smattering of snow. Since the unofficial start of winter (which I just always place as December 1), I've only had to commute to work by bus twice (stupid smattering of snow!). In my book, this is an awesome alternative to some winters past. Keep the mildness and beautiful days coming!

This past Saturday was that perfect mild and beautiful day. After meeting Corey in the Strip at 21st Street Coffee and Tea (yum to the latte and yum to the much-needed-by-that-point blueberry muffin), we rode our bikes through the Strip, into downtown, and across the Warhol Bridge. Fittingly, our destination was the Warhol Museum, where we would take in the Alex Ross exhibit Heroes and Villians on its LAST DAY.


No photos were allowed inside, which is really a shame, because there were some pretty amazing paintings, treasures from his childhood (superhero figures made of construction paper!), and my new favorite superhero. Plastic Man!


Corey educated me on what we were seeing in the exhibit, which I much appreciated. I had no idea the world of comics could be so intensely beautiful. Unfortunately, we caught it on the last day it was in town. Otherwise, I would totally recommend everyone go.

After the exhibit, we rode a little deeper into the North Side to Deutschtown. On our last visit, the Park House hadn't opened for the evening yet. So we'd had this place on our minds for a month or so.

We stopped in, had a few beers, watched some football, and ate a bunch of peanuts.


Maybe this mildness in the early winter is lulling me into a trap. Come Late February when there is two feet of snow piled up outside and it doesn't ever seem like we'll see green again, I'll be looking back fondly on the early January day when I biked around all day in tights and a light hoodie.

PGH Beautiful: Murals, December 2011

A sampling of the wonderfully colorful murals in and around Pittsburgh.

Street scene along Penn Ave in Garfield.

Quilting on the side of building along Penn in Bloomfield.

A collection of the awesome things that make the Strip awesome.

PGH Beautiful: Murals, November 2011, Vol. 2

Celebrating the end of November with a mish-mash of murals.

Yummy foods on a wall in the Strip, just like the yummy foods you find in the Strip.

Great mural in Bloomfield off of Liberty. Best part? Little girl has a jack-o-latern. Makes sense. Bloomfield does take its Halloween parade very serious.

This is the Puddler. He lives on Wood Street between Sixth and Oliver. During the day, you'd barely notice him. At night. He glows.

Mexican War Streets Fantasies: Mullen Visits!

Oddly, the person who has visited me from Boston the most is also the person who has not yet had a real, honest-to-goodness Pittsburgh weekend. She'd come in for business trips, usually one-nighters good for dinner and drinks, and for my mom's funeral, which, well, wasn't the most fun reason to be in Pittsburgh. So, finally(!), Mullen came to town for her first official Pittsburgh weekend.

After taking her to breakfast at Coca Cafe and Wildcard and an adventure through the Strip where we bought assorted goods (beer, t-shirts, turkey carcass, artwork, donuts - you know, the usual), I brought her to the Mexican War Streets. Primarily because I knew she'd fall in love with the neighborhood. (And not so secretly because I truly believe this girl would flourish in Pittsburgh).

I wanted to walk from Downtown to the War Streets so we could pass Mullens. For obvious reasons.


Our walk took us through Allegheny Commons and North Park before hitting the War Streets. It was a beautifully mild Saturday afternoon - perfect for a long walk. Earlier in the week, I had attended an apartment-warming party in the War Streets. Just walking into the entryway of the building - not even the amazing apartment itself - gave me serious apartment envy. The War Streets are quickly creeping up my list of neighborhoods I want to investigate when it comes time to buy a home. The area is lovely. It is full of color. The Monterey Pub is awesome and perfectly neighborhoody. I knew Mullen would fall in love with it, and we started making (fantasy) plans for buying and flipping a house in the area. At first, I wanted to take Mullen past the Mattress Factory and show her the sunken garden, but the lightbulb went off over my head and I changed our route to get to Randyland.

We were taking pictures of the mural on the side of the building when Randy himself came out of nowhere in a faded Pitt sweatshirt welcoming us into his backyard, where the bulk of his creations reside. I'd never been past the gate to the backyard before, so this seemed like a really special occasion. What follows are pictures from outside and inside the backyard of Randyland.







After we made our way out of Randyland and down the street toward the Monterey Pub, I pointed out the firehouse catty-corner from Randyland. It's for sale. And it's hard to figure out a way that my life could continue without that somehow ending up in my possession one day. (So, if any of you want to chip in and buy me a firehouse in the War Streets: go. for. it.)

BY THE WAY.
This is my 100th post on Everything Better Pittsburgh.
Thank you for reading! I've been having a blast coming up with adventures and writing about my one true love. Here's to another 100 things to say about Pittsburgh.

I Wish I Could Draw: PIX - The Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo

One thing I've been getting into since moving back to Pittsburgh is graphic novels/indie comics. Every couple months I pick up a few things from the library or am lent some indie comics from my friends Eric and Corey. I've really enjoyed delving into this world; although it has increased my jealously of anyone who is capable of putting pen to paper and coming up with something other than the mess of scribbles I usually come up with when I try.

PIX: The Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo is a yearly event presented by the Toonseum and sponsored by Copacetic Comics. This was my second year perusing the labors of loves of comic artists, and I came away with a few awesome finds that I'm excited to dig into on the next cold, blustery fall night that comes around.


I picked up a couple things from Virginia Shields, including the "Words and Phrases for Getting Around Pittsburgh" (I'm a sucker for any comic that centers around Pittsburgh as two of my other purchases would have this theme as well.) She also had handmade puzzles for sale, so I got the "Orange Dude" puzzle (because of course - second to Pittsburgh things, orange things are another frequent purchase of mine).



The event was held on the top floor of the Guardian Storage Facility on Liberty Ave. in the Strip. It provided a great view of the Strip and Troy Hill in the background.

My other purchases of the day were both from Paulette Poullet and I'm really, really excited to sit down and read them soon. At first glance, they appear to be a collection of stories with Pittsburgh as the backdrop. The cover of one is the Cathedral of Learning. The cover of the other has a kid with a t-shirt that has a stegosaurus on a skateboard on it. I was beyond sold on both.


I'll end this with a quick plug for my friend Corey's comics discussion group held at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Out of the Gutter. Here's an article written by Daniel McCloskey of Cyberpunk Apocalypse about Out of the Gutter. Enjoy the picture of the back of my head that accompanies the article (I'm on the right!).

So, until my wishes are granted and I magically wake up one morning with the ability to draw, I will continue to explore indie comics and graphic novels. Especially any with a Pittsburgh theme - of course.

Saturday Morning in the Strip

Every morning I bike through the Strip District on my way downtown for work. It's usually empty while I roll through, but on Saturdays and Sundays, everything in the Strip comes to life. The sidewalks are barely navigable and when I try to ride through on weekends, it's hell.

The strange thing is: I always - always! - forget about the Strip when it comes to the weekends and fun awesome Pittsburgh things to do. But I made it a point to go this weekend because I wanted to accomplish three things: 1. Go to the Pittsburgh Public Market, 2. Go to PennMac, 3. Take pictures of a couple of the murals. Check. Check. Check.

PennMac cheese counter is slightly intimidating, but wholly amazing. Intimidating because when I picked up my number, they were at 4; I was 28. But it moved quickly, and it gave me time to talk myself into buying a pound of Tillamook cheddar and a 1/2 pound ball of buffalo mozzarella. Both have already been put to very good use.

This was my second visit to the Pittsburgh Public Market. It has definitely grown a bit since my first visit, and I think it has the potential to be really insanely awesome. Maybe fewer arts & crafts and more typical market offerings? A good ol' fashioned butcher would be my request.

I picked up a growler of East End Brewery's Pedal Pale Ale. Will make good use of that this week when the temperature soars and I spend my nights reading on the balcony.

There are times when I really do wish the point would turn into a magical land of pizza. I didn't grab a slice, but I'll put in on my list of Pittsburgh things I want to do.

One thing that I believe truly separates Pittsburgh from other cities across the United States (of which I've been to many of various sizes and populations) is the abundance of public art, especially murals. This one is right in the heart of the Strip, and depicts life in the heart of the Strip.

This is not a mural (obviously), but I found it quite nice. Who wouldn't think that this utility box looks better with this nice little man with a suitcase and a sad sort of appeal?

This is a mural on the side of the WFH New Oriental Foods Market.

So far, I've used the Tillamook cheddar in my egg sammich for lunch and the buffalo mozzarella for a caprese sammich in the park. I also picked up some lemon garlic penne pasta and fancy marshmellows at the Public Market. I'm saving the penne for later this week, but have already sampled all three of the marshmallows (vanilla, malted vanilla, and pistachio). They are wonderful, and perhaps a new favorite Pittsburgh treat.

I'll have to push the Strip to the front of my mind more often on the weekends. Even though it means a long haul back up Penn with a bunch of awesome groceries, it's undoubtedly worth the trip.