Mastic Trail Brewing is located at 1044 Saxonburg Blvd in Glenshaw, just north of Sharpsburg, and is known as Pittsburgh’s “Caribbean Brewpub”. Ben Williams, a Pittsburgh native, is the owner behind this slice of paradise in the city’s suburbs.
Mastic Trail opened its 7,000 sq/ft tropical oasis in early July 2020 and has been brewing on a 1/2 BBL pilot system while waiting for their brewhouse floor to be coated. Their 10BBL brewhouse has recently been installed, and they are gearing up to produce much more beer.
We spoke with owner Ben Williams and found that he has visited the Cayman Islands many times. From the turtles, snorkeling, and diving, to the Mastic Trail, he fell in love with Grand Cayman. The Mastic Trail is a 3 hr nature walk on the island and used to be an agricultural road. There is also a local group responsible for preserving the heritage of the island, managing the Mastic Trail, and looking after the world’s only population of blue iguanas.
Ben was a homebrewer for 15 years and first started to think about owning a brewery 6 years ago. It was then in 2019, he had just gotten back from another trip to Grand Cayman, and he lost his job. He decided to go to the Craft Brewers Conference in Denver, and after that experience, was immediately sold on creating a brewery. Ben spent the last year writing a business plan, registering the Mastic Trail name, and finding a location. Being from Pittsburgh, he started to look there and landed on the North Hill Moose Lodge in Glenshaw, not very far from Sharpsburg, Lawrenceville, and Millvale.
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In early June, Ben started looking for a brewer. He was able to bring on a familiar Pittsburgh face, Barrett Goddard, former Full Pint brewer. You can expect 8-10 of their own beers on tap at any given time, including ales, wheat beers, a vanilla coconut oatmeal stout, hazy IPAs, west coast IPAs, blonde ales, etc. Beer fans will see seasonal releases, with cans coming down the line. The brewery offers beers in growlers or crowlers for to-go purchases as well.
“The goal is to have our guests enjoy drinks and food in a relaxed environment where they can get away from it all.” – says owner Ben Williams
In addition to beer, Mastic Trail serves local Pittsburgh guest beer taps, as well as tropical mixed drinks with. They are currently offering cocktails to go as well.
For food, the brewpub hired executive chef Justin Lewis to put out a delicious Caribbean-inspired menu. Items include jerk chicken as well as bacalao fritters. Guests can enjoy their food and drink while playing a variety of games (pool, shuffleboard, pinball).
After all this, you’re probably wondering how they decorated the inside, right? They have an epoxy floor with sand underneath to give you the true beach feeling, as well as some ocean floors in another room with waves and coral reefs. Their main bar has sand and seashells, while the back of the building looks like a dock. (See the photos for more!)
In total, the brewpub will be able to seat around 200, outside of pandemic restrictions of course. Each bar will have 20 taps flowing with their own beer, guest taps, as well as premixed tropical cocktails. For now, they can accommodate some guests inside with the current restrictions, as well as seat 6+ tables outside with full food service.
The brewery has also been booking live entertainment during the week, including some fantastic Caribbean bands such as The Flow Band, and the Wizdom Worldbeat Reggae Band.
Make sure to follow Mastic Trail Brewing on Facebook and Instagram to get the latest information on their location and brews!
