As you may have read in a past profile on our site, Trace Brewing has been working hard towards opening their brewery in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. And the day has finally come where the brewery will be able to offer sales of their beer for to-go purchases.
Located at 4312 Main Street, at a very busy intersection in Bloomfield, the brewery will plan to begin with to-go sales of five different beer can options in mid-December. Once the cans are confirmed customers can purchase them online ahead of time by ordering on their website. Check back for more confirmed details soon.
The team behind the brewery consists of the following individuals:
Dave Kushner – Owner/Founder
Dave got his start working at a local brewpub in Boston, where he helped as a server and assistant brewer. From there he would go on to brew at Harpoon Brewery (Boston, MA) and Lord Hobo Brewing Company (Woburn, MA). He is also the owner of Remnant Brewing in Boston.
Zach Colton – Head of “Funk”
Zach Colton is the Head of Funk, heading up Trace’s Koelschip and barrel program for wild and spontaneous fermentation. Zach has worked with beer in many different jobs and fell in love with brewing at Harpoon. He competed in a home-brewing competition at Harpoon, made an IPL, and came in 2nd place. A beer that Harpoon would end up eventually producing on their commercial brew system. Zach also has experience working with Trillium, Dancing Gnome, as well as holding an internship overseas with Mikkeller Baghaven. His experience also includes working at Four Points Brewing, and most recently at Strange Roots brewing.
Katie Rado
Katie Rado is the GM of Trace Brewing and responsible for all front-of-house management. She most recently worked at Spirit Lodge in Lawrenceville. She has extensive event planning experience and will be responsible for the wide range of events at Trace Brewing. She has also previously owned a butcher shop in Pittsburgh; Butcher on Butler.
We recently spoke with the team to get a better idea of what guests can expect from the new brewery. As we learned they plan to offer a mix of styles and stay away from “gimmicky” beers but will explore and experiment with a lot. They will also offer a robust wild ale and barrel-aging program. Once open for onsite consumption they plan to offer 16 taps.
“The building we are renovating is 5,800 sq/ft, and was built in 1900. It sits across the street from a former large Iron City Brewing facility in Bloomfield. The history of the space is interesting: it was a brass and bronze foundry, then a paint manufacturer, and then a photography location. Most recently it was used as an underground punk music venue until 2016” the brewery said about their space.
They will utilize a 10 bbl electric fire Stout system, with 20 bbl tanks. Included in the system are 5 fermenters and 5 brite-tanks which they will serve directly out of. For the funk program, they will have two 10bbl Foeders, and a barrel wall in the taproom room for 40 wine or bourbon barrels. The Koelschip itself will have its own room off the beer garden, and be public-facing for all to see the work firsthand.
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For more information on Trace Brewing, and to keep up with the can sales, check out their website and also their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter social media pages.
