99 Bottles of Beer on the Shelf

It was late last summer & we were trying to put together an event or two for Big Pour Week, the week leading up to the Steel City Big Pour.  2012 was our first year of sponsoring the Big Pour, & we wanted to offer something unique to our customers & the greater Pittsburgh beer community, especially something that really showed off our selection.  We thought of all the great, hard-to-find beers on our shelves that we’d like to turn people onto.  We also realized that a lot of curious beer drinkers might be really intrigued by a bottle of something, but hesitant to pull the trigger because of the price tag that often comes with the rare stuff. 

Eureka!  Why not have a tasting of some select beers that we want to expose people to, at a low-risk price?  If folks like what’s offered, they’ll feel more comfortable shelling out a little more for what they know is a great beer.  If something’s not to their liking, they won’t feel burned or ripped off.  Top Shelf Thursday was born.  The first one got enough demand that we decided to make it a monthly event.  They’re a lot of fun, with faces old & new at each tasting & diverse styles of beer – some like all, all like some (& folks have found stuff they’ve absolutely loved, too!).  Folks meet, drink, & make friends - naturally a lot of the conversation tends to veer toward beer.  July saw the tenth tasting in eleven months (we skipped December), so we thought it a good time to do a recap of all the beers we’ve poured so far.

AleSmith Decadence 2012

AleSmith Grand Cru

AleSmith IPA

Anchorage Whiteout

Ballast Point Dorado

Beer Here Morke Pumpernickel Porter

Blue Point Old Howling Bastard

Bockor Bellegems Bruin

Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge

Boom Island Thoprock IPA

Brash The Bollocks

Brooklyn Black Ops

Bruery Mischief

Bruery Rueuze

Bruery Smoking Wood – Rye Barrel-Aged

Bruery Sour in the Rye

Bruery White Orchard

Caldera Vas Deferens

Caracole Saxo

Central Waters/Local Option Le Petite Mort

Charlevoix Dominus Vobiscum Double

Chimay Tripel

Cisco Pedaller Bike Path Blueberry Bleer

Clown Shoes Clementine 1.5

Clown Shoes/Brash Pimp

Clown Shoes/Three Heads Third Party Candidate

Dansk Mjod Old Danish Braggot

De la Senne/Allagash Very Special Belge

De La Senne/Weyerbacher/Tom Peters Manneken-Penn

De Struise/Stillwater Outblack

Deschutes/Hair of the Dog Conflux No. 1 (Collage)

Dieu du Ciel Routes des Epices

Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu

Dogfish Head Noble Rot

Dogfish Head/Dan the Automator Positive Contact

Draai Laag Goedenacht

DuClaw Double Naked Fish

Evil Twin Disco Beer

Evil Twin Even More Jesus

Evil Twin Symphony No. 9

Evil Twin/Omnipollo Russian Roulette

FiftyFifty Eclipse – Mellow Corn

FiftyFifty Eclipse – Old Fitzgerald

FiftyFifty Eclipse – Rittenhouse Rye

Firestone Walker Walker’s Reserve Porter

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

Hambleton Nightmare

Hangar 24 Chocolate Porter

Hangar 24 Double IPA

Hanssens Oudbeitje Lambic

Hanssens Oude Kriek

Hanssens Scarenbecca Kriek

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 16

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 30

Heller-Trum Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche

Helltown Spiteful Saison

Heretic Evil Twin

Hoppin’ Frog Barrel-Aged B.O.R.I.S.

Hoppin’ Frog Barrel-Aged Naked Evil

Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher

Hoppin’ Frog D.O.R.I.S. the Destroyer

Hoppin’ Frog Hop Dam Triple IPA

Invercargill Smokin’ Bishop

Jandrain-Jandrenouille V Cense

Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especiale

Liefmans Goudenband

Lost Abbey Angel’s Share

Lost Abbey Red Poppy

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

Mikkeller Chipotle Porter

Nebraska Apricot au Poivre Saison

Nebraska Fathead

North Coast/Deschutes/Rogue Class of /88 Barleywine

Omnipollo Leon

Oud Beersel Bersalis

Perfect Crime Smoking Gun

Port Anniversary Ale

Port Older Viscosity

Pretty Things Lovely Saint Winefride

Russian River Redemption

Saint-Germain Page 24 Reserve Hildegarde

Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo

Sierra Nevada/Abbey of New Clairvaux Ovila Belgian-style Golden Ale

Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Rhizing Bines

Sierra Nevada/Russian River Brux Domesticated Wild Ale

Silenrieux Joseph Spelt Ale

Southern Tier Pumking

Stillwater Folklore

Stillwater/Hof ten Dormaal Bronze Age

Telegraph Reserve Wheat

Tilquin Oude Gueuze Tilquin a L’Ancienne

Uinta Oak Jacked

Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition

Van Steenberge Piraat

Van Steenberge St. Stefanus Grand Cru

Verhaege Duchesse de Bourgogne

Victory Golden Monkey

Victory Oak Horizontal

Victory White Monkey

The next Top Shelf Thursday is August 15^th from 7-9pm, featuring fruit beers that are a bit outside the box.  Call or stop The House to reserve your spot, & we hope to see you there!