Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest (pix-bĂšrg whin-ter bÄr-fezt), n.: An excuse for Yinzers to see how much beer they can consume in 3.5 hours.
With almost 400 different beers at the fest, it was a wild Saturday afternoon to say the least; yinzers were crawling out of the woodworks. I, on the other hand, don’t really like beers. I was on a mission to try all the chocolately stouts; although, I couldn’t get past my 6th after spotting all the food around me…but, who’s counting?
Full disclosure here: I am a total sucker for chicken fried rice. And when I saw Nakamaâs food truck in the festivalâs back corner, I couldnât help myself. The fried rice came with Nakamaâs homemade âyum-yumâ sauce, which tasted like a sushi placeâs spicy sauce, sans the spicy. Although it was more of a simple fried rice, only containing peas, carrots, and eggs, the rice was decent and the chicken was tender. All I know is that the ‘yum-yum’ sauce really brought it all together.
Some other indulgences I experienced include:
- Garlic & Parmesan Kettle Corn from Popped Culture
- Salty & Sweet lovers unite! Whatta combo.
- Cinnamon Glazed Cashews from the Bavarian Nut Company
- Who can ever resist the sweet smell of fresh roasted nuts?
- Kangaroo Jerky from the Jerky Hut
- Definitely chewy and too sweet for jerky, but something different – of course brings me back to my days as an Aussie.
Desserts I saw but didn’t get to try:
Overall, I’d say that the Beerfest was a grand old time, and although it may not have been centered around food, I tried my best for that to happen. Next year, we’ll have to make our own pretzel necklaces to bring along (pro-tip). Also, I’d have Teddy, my beer and pizza connoisseur, give his take on the beer, but he was clearly having too much fun:
Know of an event coming up that I should check out? Contact me!
Yinzer Eats. Where Yinzers Eat.
