The ever-changing holder of the “Pittsburgh’s newest brewery” title will again reside in the South Hills when Mindful Brewing opens in January in Castle Shannon. (NOTE: It will not open on January 2nd as previously reported here due to minor things yet to be done.)
Nearly all but the roof of the former McGinnis Market at 3759 Library Road has been overhauled by Lawrenceville’s mossArchitects and transformed into an airy, ambitious 10-barrel brewery and 250-person capacity taproom with second-story bar and patio. The ground floor also contains a full-service kitchen churning out upscale American fare and a dining room flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows and enormous TVs for sports.
Mindful Brewing springs from the pair of Dustin Jones and Nick Jones (no relation), owner and general manager of Carnegie’s 99 Bottles.
“We were originally looking at opening a small neighborhood brewery in Carnegie, but then we found this building,” says Nick Jones, who is making the jump from GM to brewer. He started homebrewing almost five years ago.
“I’m glad I’ll be focusing on just one thing,” he says with a laugh.
Joining him in the brewery will be Marcus Cox, from Melbourne, Australia. Cox spent his last seven years at Thunder Road Brewing Co., where he helped to oversee a transition from startup to regional brewery and back-to-back winner of “Champion Medium Sized Australian Brewer.”
With a 10-barrel system and six, 20-barrel fermenters the “regional” label might fall on Mindful one day, but for now their only worry is in making sure there’s plenty of beer on tap for opening day.
Flagship beers will be determined in time but the opening day lineup should include a Belgian pale ale, Baltic Porter, kölsch, double IPA and a hazy “Vermont style” single IPA.
There will also be a couple dozen local and regional beers on tap in addition to a handful of draft cocktails and wines. If that’s not enough, take home a crowler or one of 600 or 700 bottles of beer from the coolers.
“No matter who you are there’s going to be something for you here. If you can’t find something you like here you probably can’t find it anywhere,” says Jones.
Mindful Brewing is located about midway between Spoonwood Brewing Co. and Hitchhiker Brewing Co. and Jones says both have welcomed Mindful with open arms. He thinks everyone realizes the presence of three quality craft breweries within a few miles of each other makes the South Hills an appealing destination for regional craft beer fans.
Mindful Brewing will be open Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., except Friday and Saturday when they will remain open until midnight. (They will be closed Mondays after opening day. We’ll keep you posted on that).