Barrel & Flow brings craft beer; celebrates Black music, food & art in The Strip
PITTSBURGH − Savor the vibes and imbibe at Barrel & Flow Fest, Pittsburgh's nationally recognized beer festival returning Aug. 13 at a new location.
Spotlighting 30 Black-owned breweries, Barrel & Flow Fest includes seven bands, five deejays and two live visual arts stages. Factor in the food trucks/tents, indie artisans, local nonprofits, and an overall total of 75 sample-pouring breweries/distilleries, and we're talking a total of 150 vendors spread out at The Stacks at Three Crossings, off Railroad Street in Pittsburgh's Strip District.
The beer tents will pour their prized products plus festival-exclusive collaborations, such as Ambridge brewery Altered Genius, partnered on a blonde ice cream stout with its Merchant Street neighbors Ice Cream Therapy, and fellow Ambridge brewery Fermata Brewing, teaming on a papaya flavored cold IPA with the food and drink blog 412Beer.
Other collabs involve popular regional breweries like ShuBrew and Burgh'ers, both of Zelienople, Trace Brewing of Bloomfield, Dancing Gnome of Sharpsburg, Brew Gentlemen of Braddock, and Grist Brewing of Millvale partnering with Pittsburgh rap star Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang.
From Allegash Brewing in Portland, Maine, to Warcloud Brewing of Los Angeles; and Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio, Texas, to Black Horizon Brewing of Chicago, craft beermakers coast-to-coast will represent. The woman-owned Coven Brewing of Lawrenceville will take part this year, as will beermakers from Costa Rica (BlackMan Brewing) and the United Kingdom (Rock Leopard Brewing).
If beer's not your go-to, other pours will include Plush Vodka of Delaware, and 18th St Distillery spirits from Indiana.
With the Allegheny River side of the city providing a backdrop this year, the Flow Portion of the festival includes live music from acts like Pittsburgh's nationally touring blues duo Soulful Femme, Memphis indie-rockers Blvck Hippie, Washington D.C. rapper Chris Allen (the only two-time winner at West Virginia University's Battle of The Bands), Pittsburgh's on-the-rise rapper Live From The City, and notable Pittsburgh rockers Elias Khouri and NASH.V.ILL featuring Byron Nash.
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Bios on the musicians: www.barrelandflow.com/flow
New this year is the inclusion of two art stages, with live visual artists painting in real-time.
Describing the new Strip location, Barrel & Flow founder Day Bracey, a Beaver resident, said, "We've got from 27th Street down to 29th blocked off, and then we have the venue itself, so it kind of makes a P-shape. The venue is so good to work with."
Twice named one of America's best beer fests by USA Today readers, last year's event took place at SouthSide Works, and was more sprawling. Even with wristbands and festival-supplied sampling glasses, too many people without tickets crashed the party.
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"We learned bigger is not always better," Bracey, co-founder of the award-winning Drinking Partners comedy and drinks podcast, said. "People didn't like the physical size of the festival. A lot of people didn't want to walk the length of the festival. It was at times too confusing. Some people went to the festival and never even knew there were two other stages.
"The last two years have been challenging but we learned a lot," Bracey said. "We kept the brand going and we saw the support from the community. It's not just me or a small group, it's like the whole community came together. It's the little things, like 'hey, I made connections with this brewer or that brewer.' Folks constantly reaching out saying 'we like what you're doing, how can we help?'"
Originally called "Fresh Fest" when launched in 2018, the beer festival's main goal has been to support and publicize Black-owned breweries, which remain underrepresented in the booming craft beer industry.
More:Diversity lagging in Pa. craft beer industry, Pittsburgh's Fresh Fest hopes to change that
Barrel & Flow's outreach has expanded to boost Black artists as well, including a scholarship program.
Barrel & Flow's website lays out the mission statement: "To honor what we see as interconnected and important sectors of Black arts. To celebrate Black arts and artists. And to express and share how collective art is greater together than the sum of their individual parts."
Garrett Oliver, beer author and brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewing, enjoyed his visit to the Pittsburgh beer bash, hailing the festival as “A beer festival that actually looked like America. Black folks, white folks, all kindsa folks, queer folks, straight folks, womenfolk, menfolk. Folk, folk. Ran smooth. Crazy beautiful vibes, zero negativity … Damn nice beers.”
Barrel & Flow tickets cost $55, good for general admission between 5-9 p.m. that Aug. 13, or $85 for early access starting at 3 p.m. Buy at barrelandflow.com/tickets
A $215 VIP package also includes admission to an Aug. 12 conference and bottle share, festival admission at noon, and a Sunday brunch.
With many out-of-towners booking multi-night stays in Pittsburgh to attend, Barrel & Flow scheduled a full week of events this year.
More:August fun calendar for Beaver County & beyond
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Meetups include:
Aug. 9, Brew Gentlemen Steel Garden, U.S. Steel Tower, downtown Pittsburgh, 5-8 p.m. Aug. 10, Dancing Gnome, Sharpsburg, 4-10 p.m.Aug. 11, Brewer & VIP Event, Cinderlands Warehouse, Strip District, 7-10 p.m.Aug. 11, Trace Brewing, Bloomfield, 6-10 p.m.Aug. 12, Comedy Show at Arcade Comedy Theater, downtown Pittsburgh, 9:30 p.m.
Barrel & Flow also has created an Ale Trail, teamed with Crackem. Download the free Crackem app to find whereBarrel & Flow collaborative beers will be sold, and earn rewards for visiting participating breweries.
Main stage music lineup:
3 p.m.: Soulful Femme.
4 p.m.: Elias Khouri.
4:40 p.m.: Live From The City
5:40 p.m.: Rob Rhodes and Shane Cobain
6:20 p.m.: Blvck Hippie
7:20 p.m.: Chris Allen
8 p.m.: NASH.V.ILL.
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Connect with Barrel & Flow: @barrelandflow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Barrel & Flow brings beer, music, food, live visual art to The Strip
