As longtime brewmaster at Pittsburgh Brewing Co., Mark Davis could teach people a few things about beer.

	Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette
	Mark Davis, in front of beer taps at the Pittsburgh BottleShop Cafe in Collier Town Square, promises to offer a dozen drafts and 250 different beers in bottles until he gets necessary government approval to brew his own beer.

And he plans to, at Saturday morning classes at a new beer business of his own.

His Pittsburgh BottleShop Cafe was to open today at the new Collier Town Square shopping area. He aims for it to be a warm and upscale destination for buying various beers to take out or drink in with good pub food. And soon, he'll be brewing small batches of his own seasonal beers there, too.

The classes will be available by reservation, for about eight "students" at a time, he says. "Everybody will be a beer expert when they leave here."

Until he gets the federal and state OKs to brew, customers can choose from a dozen drafts and 250 different beers in bottles. That's still just a fraction of all the specialty brews available these days. "But," he says, "I just want to put the best ones in."

His beer coolers -- with room to hold 3,600 bottles -- run down one side of the 1,800-square-foot storefront, which is painted a deep terra cotta. A curvaceous bar, with an unusual woodsy top, runs down the other side. There's seating for 52 at pub tables and two booths.

He's pleased to be one of the early tenants of this upmarket retail development, situated just off Interstate 79 on Route 50 between Heidelberg and Bridgeville and close to Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair and other South Hills communities. As Michael Hendrickson, of Hendrickson Retail Group, puts it, "This area is completely under-served for unique restaurants."

One way Davis wants to set his place apart is by selling mixed 12-packs, rather than just six-packs, of beer.

Food, another of Davis' passions, is to be notable for its quality and portions he promises to be "huge." Specialties, such as pot roast and marinated grilled chicken sandwiches, will be served with "Stanley P. Kachowski" beer-battered, deep-fried pickles, named for one alter-ego of comic and radio personality Jim Krenn.

Krenn is one of the many celebrity and sports buddies the outgoing Davis has made over the years. They'll be guest-bartending and otherwise appearing at the pub, during its May 3 grand opening week and beyond. Davis himself plans to be there so much that he's building a little loft where he can sleep.

"This is a life-long dream," says the 46-year-old Bethel Park native, who now lives in Fox Chapel. He was graduated in 1979 with a food service degree from Penn State University (hence the Joe Paterno-autographed football he's tossing around). His career started in plants that made brake shoes, but in 1984 he returned from Baltimore to the 'Burgh and started working as production manager of the bottle shop at Pittsburgh Brewing's Lawrenceville brewery.

A brewmaster's departure sent him to brewing school, and by 1986 he was brewing Iron City and other beers with Mike Carota. The two of them, with Jim Koch, developed Samuel Adams Boston Lager, which was brewed here until 1999.

No one is prouder of I.C. Light and other Pittsburgh Brewing Co. beers, but state liquor law required Davis to quit there to open his own establishment. Still, "My heart is always with the brewery," with which he still has a tight relationship. And its beers will have a prominent place in his pub.

He says the brewery taught him everything he knows and gave him many friends, so it's no coincidence that its initials are echoed in his new place's. He thinks of PBC also standing for "Pittsburgh brewmaster cares."

He'll taste every beer he carries, but his favorite won't waver. "Iron City lager," he says. "That's all I drink!"

The Pittsburgh BottleShop Cafe is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to midnight-plus Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Phone: 412-279-8170.