Once upon a time, an intrepid band of 13 explorers ventured into Dark Hollow Woods.

	Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette photos Dave Lockerman hands beer to Kathy Sedory following a Venture Outdoors hike Saturday afternoon through Dark Hollow Woods in Oakmont. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Beer Tasting Hike lets you exercise your palate Beer Notes: New brewpub is cookin' in Cranberry

Actually, this was just after 3 p.m. this past Saturday.

The occasion was the latest "Beer Tasting Hike" run by Venture Outdoors. The nonprofit group offers a wide range of outside activities, a growing number of which involve eating and drinking.

"It just seems like the ones where we incorporate food and beverages and hiking are very popular," says Robyn Seminora-Morris, the trip leader renowned for the spectacular spreads she prepares for First Friday at the Frick Art and Historical Center's "Gourmet Hikes."

The weather was considerably cooler but surprisingly sunny as she gathered this group at the entrance to this wonderfully named park on the eastern edge of Oakmont. There were a couple of couples, two buddies and several singles of both sexes, most of them in their 30s and 40s.

Some, such as Lawrenceville's Tim Schooley, were first-timers who wondered how they'd hike while drinking. Others, such as Lawrence County's Rick Grego, were beer hike veterans who knew the tasting would come after the walking.

After brief introductions, Ms. Seminora-Morris introduced the little-known 33-acre park, which is maintained by the Oakmont Garden Club, promising, "It's quite a little jewel."

Celis White beer, available again in the Pittsburgh area, was among the offerings. Click photo for larger image.

And so it seemed to impress this troupe, as they tramped up and down the steep ridges and crisscrossed a pretty tributary to Plum Creek. Seminora-Morris even sipped from the spring that flows here. But the only beers on participants' lips were in the conversations that flowed that way.

While past wine-and-cheese hikes have held tastings in the field, these hikers, after about an hour, headed to the hostess's nearby home in Penn Hills.

The cozy cottage felt warm even before the fire was fully burning in the wood stove. Ms. Seminora-Morris put out cheeses, crackers, hunks of crusty bread, meatballs, pretzels, pepper spread, fruit and nuts on her antique dining room table.

There, co-trip leader Dave Lockerman, a self-described "independent beer connoisseur," began pouring plastic cups.

The first offerings were three brews from Vermont's Otter Creek Brewing that are organic -- appropriate, Mr. Lockerman quipped, for this granola-y group.

He provided sheets on which participants could record their impressions and told them a bit about each style as he poured it.

It wasn't long before everyone was sipping and munching and chatting like good friends.

"I like this," pronounced Mr. Greco, savoring a Stoudt's Double IPA, an India pale ale loaded with hops (originally, the better to preserve it on the long trip from Britain to the subcontinent).

"There's a hop head," teased Mr. Lockerman as he sailed on through what would be nine different brews, including a rare, dear ($180 a case) and strong (18 percent alcohol) Dogfish Head World Wide Stout shared by the hostess's friend John Meckel.

"We're right there with you!" cheered Swissvale's Kathy Sedory.

A beer aficionado, she said she's enjoyed several of these beer and wine hikes. Besides being a way to exercise and learn about new brews, "I think it's just a nice, relaxed evening out."

Forest Hills' Anthony Blanchflower and Edgewood's Amar Kapadia both said it's not so much the beer but the social aspect that drew them to the beer hikes, which is in fact how they met and became golfing buddies.

I know I was glowing like one of the many candles as I talked beer and food and more with the very cool Mr. Schooley and his girlfriend, Kelli McElhinny. Our nightcap was the newly-returned-to-this-market Celis White beer.

While we tried lots of beers, no one drank a lot of it -- this was about quality, not quantity. Besides all the food, our hostess served water and hot coffee.

The event was scheduled to end at 7 p.m., but the party still was going around 8 when I stepped into my wool socks and out onto the porch, where while putting on my boots I took in the panoramic view of the Allegheny River valley.

I forgot to fill out one of the feedback forms, but it'd be more appropriate to send a card. I'll say it here: It was a fabulous evening, Robyn and Dave and everybody else. Thank you.