Even more alcohol production is coming to the North Side in the form of Threadbare Cider, which the folks from Wigle plan to open in the fall near their Whiskey Garden and Barrelhouse on Spring Garden Avenue.
There’s not yet much information on the website, threadbarecider.com, but Wigle announced Thursday in a news release that the new facility will produce both cider and mead, or honey wine, and also will include a new barrelhouse for aging those and other products. The website includes a black-and-white historical photo of the neighborhood from 1911. The cidery’s address is 1254 Voskamp St.
The name is inspired by onetime local resident Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman, who is remembered more for planting apple trees than for his wardrobe.
Not far away, Spring Hill Brewery is planning to open on the property of a former social club by the fall, brewing farmhouse-style brews with honey from bees kept there. In the Deutschtown neighborhood, Allegheny City Brewing Co. is aiming to open this spring. And also this spring, War Streets Brewery plans to open in a turn-of-the-century fire station in that neighborhood.
These places join Penn Brewery, a landmark at the base of Troy Hill.
Wigle co-owner Meredith Meyer Grelli said in the release, “We believe the American cider industry is where craft beer was 15 years ago — incredibly ripe for innovation and exploration.”
Cider is booming nationally -— apple cider and perry, made from pears, are the fastest-growing category of alcoholic beverages -— and locally. Lawrenceville’s Arsenal Cider House & Winery opened a tasting room at Franklin Park’s Soergel Orchards this fall and is moving production to a new building in Penn Hills.
Pittsburghers also have been thirsty for mead — so much so that Carnegie’s Apis Mead plans to expand into a bigger space within a year. Westmoreland County’s Laurel Highlands Meadery plans to open a tasting room in downtown Irwin as early as next week.
Bob Batz Jr.: bbatz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1930 and on Twitter @bobbatzjr.
First Published: February 4, 2016, 7:17 p.m.
