INSIDE HAZELWOOD BREWHOUSE

On an unassuming block of Lytle Street in Hazelwood stands the house that beer built.

The four-story, 20,000-square-foot structure was constructed in 1905 for Hazelwood Brewing Co. and operated until Prohibition shut it down in 1920. During that time, the business made cereal products and near-beer. Derby Brewing Co. briefly took over the space when the 18th Amendment was repealed.

For years it stood empty, just a pile of bricks with no purpose.

Now the renovated building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is known as the soon-to-open Hazelwood Brewhouse — and there are three breweries under its roof: Abstract Realm Brewing Co., New France Brewing Co. and Bonafide Beer Co. All three plan to operate at the same times, so customers will be able to visit all three at one spot.

Each business has a 10-barrel brewhouse on the ground floor with separate doors to the half-acre backyard beer garden. Customers will enter these small areas to purchase merchandise and to-go cans (the businesses share a canning line) or walk up one of the service windows to order a draft. Above the second-floor storage area is a shared taproom with three distinct bars, a kitchen run by a local catering company and communal seating for 225 people.

DAVID KAHLEY, CEO OF THE PROGRESS FUND, SPEARHEADED THE PROJECT IN 2017. RENOVATIONS BEGAN IN 2019.

From the rooftop deck, 100 people can raise a toast to Downtown. It’s a sight that makes Dave Kahley proud.

As president and CEO of The Progress Fund, a nonprofit community development institution, he’s helped a dozen local breweries get up and running and given financial assistance to six distilleries and six wineries. He’s always looking for new entrepreneurs, especially since he plans to open a distillery at the Hazelwood site in the near future.

Basically, he’s Pittsburgh’s Godfather of Booze.

Hazelwood Brewhouse is a project that Kahley has helmed since 2017, when The Progress Fund purchased the property. He believes in historical preservation (he once worked for the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation) and the fact that breweries are more than party spots — they’re community hubs.

Hazelwood residents, property owners and neighborhood organizations have backed the Brewhouse, as do major funders such as the R.K. Mellon Foundation, Allegheny Foundation, Benedum Foundation, Heinz Endowments, First National Bank, Pennsylvania’s Department of Community & Economic Development and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

They will eventually collaborate on a quaffable, “quintessentially Pittsburgh” beer that’s offered year-round. Each company has installed Alpha Brewing equipment, allowing them to share system operational knowledge and an occasional part if something breaks.

CHRIS CARR OF ABSTRACT REALM BREWING CO.

Abstract Realm Brewing Co. head brewer Chris Carr, who has a background in chemistry, considers himself a beer vagabond. He bounced from Braddock’s Brew Gentlemen to Aurochs Brewing Co., a gluten-free brewery in Emsworth.

Carr partnered with Jason Short, a financial planner and veteran homebrewer, and the pair enjoy the challenge of tackling different beer styles. They both wanted their next venture to be something different, which is why they’re happy to be in Hazelwood.

“To us, the name Abstract Realm means boundless identity,” Short says. “We like the idea of an ever-changing draft list that’s hyper-focused on quality and ingredients.

“With Hazelwood Brewhouse, we are bringing something unique to Pittsburgh and unique to everywhere I’ve ever traveled. Every time you visit, it will be a new experience.”

New France Brewing Co. got its name from the fact Pittsburgh grew out of Fort Duquesne, built by the French at the confluence of the three rivers in 1754. It’s run by Tom Marshall, a local beer rep, and Nick Jones, who got to know Marshall while running 99 Bottles, a now-closed beer bar in Carnegie.

A casual discussion led to the formation of New France — Marshall had the name and logo floating around in his head for more than a decade.

With Jones’ expertise in microbiology, they’re releasing interesting brews, and they’re currently looking for a second location to experiment with different bacteria strains to make an array of sours.

“What you do during the fermentation process is what really makes beer unique,” he says. “You’re manipulating it when you add ingredients — little changes that make big changes to the flavor of the beer.”

The New France guys heard about Hazelwood Brewhouse from Christian Simmons, who, like Kahley, has his finger on the pulse of the city’s alcohol scene.

He’s the founder and president of Pennsylvania Libations, a business with locations in the Strip District and Shadyside that sells and distributes beer, wine and spirits produced in Pennsylvania. He also owns Sweet Rust Distilling and 1700 Penn Ave., which houses a Helltown Brewing Co. taproom, a Pennsylvania wine shop, a full-service bar and restaurant. The building boasts one of the largest beer gardens in the region.

Simmons joined forces with Travis Tuttle, head brewer at Butler Brew Works, to open Bonafide Beer Co. at 155 21st St. in the Strip. The 1,600-square-foot taproom opened in 2022 to make approachable, affordably priced suds that appeal to fans of macrobrews.

Travis says they’re churning out more of those sessionable brews as well as harder-hitting, barrel-aged beers in the larger Hazelwood space while reserving the Strip’s two-barrel system for test batches.

Selecting breweries to occupy the building took almost as long as the restoration of it, but Kahley believes the three companies form a cohesive unit.

“Another important ingredient to the mix of tenants is that all six individuals understood and embraced the concept of collocating three great breweries in one special site and that it would be a regional destination for beer fans,” he says. “They have proven their cooperative nature from the start.”