Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh

Hofbrauhaus, located in Pittsburgh's South Side is a large bier hall, modeled after the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany. Following is a good description taken from their website:

"Fun and friendly is the atmosphere in the Bier Hall, with live music and about 350 soon to be close friends. There is also a quiet dining room for those who want to simply come and enjoy the delicious Bavarian fare. Many dishes are prepared with ingredients specially made for the Hofbräuhaus or imported from abroad. The Bier Garden view is of the waterfront with the Pittsburgh skyline as its backdrop.

The heritage of Hofbräuhaus is the beer. Over 500 years ago the first Hofbräuhaus beer was crafted. Hofbräuhaus has a Brew Master from Germany supervising the production of four varieties plus Seasonal Specialties of the authentic Hofbräuhaus beer. For those of us accustomed to American brews, Munich has developed a recipe for Hofbrau Light."

I've been here a couple of times, and while I'm a beer drinker, I don't claim to know much about brew pubs, or anything about "finer beers". That said, I know what I like! I've tried three of the beers here and have really enjoyed all of them. The Hofbrau Premium Lager is the beer that they claim made Hofbrau famous, and I can attest that it's very good. Their dark lager, the Hofbrau Dunkel is my favorite. Most dark brews are just too filling and strong for my tastes, but the Hofbrau Dunkel is tremendous! It has a light body (for a dark beer) and is easy to drink. They also brew a light beer and a different seasonal beer each month throughout the year. Beers are priced at $8.00 each. Sounds high, until you see the size of the mug! These things are massive.

Although I have a bit of German heritage, I've never been a fan of German food, (beige sausages...yuk!), but I did try the Schnitzel sandwich and found it to be quite good. Lightly fried with a great beir cheese sauce, this sandwich and a big Dunkel makes for a great lunch.

They also have entertainment at night and a one man German band during the day, singing traditional songs and hoisting his mug for German toasts. While I've never been there when it was crowded, I've been told that it's a fun time!