PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
Just south of Pittsburgh in the suburban borough of Castle Shannon, CHIMERA BREWING COMPANY opened in the summer of 2024 at the former spot housing Mindful Brewing. Renovated and rechristened as Chimera, their ‘craft, cuisine and community’ logo and modern Greek mythology twist prove worthy.
Inside an Industrialized, cement-slabbed cabin, its elegant aluminum atrium and angled roof mesh with the cabin’s brown wood base. A picnic-tabled turf patio welcomes patrons to the cozy neighborhood pub. A prominent Chimera insignia centering two winged lions takes up a side wall. The twelve plastic-seated bar features a silestone top and twenty-plus tap handles line the white tiled draught board.
Nifty ancient Greek characters brighten the back walls and a right side dining area services brews alongside pizza, burgers, wings and sandwiches. Three pinball machines counter the bar and TV’s pack the place.
Never afraid to experiment beyond stylistic boundaries, Chimera is one of Pittsburgh’s best breweries.
On my late afternoon October ’25 jaunt, I ate Italian Rhapsody pizza (sweet sausage, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, ricotta and spinach) while polishing off eleven of the fourteen choice homemade four-ounce draughts.
Rustic barnyard mustiness saddled raw-honeyed lemon musk, letting its overall dryness envelop moderate-bodied Persephone’s Light Lager, a subtler kolsch variant.
A ‘historical’ German kottbusser, nebulous oats flaked pilsner malting, raw molasses acridity and mild lemon oiling made Oat So Sweet the only mediocrity in the bunch.
Lacquering candied peach Schnapps syruping atop honeyed wheat, Fields Of Elysium Peach gained sharp perfumed hop musk.
Flagship New England IPA, Perpetual Flux, splashed spritzy Citra/ Nelson Sauvin hop sunshine thru mild pine lacquer as bittersweet lemony orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess mingled the dainty guava-gooseberry tartness moderating its sugary pale malting.
Authentic Belgian yeast serenaded Bacchus Trappist Tripel, a spunky alcohol-fueled delight with orange-bruised lemon meringue tartness, honeyed banana sweetness and mild herbal spicing.
Doughy peanut buttered Vienna lager, Mc Nutter’s Afternoon Delight, picked up drifting red grape and dark cherry snips over floury cocoa buttering.
Confectionery dark lager, S’more-Gasm left marshmallow fluff upon dark chocolate and vanilla-creamed Graham Cracker base, segueing to phenol hop astringency.
Another dark lager, German-styled dunkelweizen Dumb Dumb & Dunkel, stayed creamily smooth as chocolate-breaded fig and date reached molasses toast bottom.
Powder-sugared pumpkin pie spicing and mild citric perfuming embodied Pie Oh My!, an autumnal charmer sprinkling ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon on pastry-floured pie crusting.
Dryer-than-usual Baltic Porter, Daddy Fabric, placed caramelized dark chocolatey black coffee alongside plummy black cherry tartness.
Loud chili peppering perked up Mole-inspired stout, Mexican Emperor, leaving slight Band-aid astringency on the backend.