Press House brews coffee-flavored beer, readies new Sewickley café
First came the coffee named after a beer and next came the coffee in the beer.
Press House Coffee on Pittsburgh’s North Side debuted Iron City Bean coffee with Iron City Brewing Co. in Lawrenceville in June. Last week, Press House introduced Fresh Grounds, a collaboration with North Side’s Allegheny City Brewing and Necromancer Brewing Co. scheduled to open in Ross in March.
Press House’s first brew didn’t contain any alcohol. But this second creation does.
“Coffee and beer is exciting,” said Adam Randall, of Marshall, founder of Press House. “We are really excited about Fresh Grounds. It came out really, really well. I hope this will be the first of many we work on with Allegheny City Brewing and Necromancer.”
The new brew was released last week. It’s a combination of beans from Cameroon, Brazil and Ethiopia and considered a medium/dark roast and costs $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans.
Randall sent samples of a mix of beans which created smoky chocolate flavor, said Ben Butler, who with business partner Aaron Easler owns Necromancer Brewing Co. Butler is the founder of Top Hat, a Pittsburgh-based branding agency known for collaborating with the craft beer industry. Easler is the creative director and partner in Top Hat.
“Press House has been eager to work with the beer community,” Butler said. “They tip-toed into the collaboration with the Iron City coffee and now are full in with the Allegheny City Brewing and Necromancer coffee beer. It’s been selling quickly. It’s the perfect wintertime brew. I can taste the difference in Press House beans. They understand the science behind making coffee.”
Currently, the limited edition Fresh Grounds is only available at Allegheny City Brewing. The plan is to sell a branded bag of the coffee beans at Press House sometime in January, Butler said.
Matthew Yurkovich, co-founder, of Allegheny City Brewing said they are thrilled to collaborate with Necromancer and being able to work with a North Side neighbor in Press House was “also very cool.”
“The response to this release has been amazing, and the timing worked out perfect with our recent limited self distribution,” Yurkovich said. “This one won’t be around much longer. We’ll just have to brew another beer with Necromancer.”
People are looking for something different and they want to support local businesses, said Randall, who plans to open a café in Sewickley in mid-February.
Butler is working with Press House on the café.
They began the venture pre-covid and had to halt the process part of the way through. They expect it to be ready in a month or so. The space is 1,600-square feet.
In addition to coffee, they will sell sandwiches, homemade bagels, croissants and other baked goods.
“We believe this will be an exciting and very modern coffee shop,” Randall said. “It will have a different type of design and a 35-foot concrete bar. We hope for it to be a place where people feel comfortable to enjoy each other’s company or to work or to just sit and relax.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region’s diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of “A Daughter’s Promise.” She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.