The Story
In 1996, a former St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Lawrenceville was transformed into one of Pittsburgh's most distinctive dining and drinking experiences. The Church Brew Works is a testament to creative reuse, a concept that would become central to Pittsburgh's economic renaissance in the years that followed.
The brewery kettles are positioned where the altar once stood, and the space retains its original soaring ceilings, stained glass windows, and architectural grandeur. What was once purely spiritual has become a gathering place for community, food, and craft beer. The historic conversion became a national landmark of adaptive reuse, inspiring countless similar projects across the country.
The Church Brew Works serves full-service food and craft beers brewed on-site. The experience of dining in a former church, with the brewing equipment as part of the sacred space's reinvention, creates an atmosphere unlike any other restaurant in Pittsburgh. It's part museum, part working brewery, part community hub.
What Makes It Pittsburgh
Few cities have leveraged their industrial and religious heritage like Pittsburgh. The Church Brew Works represents a turning point: the moment when the city began asking not "how do we move forward?" but "how do we honor what came before while building something new?"
This brewery is more than a business. It's a statement about Pittsburgh's character. The city doesn't abandon its past; it reimagines it. The Church Brew Works stands as a symbol of that reinvention, proving that authenticity and progress aren't mutually exclusive in Pittsburgh.