On 412 Day this spring, amid the energy of Three Rivers Beer Week and just days before Pittsburgh welcomed the NFL Draft to its riverfront, something quietly historic happened at 339 Forbes Avenue. Erika Turner and Marcus Wyatt opened Black Brew House — a tasting room born from two sets of firsts and one shared conviction: that Pittsburgh's craft beverage scene is big enough, and good enough, for everyone.

Turner is the founder of TLC Libations, Pennsylvania's first Black, female-owned distillery, which has been producing small-batch spirits in the city since its debut in East Liberty. Wyatt helms Windy Bridges Brew, recognized as Pittsburgh's first Black-owned brewery. Separately, each has spent years building something meaningful in a corner of the food-and-drink industry that has historically lacked diversity. Together, they have created a destination.

The space, secured through the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's Project Pop-Up program, occupies a former yoga studio on Forbes Avenue in the heart of Downtown. The tasting room serves beer, spirits, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options crafted by Turner and Wyatt, along with beverages from other Black entrepreneurs throughout Pennsylvania. A rotating lineup of food trucks rounds out the experience. Hours run Thursday and Friday evenings from 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

Built on Separate Foundations, Opened Together

TLC Libations launched as a pioneer — the only distillery of its kind in Pennsylvania — and has since become a well-known fixture in Pittsburgh's independent spirits landscape. Turner's award-winning portfolio includes small-batch vodkas, whiskeys, and seasonal releases that have built a loyal following. Windy Bridges Brew, meanwhile, has earned recognition far beyond the city. Wyatt has competed at national events, including Barrels on the Bayou in New Orleans, and helped launch Barrel and Flow, widely acknowledged as America's first Black-owned craft brews festival, which holds its Pittsburgh installment each August in the Strip District.

What the two share, beyond the records they broke, is a philosophy about what a great bar can be. Black Brew House is not a monument. It is an invitation. The selection spans beer, spirits, cocktails, and zero-proof options, ensuring that no guest feels like an afterthought. The decision to feature beverages from other Black-owned businesses across the state gives the tasting room a sense of community that extends far beyond its Forbes Avenue address.

A Downtown That's Making Room

The Project Pop-Up program, run by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, was designed specifically to activate vacant retail storefronts and bring new life to the Golden Triangle. Black Brew House is among a wave of new businesses that have used the program to plant roots Downtown — alongside the Pittsburgh Brewing Company's new taproom in the Alcoa Building and Roux Orleans, which opened in Manchester. The initiative is helping to rewrite the story of Pittsburgh's central business district as not just a place of offices and institutions, but an increasingly vibrant destination for independent hospitality.

For Turner and Wyatt, the one-year pop-up arrangement comes with the option to commit to a longer-term lease — a provision that feels less like a formality and more like a vote of confidence in what they are building. Given the reception Black Brew House has received since opening, that confidence appears well placed.

Pittsburgh's food-and-drink landscape is in an exceptional moment. With the Michelin Guide preparing to evaluate the region for the first time as part of its new American Great Lakes edition — set to announce selections in 2027 — the city's culinary identity is being shaped right now, establishment by establishment. Black Brew House, with its dual heritage of firsts and its commitment to an inclusive table, is part of that story. It is exactly the kind of business Pittsburgh should be proud to put on the map.