Pittsburgh Mixed Culture is all about diverse styles — of beer and people
Anew outdoor festival this summer is all about mixed culture — in the beer being served and the people drinking it.
Pittsburgh Mixed Culture is happening over two sessions on July 30 at Freedom Farms Event Center in Valencia in Butler County north of Pittsburgh.
It’s being organized by two city breweries, Cinderlands Beer Co. in Lawrenceville and the Strip District and Trace Brewing in Bloomfield. They’re known for making and championing Belgian-style brews such as saisons and others made with mixed cultures of microbes — not just brewer’s yeast, but also wild yeasts, Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and more, resulting in a wide range of tangy / sour and farmy / funky flavors.
They’re includi n g some 50 breweries from around the region and from 14 other states as well as Belgium to share their offerings in a setting that will help spotlight “the complementary roles of brewer and nature in making mixed-fermentation beer.”
Both host breweries and their friends also value a wide range of workers and customers, so they’re making a point of making this festival welcoming to everyone.
Organizers are giving booth space to organizations, including The Pittsburgh Brewery Diversity Council, True T Pittsburgh, SisTers Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid, and are hoping that they bring in people who might not normally go to a beer festival.
The event also is partnering with Pittsburgh Action Against Rape on training sessions for the breweries and other vendors and festival staff so they are “equipped with techniques and skills that are at the cornerstone of a safe, harassment-free experience.” PAAR also will staff an on-site “well-being station,” and the fest will be partnering with an app called #NotMe so guests can anonymously report harassment, assault, and other illegal and dangerous behavior.
Organizers say they learned that such steps are necessary last year “during craft beer’s #MeToo moment.”
Trace Brewing especially has been a local leader in bringing more diversity to brewhouses and taprooms, launching with a six-month paid vocational brewing program and hosting lots of events that welcome people who identify as or support people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual.
Others are working to make the region’s beer scene more diverse and inclusive. Pittsburgh is nationally known for the hosting in 2018 the country’s first Black beer festival, which has become an annual event. What’s now known as Barrel & Flow is showcasing Black breweries, artists and small businesses on Aug. 13 in a new location at The Stacks at 3 Crossings in Lawrenceville. That event will have a booth at this fest, which Barrel & Flow’s Day Bracey supports, saying, “I’m excited to see more positive efforts and events geared towards creating a more realistic food and beverage industry in terms of representation in ownership, employment and patronage.”
Aadam Soorma, Trace’s head of marketing and guest experience, says, “We’ve seen some nice comments online” about Mixed Culture’s focus on not just beer but also diversity and inclusion, which will be amped up by the offerings of food and music that still are being finalized.
They’re planning to sell up to 800 tickets per session — 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5:30 to 9 p.m. With fee and taxes, tickets are about $65 per session and about $115 for a VIP second session (starting at 4:30 p.m.) at the current early bird rate and about $20 for designated drivers. There’s a shuttle from and back to Cinderlands, a pass for which is about $36. Admission will go up $10 closer to the event — probably by the middle or end of June.
Get tickets, read the full list of Mixed Culture brewers and learn more at pghmixedculture.com.
For more on Barrel & Flow, visit barrelandflow.com.