Tuesday 29th of November 2011 11:26:02 PM

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The Rivertowne Pour House is one-story brick building with tiled roof. There is a free dedicated parking lot across the street. Out front is a very small patio with a trellis roof. Upon entering you'll see their mascot a blue fish wearing a top hat. Their arcing 17-chair wooden bar is on right, and to the left is the dining room. There is also a small room for their brewhouse which has tall stainless steel brewing vessels. The floors are concrete the walls are half wooden and half painted pale tan. The sparse decor is sports related and several overhead televisions carry games. When I visited Rivertowne Pour House, they had an incredible 17 different in-house beers on tap! I was very surprised to find that much variety in a brewpub, and the scores I gave ranged from a poorly-conceived "Pineapple Under the Sea" beer to a truly wonderful "Ice-Aged Imperial Dortmunder" (10.2%) and "Mazy's Milk Chocolate Stout". Other notable better-than-average beers were Arctic Amber, Happy Hefeweizen, Wylie's IPA, Raspberry Red, Simcoe Pale Ale, and Wit-O-Maker Wit. The food was average, and the service was friendly and attentive. I recommend this place - any beer drinker will be impressed with the selection and will undoubtedly find something to match any taste.

Tuesday 30th of December 2008 06:04:45 PM

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Stopped by this place the other day while in Pittsburgh, I have heard about it and never stopped in the last three times I have been to Pittsburgh. I sat at the bar, the bar tender was good with info on the beers they had on tap and about some brief descriptions of there beers. I to thought that 18 taps of there own was a lot, not sure if they had any others on tap.

I tried the "white lightning" which was a wit bier a little sour and certainly had the citrus and coriander tastes to it little head with good color, not bad "B"

"porter" had a nice medium to dark brown color again I thought there was very little head and it went away very quickly had a little smokiness to it over all I'd say a "B-"

"Blueberry blonde" which seems to be there blonde ale brewed with blueberry's and a medium smokey gray color in addition to the normal golden color I would expect, blueberries must of discolored it in the brewing process? I am a wheat beer drinker and like a lot of fruit wheat's and dis like a lot also. This was a nice change having the fruit in a blonde ale instead of a wheat ale. "B"

The bar tender was busy and didn't give the greatest service after our food arrived but it was a good experience over all.. Since the Pittsburgh area only has a few true brewpubs I would recommend hitting this one up.

Also I would of like to see correct glassware, all beers were served in a tall thick glass same shape all the way up, reminded me of a tall juice glass...

Saturday 26th of January 2008 12:07:51 PM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

Visited 1-2-08.

WOW!! One the best brewpubs I've been to anywhere. Considering that I used to live in Portland OR I'm making quite a statement! My Bro-law found Rivertowne when he went to John Harvard's one day last year and told the server that their beers tasted different and he was told that their brewer had left to open his own place nearby. Rivertowne is being run the way a brewpub should be run.

Beer: When I walked in and saw a wall of taps I raised an eyebrow. I thought 18 beers is not a good sign figuring some would be old or poorly done. I had three beers with lunch and they were all excellent and to style! We met Andrew and he was waiting for water to heat so he had a few minuets to show us around. Afterwards, we were treated to a few tasters and all were great. In addition to being a great brewer Andrew is very friendly and has a passion for his beer that shows in every beer I tasted. We brought the wives back for supper and I started off with a Pilsener. When I got it I detected a raspberry note. Andrew was still there and I tracked him down and asked him if he had noticed it. He got us samples from the bartender and we tried them. I got worried because the flavor wasn't there and had to admit that it was perfect. Andrew said they must have poured it form the party room tap. He went and investigated and sure enough that's where the problem was. He came to the table with a fresh pint - problem solved. I can't tell you how many times I've asked a server or brewer about an off flavor and received a slack-jawed dead-eyed stare in return.

Food: Mostly good. I had a burger at lunch and a pizza at supper and both were very good. Everyone else was happy with their food except the Missus. Her French onion soup tasted like someone had put some onions in a gym sock and boiled it. It was returned without a problem. Her fries arrived cold and greasy and fresh ones were brought right away. The tiramisu was bland and boring. Stay away from that and the soup and you'll do fine.

Atmosphere: Family friendly. Nice and clean.

Service: Excellent! The two servers we had knew about the beer, were friendly and attentive. When my glass was 1/4 full they were right there asking if I wanted another. They could not have done a better job. That's rare. The next time I'm back in Pittsburgh I'll definetly return to Rivertowne.