The third annual Imbibe Northside returns to the Mattress Factory Saturday, February 3.

By: Victoria Stevans

Northside breweries are coming together for a night full of sights and sips.

On February 3rd , from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., join over half a dozen Pittsburgh breweries, cideries, and distilleries after-hours at The Mattress Factory for live music, local bites, art, and drinks at Imbibe Northside.

“It’s going to be a nice opportunity for people to see what’s new in the area,” said Meagan Gemperlein, the director of operations and offsite events for Wigle Whiskey and Threadbare Cider and Mead.

An event co-hosted by The Mattress Factory and War Streets Brewery, Imbibe Northside allows guests to enjoy unlimited tastings of products from 8 local alcohol-makers, 6 of which call Northside home.

February’s event will include selections from Allegheny City Brewing (Historic Deutschtown), Penn Brewery (Troy Hill), Southern Tier Brewing Company (North Shore), War Streets Brewery, Wigle Whiskey (Spring Garden/The Strip District), and Pittsburgh Winery. This roster also includes Spring Hill Brewing and Threadbare Cider and Mead (a Wigle Whiskey sister company), two businesses that have recently sprouted in Spring Hill and Spring Garden, respectively.

Imbibe Northside itself first started in 2015, according to Jake Bier, owner of Bier’s Pub and War Streets Brewery in Allegheny West.

“We were thinking of ways that we could promote our beer and the other beers that are being made in the Northside,” Bier said.

This February’s event marks the third Imbibe Northside, and according to Bier, tickets have completely sold out every time they have hosted the event in the past.

This high-level interest in Imbibe Northside is one of the yearly highlights for Bier.

“It’s always great to see so many people come out to taste local beer and local drinks,” Bier said, “[It’s amazing that] there’s that much interest in showing local producers that we like their stuff.”

Guests at next month’s event will also be able to peruse all of The Mattress Factory’s current exhibits as they sip their locally-made drinks.

In fact, along with the museum’s permanent collections, Imbibe Northside attendees will be able to explore the new exhibit, “New Installations: 40th Year.”

“It’s a forty-year reflective show,” said Katie Urich, marketing and communications manager for The Mattress Factory, “For our fortieth anniversary, we asked artists who’ve already showed their work [at The Mattress Factory] to come back.”

This exhibit will feature Pittsburgh-based artists Vanessa German and David Pohl, as well as artists David Ellis, Greer Lankton, Meg Webster, and Allan Wexler.

Live music for the event will be provided by The Shelf Life String Band, a local Pittsburgh group that performs weekly at The Park House’s Bluegrass Night. The band promises a lively mix of covers and originals.

In the future, War Streets Brewing and The Mattress Factory plan on holding two yearly Imbibe events, one in the winter and one in the summer that will take place “outside with more than just Northside breweries,” according to Bier.

Overall, Bier explains that Imbibe events showcase a very unique facet of the Northside – its growing brewery population.

“If you look at Pittsburgh as a whole,” Bier said, “Northside has the most breweries out of any section of the city, and that’s a growing thing.”

General admission tickets to Imbibe Northside are $40 in advance or $50 at the door. They include unlimited tastings, a custom glass, and free admission to the museum’s galleries. Selections from The Burgh Bites Cart and the Bado’s Pizza Grill and Ale House food truck will also be available for guests to purchase.