Have you ever dreamt of watching that Oscar nominated film (you know, the one that didn’t make it to the big theater) in a movie theater, with a local craft beer in hand? Ok, we know that’s a pretty specific scenario, but we’re betting there are some of you out there nodding your heads! If that’s not your daydream, stick with us for a second. Parkway Theater and Abjuration Brewing are a pretty awesome duo, and we can’t wait to meet you there.
They’re two businesses located in the same recently-renovated building. It’s a place with some character – old movie posters line the lobby walls. It’s dark and moody. There’s a 45-seat movie theater, a film lounge with a full bar, and a brewery. They have food most days, and you can BYO when the kitchen isn’t open.
If you’re into bar activities, Parkway Theater has one pretty much every night. Tuesdays are (duh) taco Tuesdays with karaoke, trivia is on Wednesdays (with a free theater rental as the monthly prize!), and Thursdays bring open mic night. They even have drums and a piano there for you. There’s comedy on Friday nights, and jazz the last Friday of each month. You can also check out the Steeler game and some Pens games on their giant screen in the film lounge. Oh, did we mention all of these events are free??
And we can’t forget the movies. Parkway Theater shows brand new independent films and documentaries, foreign films, and even some of the Oscar nominees that didn’t make it to the bigger theaters. You can also rent out the movie theater after Steeler season is over and bring any movie you’d like to watch.
Even if you’re not into movies, they’re not forced on you. The movie theater is in a separate, sound-proofed room from the film lounge and Abjuration Brewing. Speaking of Abjuration…
It’s a one-barrel brewery, so they’re crafting small batches of their unique beers. On the old stage of the theater. We’re totally taken with the fact that they brew on the old stage. Anyway, if you see a beer that you want to try, you should get there pretty quickly because the beers move fast. They fill growlers and sell cans of some of their beers, but the brewery is the only place you can get them.
Abjuration makes the same beers, but they never make them exactly the same twice – so they update the version each time they brew. Fun fact: they’ve only made the exact same version of a beer once, with their chai milkshake beer. Sometimes they make small tweaks, and sometimes they do a complete overhaul. (Software developers are probably nodding their heads here!)
If you couldn’t tell by the chai milkshake beer, Abjuration is brewing up some unique flavors. We tried their dark chocolate milkshake ale and loved it. They’ve also done a Booberry for Halloween, along with Apple Jacks and Fruity Pebbles.
Another fun fact: Abjuration puts their recipes on their websites a la open source. Can you tell they used to be in software development? Yes, that means you can ask your favorite home brewer to make a batch of their beer! The website also tells you what’s in their tanks and fermenters, and they keep it pretty updated.
So what are you waiting for? Grab a couple friends and we’ll see you at Parkway Theater for trivia, tacos, and beer!
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.
