PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACKWORTH GINGER BEER BREWERY

UPDATE: Jackworth Ginger Beer Brewery opens Thursday, May 9 at 4 p.m. Hours are Monday through Friday 4 p.m. to midnight and noon to midnight on weekends.

I’m rooting for Pittsburgh to become the Boozy Ginger Beer Capital of the World. 

We’re in the running now that Jackworth Ginger Beer Brewery is set to open in Larimer after a two-year build-out. The Hamilton Avenue facility will produce Pennsylvania’s first brand of hard ginger beer as well as non-alcoholic versions. There are a few other players in the game nationally, including Ginger’s Revenge in Asheville, North Carolina and Vermont’s Halyard Brewing Co.

The naturally gluten-free beverages are made with fresh, organic Peruvian ginger, cane sugar, lemon and water. The fermentation process bumps the ABV up to 5%. Jackworth’s bar will pour Keystone State libations as well as local wine, cider and beer. The products will be distributed to local bars, restaurants and stores in cans, stubby bottles and kegs.

Owners Jackworth Smith and Tyler Lewis hope it’s all a recipe for success. 

“It’s amazing to me that alcoholic ginger beer and ginger beer breweries aren’t booming. It’s perfect for the market. It’s delicious and simple,” says Smith, who grew up in Point Breeze and bussed tables at Dunning’s Grill, the Regent Square spot his father ran for 30 years. The South Braddock Avenue space is now occupied by Frick Park Tavern.

He spent his 20s bartending and working for breweries across the country and in the Steel City, including Old Thunder Brewing and Brew Gentlemen. Throughout his career, he often wondered why ginger beer was called ginger beer when it tasted and fizzed like pop and why no one was making an alcoholic version of the stuff. 

He did research and discovered the drink was popular with American imbibers before Prohibition but fell out of favor when the feds put the brakes on booze. In 2013, Smith used century-old recipes and his fermentation knowledge to whip up a few batches at home on a half-barrel system. He’s been fine-tuning the process ever since. 

If, like me, you’re a fan of Jamaica’s Finest Ginger Beer that’s made sans booze by Natrona Bottling Co. in Natrona Heights, you’ll love Jackworth’s as well. They both pack a fiery punch, even when they’re ice cold.

It was a no-brainer for Smith to partner with his friend and fellow Oberlin College graduate when launching the business. Lewis, who hails from New York City, has a background in neuroscience and marketing (and neuromarketing for a firm called Neuro-Insight). He’s also in charge of programming for East Liberty’s Blue Sky Kitchen.

Now Smith has a 10-barrel system. He brews two to three times a month but experiments often. Look for other botanical beverages made from dandelions, spruce and maple.          

There isn’t a lot of storage space inside the 1,500-square-foot building. The place, including the patio area, is filled with a hodge podge of pieces the guys have collected over the years. It reminds me of the vampires’ lair in “The Lost Boys.” Heck, Smith even has a mullet like head bloodsucker Kiefer Sutherland. The aesthetic falls somewhere between industrially elegant and gothically yinzer. 

The bar, for instance, is made from an old fence, marble salvaged from a bank and goldleaf windows from a gutted mansion. There’s also a desanctified holy water font, a Joe Camel dartboard and the original Dunning’s Grille sign hanging on the distressed wall. The drink tokens look like poker chips and read “Hey, hun! Good for one.” 

I’d wager that a lot of folks, including those who abstain from alcohol, will dig it.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Jackworth fits the neighborhood, too. Smith dubbed it the Craft Beverage Corridor. Goodlander Cocktail Brewery and KLVN Coffee Lab are across the street, East End Brewing, a company that’s celebrating its 20th anniversary, is around the corner and TLC Libations is about a mile away on Susquehanna Street. Food trucks will make the rounds to feed bar-hopping customers.

Smith and Lewis plan to open two more taprooms in the Pittsburgh area. For what it’s worth, I hope my West View neighborhood gets Jacked.