THE ALLEGHENY RIVER | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Warning: There’s a chance the Bikes & Brews Tour may go over its allotted time.

That’s not because of poor organization or other glitches. It’s because participants on this 9-mile tour, which includes four beer stops on the North Side, Millvale and Lawrenceville, become fast friends and are simply having too much fun. That might just inspire you to stick around longer than the 3 ½ hours promised.

Led by the congenial Dan Berg and his wife, Diane Tromans-Berg, the tour is held at 2 p.m. Saturdays and launches from the Bike the Burgh Tours headquarters near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. Dan says he was inspired to start the tour a year ago after visiting Chicago and finding brewery bike tours that didn’t yet exist in Pittsburgh.

GUIDES DIANE TROMANS-BERG AND DAN BERG | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Our seven-member group in early June included a young couple, Brian and Justine from D.C., who were Los Angeles Dodgers fans and were in town for a game. Also along was Jeff, who traveled here from London on business.

The tour provides high-quality, 8-speed PUBLIC bikes with fenders, similar to those used in Amsterdam; electric bikes also are available. Each of our bikes was named; I was riding “Clemente,” and my husband was on “Carson,” as in Rachel.

This tour is one of six featured in our Visitors Guide. Explore the other tours here.

The route on city streets and bike paths is mostly flat; of the few hills, the most difficult hikes up the ramp from Millvale to the 40th Street Bridge en route to Lawrenceville. We did have to share the road with traffic, but it was never intimidating. Dan led the group at a leisurely pace; Diane brought up the rear.

We began by riding through the water feature at the convention center to the Riverfront Plaza on the Allegheny River. There, Dan stopped to offer some Pittsburgh history and point out important landmarks like the Three Sisters bridges. The Bergs, who live in Polish Hill, moved to Pittsburgh three years ago; Dan’s narrations on ‘Burgh history are still a work in progress (corrections welcomed).

But let’s be honest — we’re really here for the beer, right?

Our first brewery stop was at the recently opened beer garden and expanded tap room at Allegheny City Brewing in Deutschtown. In warmer weather, Dan selects lighter beer, and he delivered 8-ounce pours of Starlake Raspberry Wheat beer relatively quickly to our table.

ALLEGHENY CITY BREWING | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Next stop was Penn Brewery at the entrance of Troy Hill. There, we learned more history and explored the beer caves. Rather than wait for service at the often busy bar, we rode up the Three Rivers Heritage Trail to the picnic pavilion at Millvale Riverfront Park, where the Bergs broke out bottles of chilled Penn Gold, pretzels and homemade pickles.

BEER CAVES AT PENN BREWING | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Then it was off to the bustling Grist House Craft Brewery in Millvale, where each of us got three samples — a Tentacle Horizon-IPA, Krispadelic Kolsch and a Kaboom Sour — delivered in 5-ounce goblets. The Bergs bought each of us a tub of Cheesesteak over Fries from the Streets on the Fly food truck stationed outside.

We made our final stop at 11th Hour Brewing Co. in Lawrenceville, relaxing at a picnic table out front and realizing that we weren’t going to get back to the bike shop on time. No worries. Nobody had any place to rush to afterward, so we took our time sipping a mix of beer samples and exchanging stories.

All in all, the tour was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon, learn some Pittsburgh history and experience picturesque bike trails and the area’s vibrant brewery scene.

Be mindful when booking. If you go through Tripadvisor or other third-party services, the tour can cost up to $89 per person; instead book directly with the tour operator, Bike the Burgh Tours, for $69.