Grist House pursues new horizons in Collier
A structure built more than a half-century ago amid the trauma of Cold War politics has been transformed into a site specializing in cold brews.
Grist House Craft Brewery owners celebrated the long-anticipated grand opening at their Collier Township location – called Grist House Command. Large crowds of patrons strolled into the combined brewery, taproom and restaurant during the two-day opening Sept. 6 and 7, quaffing some of the 12 to 18 beers Grist House produces and dining. The taphouse is open Wednesday through Sunday.
“We were hoping for this type of turnout,” co-owner Brian Eaton said during the first day. “Our goal is that when you come here, you will find something that you will like to drink.”
Eaton shares ownership of Grist House with his brother-in-law, Doug Mientkiewicz, who together launched the business in Millvale in 2014. They opened a taphouse there in 2023.
Baseball aficionados might remember Mientkiewicz. He was a Gold Glove first baseman with the Minnesota Twins, a member of the Boston Red Sox World Series championship team in 2004 and a Pirate for one season.
The owners hope to hit it out of the park in Collier, near Oakdale Borough, where they have indoor and outdoor seating for about 400 patrons. Eaton and Mientkiewicz planned to expand their operation years ago and found a 55,000-square-foot location in a geographically appealing area.
The building sits high on a hill with fabulous panoramas of the region that customers could very well embrace, especially those sitting in the two large outdoor decks. The main deck, below, is spacious as well.
“It’s one of the highest points in Allegheny County, about 1,500 feet up,” Eaton said. From there, on a clear day, one can see buildings in Pittsburgh.
This also is a site with a remarkable history.
Grist House Command was built inside the shell of a Cold War-era Nike missile command center. Nike was a defense system initiated in 1960, when tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were at a peak. The military program shut down in 1974.
“This building was built to take a direct hit,” Eaton said. “Western Pennsylvania had 13 Nike missile sites and this one command center, This essentially was the brains of the operation.”
That, he added, is why “Command” is part of the new brewhouse’s name.
The building’s history is displayed on some interior walls, including a small mural and a military-related sign from the Nike era. Eaton assures that more will be ahead. “We’ll have a big map of all of the Western Pennsylvania Nike sites from that time. We hope to display it in about a month or so.”
The erstwhile command center is adjacent to a site that resembles something Andy Warhol might have crafted – only 10,000 times larger. It looks like a massive white ball resting atop a tannish block. It is actually an active radar dome used by the Federal Aviation Administration, and is visible from many locations in the South Hills,
Building the brewery “took a lot longer than we wanted,” Eaton said, adding that he and Mientkiewicz “officially bought” the building in 2018, and started demolition in 2019 “with the intention to build out.” They were then set back by the pandemic.
Construction began anew in mid-2023 and finished recently, of course.
Beer may be Grist House Command’s calling card, to be sure, but not its only offering. “We also have hard seltzer, mocktails and cocktails and local wine. We have a full kitchen and we’re developing foods as we go along,” Eaton said, adding that French onion soup has been well received. (Grist House also has locations in Millvale, Butler and Saxonburg.)
Grist House brews its brews in Millvale, but Eaton said that likely will shift to Collier, where production capacity should increase.
“This is a unique space and a different atmosphere,” Eaton said of the newly christened Grist House Command.
He was pleased shortly after the doors opened on Day 1. “We’re 15 minutes in and we have a good crowd.”