Iron City Distilling serves those who serve: active-duty military, veterans, first responders

Iron City Distilling threw open its doors in East Deer on Sunday, welcoming active-duty military, veterans and first responders to hang out as they showed some love to those who serve and have served the country.

Between 180 and 200 were expected for the first-time, free event, which featured spirit samples and beer, live music by The Campfire Clarks, food from the Emporio Meatball Truck and cigars from Smoke n’ Guns.

“We wanted to give back to the people who serve our country and the first responders,” said Peter Katz, president of Iron City Distilling. “We wanted them to come out and have a good time today.”

Those attending appreciated the gesture.

“Anything that we can do to support veterans and for the betterment of veterans and their well-being,” said Bob Roche of Shaler, who served in the Army Reserve and National Guard and worked for the Department of Corrections at Western Penitentiary.

Iron City Distilling is the sister company to Pittsburgh Brewing, maker of Iron City Beer. The distillery, which opened after the brewery in East Deer, is still in its infancy, Katz said.

Not many events have been held inside the distillery yet, with Sunday’s being its first open house as they continue to grow it. A Saturday night concert series featuring acoustic acts performing on the distillery’s mezzanine bar is scheduled to start in October, with tickets available at Eventbrite.

The distillery produced its first barrel — rye whiskey — in March 2023 and opened for tours in November 2024, when its mezzanine bar was also opened, Katz said.

The distillery was built in what had previously been a boiler house and, at one time, a stable, Katz said. Its three stills consist of a pot still, a gin still and, most notably, one of only two three-chamber stills in the United States.

Describing the three-chamber still as “expensive, inefficient and labor intensive,” it exists to replicate the rye whiskey made in this area in the 1800s and that had not been used in Pennsylvania since the 1930s. It uses extra pressure to pull more oil and flavors out of the grain.

“It’s a new style of whiskey that pushes the category,” Katz said. “It’s very different from what everyone’s used to tasting.”

Matt Strickland of Pittsburgh’s Manchester neighborhood was a consultant on its development. He designed the distillery before being offered the job of master distiller.

The distillery, which employs nine, is not as automated as the neighboring brewery.

“I’m not big on automation,” Strickland said. “I like being able to control everything by hand. I don’t trust the robots.”

The open house afforded many their first look inside the distillery, which along with the brewery was built within what had been a PPG glass plant.

“It’s beautiful, very nice,” said Dixie Fox-Kiss, 53, who recently retired from the Air Force after 30 years. She and her husband, Michael Kiss, moved from Arlington to South Buffalo, where they bought her parents’ home, which is also the home she grew up in.

“We always knew we would come back to Western Pennsylvania. I’m 100% back to where I came from,” she said. “Nobody’s from Arlington. Everybody’s from all over the place. It’s nice to have a sense of home.”

As a contractor, East Deer fire Chief Jack Bailie ran the crew that had done the demolition inside the former boiler house. He spent more than three months chopping up steel with an excavator.

On Sunday, he was enjoying beer with his sons, Brett and Andy, at the distillery’s mezzanine bar.

“It just keeps the town … I don’t know if vibrant is the right word. It’s a plus to the community,” he said of how the glass plant was repurposed. “It was expecting it to be a slum.”

Bailie, 62, and a firefighter for 46 years, was appreciative of the distillery welcoming them in.

“It’s nice of them,” he said. “They take pretty good care of us.”

Army veteran Jeff Clouse, 72, of Harrison was in the unfortunate position of not being to sample any spirits or eat anything, as he was scheduled for a colonoscopy Monday morning.

“I’d love to sample the stuff,” he said.

His wife, Susan, said she’d be trying the whiskey.

“This is impressive,” she said of the facility. “Very impressive.”

After seeing how Sunday went, Katz said the distillery could hold open houses for other groups important to society, such as nurses and teachers.

“We all know what they do for us, and we wouldn’t be able to survive without them,” he said. “It’s always an honor to give back to them. They give so much of themselves.”