You can't miss Steve Sloan inside Roundabout Brewery in Lawrenceville. He's the soft-spoken, barrel-chested man greeting customers from behind the bar.
But before meeting him recently for the first time, I knew little about Sloan except for two things:
First: Other Pittsburgh brewers absolutely revere him. (More than once, I've heard the term “brewing genius” applied.)
Second: He doesn't talk much. (More than once, people laughed upon hearing my plans to interview him.)
With that in mind, I entered Roundabout, introduced myself and declared my intentions to write about Sloan and his brewery's second anniversary, last weekend.
“Oh,” Sloan said. “OK.”
I started by observing that two years in a competitive market like Pittsburgh is a nice accomplishment.
“Yeah,” he said. “I suppose it is.”
After some thought, he added: “Lot of work.”
Aaaaand we were off.
OK, so other brewers are right — Sloan doesn't talk much. But that's fine with me, because the brewers are also right when they describe his beer as truly great.
Also, I didn't need him to talk. I came prepared.
I tapped into some advice from my former journalism school adviser, the late, great magazine editor Clay Felker, who preached that subjects of profiles need not be interviewed. Just read Gay Talese's “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” he'd say, then launch into the story about the time his staff wrote a profile of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the soon-to-be health czar during the first Bush administration. Arnold's handlers heard about the profile, called Felker and asked when he wanted to schedule an interview. Fellker laughed. “We're doing a real profile,” he said. “We don't need to talk to him.”
Not when others will do the talking. And there's no shortage of people eager to talk about Steve Sloan.
“Steve is a quiet genius,” says Andy Kwiatkowski of Hitchhiker Brewery in Mt. Lebanon. “He hits the nail on the head with everything he makes. He does it better than anyone else. Absolutely. Personally, in my own head, when I think of the top three to five brewers in the city, Steve is always No. 1. He just absolutely kills it.”
“He's the type of guy who seems to get that it's an art form as well as a science,” says Pete Kurzweg, co-owner of the Independent Brewing Co. in Squirrel Hill. “That combination is pretty potent and pretty rare.
“Genius? It's a good word. It's true.”
Despite being quiet, it's not like the guy is rude. On the contrary, several brewers said Sloan — who has a master's in chemistry and has worked at breweries across the globe — is eager to share his knowledge.
Matt Gouwens, founder of Hop Farm Brewing Co., a few blocks from Roundabout on Butler Street, recalls Sloan seeking him out when he decided to open. The reason why? Sloan wanted to make sure Gouwens was cool with him opening so close to the planned Hop Farm. Even before his brewery was a thing, he wanted to be a good neighbor.
“I was like, of course I don't mind,” Gouwens says. “We had the same idea at the same time — we'll have our own anniversary in September — and it's been great having him there. He's a great neighbor, great guy, great brewer.”
Andy Rich, head brewer at Penn Brewery in Troy Hill, marvels at the quality of Sloan's beers, even while using fairly basic start-up equipment. That's not a knock on Sloan's setup, Rich stresses. It's just that new breweries can't afford top-of-the-line equipment — but you'd never know it drinking at Roundabout.
“I don't know if people fully appreciate what he's done with what he has,” Rich says. “The beers he's making, with his equipment, it just proves his skill. He has a vast knowledge of brewing from working in all these different places with all these different people. He's taken all that, and he's producing really great beers.
“He's a quiet guy,” Rich says. “But if you have questions, he's more than willing to help. He just doesn't like to talk a lot.”
Especially not when it comes to talking about himself.
Kurzweg recalls heaping praise on one of Sloan's beers and getting the response: “It's still just beer.”
“While the industry moves forward, there will be this temptation for craft brewers and retailers to make craft into this very pretentious status symbol, and guys like Steve are our last chance to keep that from happening,” Kurzweg says. “He understands that this is the people's drink. It's beer.”
Yeah, but it's really good beer.
On my visit, I had the porter, and it was predictably delicious. Creamy, smooth and malty. The Hy-PA pale ale is another longtime personal favorite.
When I told Sloan my plan to let others do the talking for the column, he said: “Probably the better way to go.” Then he walked away to help a customer.
But to be fair, Sloan was actually far more talkative than I anticipated. He shared stories about playing semi-pro football in Germany (where he began his love affair with quality beer); about working in New Zealand, California, Hawaii and other locations (including Church Brew Works, which won a national Best Large Brew Pub award under his guidance in 2012); and his thoughts on making it for two years as a brewery:
“In some ways it seems a lot longer,” he said. “In some ways, it's just flown by.”
Chris Togneri failed chemistry in college — as in, really failed — which is one of many reasons why he'll never be as good at brewing as Steve Sloan. Reach him at ctogneri@tribweb.com or on Twitter @christogneri.
