Lawrenceville's deconsecrated St. John the Baptist Catholic church, converted in 1996 into a brewpub and featured in the 2022 Discovery+ 'Ghost Hunters' episode 'The Haunted Brewery.'
3525 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Entrees roughly $18-35; pints $6-8. Beer to go available.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored church nave; ramped entry available
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1902 · Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation landmark (2001) · Adaptive reuse — religious to commercial · Beezer Brothers architecture · Lawrenceville parish history
St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church served Lawrenceville's Irish and Scotch Catholic immigrant parish from the early 20th century. The cornerstone was laid June 1, 1902, and the church was designed and built by the Beezer Brothers, a Pittsburgh architectural firm responsible for several Catholic buildings in the region. The structure features a long nave with arched windows, a central rose window, and an apse where the altar once stood.
By the late 20th century, parish demographics and finances no longer supported the church, and the Diocese of Pittsburgh officially deconsecrated the building in 1993. Owner Sean Casey purchased the structure in 1994 and undertook a two-year renovation, retaining the original pews (cut down to serve as restaurant benches), stained glass, and rose window while installing a custom-built brewhouse in the apse where the altar had stood. The Church Brew Works opened August 1, 1996.
The brewpub became one of Pittsburgh's most photographed dining rooms and one of its earliest production brewpubs. In 2001 the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation designated the building a historic landmark. In 2012, the Great American Beer Festival named the operation Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year, and Pittsburgh Magazine has repeatedly listed it among the city's best breweries.
In January 2022, Discovery+'s 'Ghost Hunters' revival aired its 'The Haunted Brewery' episode, filmed on-site at the brewpub. The episode brought reunited original TAPS members Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, and Dave Tango, along with Shari DeBenedetti, to investigate reports owner Sean Casey had been collecting from staff. The episode aired Saturday, January 15, 2022 on Discovery+ and was covered by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NEXTpittsburgh, and TribLive.
Sources
Owner Sean Casey has openly discussed the reports he has collected from staff over decades of operation. Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage of the 2022 Ghost Hunters investigation, staff have described voices in unoccupied spaces, the sound of footsteps from above the dining floor when no one is in the choir loft, and sightings of a woman dressed in white. NEXTpittsburgh and TribLive corroborated these descriptions.
A mischievous kitchen spirit is part of staff lore — knife and tool drawers found rearranged, ingredients out of place, and the occasional cold draft in the back-of-house. The Pittsburgh City Paper has separately profiled the building among Pittsburgh restaurants with unexplained reports.
The Discovery+ 'Ghost Hunters' episode 'The Haunted Brewery,' aired January 15, 2022, brought TAPS investigators on-site for an overnight session. Per PopCulture.com coverage of the episode, the team reported 'intense' conversations and treated the building as a legitimate active site, though their findings — like all such televised investigation results — are not peer-reviewed evidence. The episode is publicly available on Discovery+ and indexed on IMDb (tt16304454).
The building's adaptive reuse from sacred to commercial is itself part of the lore's resonance: a 90+ year-old Roman Catholic church operating as a brewery is a stark before/after, and many sources frame the paranormal claims through that transition.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Dining in the former St. John the Baptist Church nave, with the brewhouse installed where the altar once stood. The kitchen, basement, and choir-loft areas — the zones associated with most staff paranormal reports — are not generally accessible to guests, but a meal here positions you in the building's main public spaces.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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