Arsenal Cider House probably tops the list as one of my most favorite stops in Pittsburgh. After touring the Carnegie museums, my boyfriend and I were looking for something unique to Pittsburgh to try - and we both stumbled upon amazing reviews for this place. We immediately headed over to try it!
Walking in to the house, they have a small front room where the tastings occur. Each customer gets three tastings of their rotating ciders. The tasting is about one ounce of the cider, good for about two or three sips. We ended up sharing each of ours, so it was easy to get a wide variety sampler of their different ciders. After trying six, we each selected our own favorites and ordered 8 oz. glasses of each (they now serve individual cups in addition to the two different growler sizes). They had indoor seating in a room adjacent to the front tasting room, but we opted to go outside to their back patio. They have a wonderful green area with nice, large wood tables and umbrellas where you can sit outside and enjoy the cider. Other customers brought their own snacks, but they did have a BBQ/smokehouse setting up for the evening in the driveway.
The cider - it is amazing! Visiting from Cincinnati, where there are countless small batch to micro/craft to large beer and cider breweries opening every year, I thought that Arsenal Cider House's cider bested them all! There was a variety of fruits and flavors spread out under the dry to sweet range. My only regret was not getting a growler to bring home!