There are so many reasons that I love Pittsburgh, and Helicon is one of my newest additions to that list. The place is great.
This place is no thrills in the best way possible. You come in, seating is available but limited, and you are INSIDE the brewery. Like- no windows to peek in, no grand tour, just sitting at the bar watching the employees milling around making some fantastic beer.
As noted in other posts, I LOVE collaboration. Helicon frequently has food trucks on the premises and they do a great job of keeping their Facebook page up to date with the latest offerings. They also allowed us to bring in pizza from the shop down the road when there was no truck there.
This year I spent a lot of time training on the panhandle trail, and would often enjoy a beverage after a long run. As far as I know Helicon appreciates the "trail people" coming in for a brew and have never given any grief about the excessive use of their parking lot.