When a congregation moves on, the building it leaves behind can be hard to reuse. It has a tall nave, fixed pews, stained glass and usually a heating bill to match. A handful of brewers and beer-bar owners have taken those buildings on anyway. These churches converted into beer halls and brewpubs keep the architecture in view and bring people back together under the same roof.
Reference Log
Below are five we verified against the venues’ own pages, historic records or local reporting. Hours are venue-local and can change, so check before you go.
The Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh
The best-known example sits in Lawrenceville. According to The Church Brew Works’ history page, St. John the Baptist’s cornerstone on Liberty Avenue was laid June 1, 1902, for a parish founded in 1878 to serve the area’s Irish and Scottish Catholic immigrants. The Diocese of Pittsburgh suppressed the parish on Aug. 6, 1993. Construction on the brewpub began in early 1996.
The brewhouse sits on the apse, where the altar was, with tanks against a blue backdrop. The pews were cut down into shorter benches, and the oak from that cutting became the bar. The restored Douglas fir floors had been under plywood for 50 years. It brews on site, so it’s a brewery, not just a bar.
Holy Grale, Louisville
Holy Grale, at 1034 Bardstown Road in the Highlands, is a beer bar rather than a brewery. The bar describes its home as an old Unitarian chapel house.
Holy Grale says it opened in 2011 and pours 21 rotating taps of beers from around the world, with a lambic collection, and a seasonal biergarten out back. Its upstairs dining room is the former choir loft. The bar is 21+ unless guests are with an adult.
Ministry of Brewing, Baltimore
Ministry of Brewing brews inside the former St. Michael’s Church at 1900 E. Lombard St. in the Washington Hill/Upper Fells Point area. The brewery advertises 32 rotating taps under 53-foot barrel ceilings. It runs a food-truck calendar instead of its own kitchen.
Church-Key Brewing, Campbellford, Ontario
In rural Ontario, Church-Key Brewing is a working brewery inside a Methodist church built in 1878, at 1678 County Road 38 outside Campbellford. The brewery says the pews are gone but the tall windows, timber and acoustics stayed. It calls itself “a community gathering place first and a tourist stop second.”
Platz Beer Garden, Keene, New Hampshire
The newest on this list is not open yet: its grand opening is scheduled for Nov. 7, 2026. Platz Beer Garden is in the former Grace United Methodist Church at 34 Court Street. The church was built in 1868–69 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to its nomination form. Platz says it will pour about 20 rotating taps; it does not describe itself as a brewery. Opening details are on Platz’s grand opening page.
| Venue | City | Former church | Brews on site? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Church Brew Works | Pittsburgh, PA | St. John the Baptist (cornerstone 1902) | Yes |
| Holy Grale | Louisville, KY | Former Unitarian chapel | No, beer bar |
| Ministry of Brewing | Baltimore, MD | St. Michael’s Church | Yes |
| Church-Key Brewing | Campbellford, ON | Methodist church, built 1878 | Yes |
| Platz Beer Garden | Keene, NH | Grace United Methodist (1869) | No, beer garden |
Sources: venue websites, the NRHP nomination and Holy Grale’s own site.
Why churches converted into beer halls work
Each one keeps the building readable. The altar becomes a brew deck or a bar. Pews become benches or bar tops. Choir lofts become dining rooms. That reuse matters for buildings this big and this old, many of which are hard to repurpose. For visitors, it means a pint comes with a bit of architectural history, and with some neighbors who may remember the building’s earlier life. Go in with respect for both.
Planning more beer travel? Our San Diego Beer Week 2026 guide has this week’s taproom map, and our coverage of Karl Strauss’s San Marcos beer garden shows a very different kind of beer hall.
Featured image: Exterior of The Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh (2014). Photo by Staticshakedown, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: cropped, color-graded and overlaid with BeerAlien graphics. This edited version is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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