Welcome to our “Meet The Brewer” series! Where we interview brewers in Pennsylvania, from breweries small to large. Let us know if you know anyone who should be featured, email us at info@breweriesinpa.com.

Truss Brewing Company is a 1bbl nano-brewery based in Pittsburgh, PA, that opened in December of 2020. They offer a seasonal rotation of ales and seltzers as well. Currently, they are to go and take out only, but there are plans to expand with multiple storefronts and develop a new production site.

James Weber is the head brewer at Truss Brewing Company. Read more to find out his introduction to craft beer, where he sees the craft beer industry heading, and more!

What was your introduction to craft beer?

“Beer? it’s in the blood, literally”.. I am a 5th generation brewer worker. My Grandfather retired as the senior engineer at Pittsburgh Brewing Company in 2000 prior to their move to Latrobe. I grew up in and around PGHBCO. I got to to see and absorb so much from a young age and it stuck with me until my later years when I started as a keg washer, floor scrubber and event worker at a Nano-Brewery (Roth Brewing) in North Carolina. Gotta start somewhere, right? As for my first “taste” of Craft Beer. In the early 2k years there wasn’t the massive amounts of “craft” beers we have today and those that were around weren’t always available outside of their home markets. So I guess you could say Iron City and it’s labels were technically my first craft beer.

How did you get started as a brewer?

Well like I mentioned I started out as a volunteer/ intern worker at Roth Brewery in Raleigh, NC manually breaking down kegs to clean them, help clean the warehouse and work the taproom/events. The brewery was started by a group of very close friends of mine. During the first year I would get involved with brewing operations by helping the then head brewer on a 2BBL system. He along the rest of the small ownership team taught me all the facets of running a nano brewery, from brewing to selling and eventually management of the entire business. Only a few years in I found myself as the Head Brewer and Director of Brewery Operations. Eventually, Roth Brewing was bought out by a group which afforded me the opportunity to work at a larger brewery, Big Boss Brewing which is also in Raleigh, NC. Not only did I get experience on a larger system (20BBL) but also larger automated packaging, cellaring technique, and was able to gain an immense wealth of knowledge from the brewers, cellarman, engineers and owners. There are so many people I could mention that really impacted my growth and wouldn’t want to leave anyone out but, Brad Wynn (Big Boss at the time but now Norse Brewing) really pushed me and his brewers to expand, harness the knowledge and really strive to learn the art of craft beer brewing.

What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?

The next one I make.. ha! Each beer style has its own uniqueness to them but they also allow for a brewer to add their own fun twist using malts, hops, adjunct, and water profile. Give me some American Ale yeast and let’s have fun!

What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?

Thinking back on it, it would have either been an American Amber or an American Stout. Those 2 styles were and still are some of my favorites to brew. I’ve been tweaking recipes for those styles for many years. I learned in those first few brews that some beers can hide flaws but flavors can quickly become unbalanced in ways that weren’t intended.

Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?

I think as a brewing community we all need to understand much like chord progressions on a guitar, they’ve all been played. The difference being is how you play them. Do you follow the trends and try to have the “new” trendy beer or buck the trends and have solid go to beers that everyone knows and loves time and again? Breweries everywhere will have to make their own choice and hopefully it works in their favor.

Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.

There are so many great breweries in PA that are putting out some awesome beers! One thing I always enjoyed about western PA is that there was a local bar in the neighborhood where people met, they socialized, learned about news of the neighborhood and got to meet their neighbors. You see that type of trend with breweries trying to be hyper local and, in a way have become the new social houses in areas that have lost their local spot. Being in Pittsburgh, making beer like generations of family before me is an awesome and humbling feeling. I hope to live up to the standards they set.

What is the inspiration behind your beer names?

Names of beers/ brews tend to align with the concept of the individual brewery. However, I do also enjoy tapping into my inner nerd and musician self from time to time. I also enjoy having other fellow workers and customers throw out ideas.

What is your favorite beer to drink right now?

If you made me pick right now, it’s a tie. Dogfish Head Utopias barrel-aged worldwide stout and Aventinus Eisbock. The Stout is just amazing and this time of year I love EisBock especially Aventinus Eisbock using the hot knife technique.

What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?

Don’t be a snob and don’t mourn your beer. Ha! But seriously, everyone out there has their own favorite beer. Don’t crap on it because you don’t like it. Beer is meant to be shared, enjoyed and celebrated with friends and family.