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Threadbare CIDER HOUSE CraftPittsburgh | issue 30
Since opening to the public in 2012, Wigle Whiskey has continually grown and expanded at an exceptionally rapid rate.
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As the most-awarded craft whiskey distillery in the U.S. the past two years, it’s hardly surprising to see the company making a big move following the opening of their Barrelhouse and Whiskey Garden in 2014. With Threadbare Cider House, Wigle is poised to enter another market that’s ripe for the taking in the craft-alcohol industry while doubling-down on the Spring Garden area. “We had been thinking about doing a cider house and wanting to do it,” Co-Owner Meredith Grelli said. “It had been on our minds for a few years and when we saw this we thought it was such a great opportunity.” Having run out of room at their barrelhouse down the street, at first Wigle was just looking for more storage space. The large, blue warehouse on the new property gives them much needed storage and new office space
while the adjoining building sparked the Threadbare expansion in full. The site itself is about an acre in size, which will provide plenty of parking for customers to enter the 7,000 square foot Cider House directly from Spring Garden Avenue. The high ceilings, original exposed brick and wood floors provide all of the rustic aesthetics you’d associate with cider. For a company that distributes nationally across eight states and is readily available on liquor store shelves and bars in the area, this latest expansion finally feels more like a premier destination. The multiple floors and size alone will provide plenty of room for large-scale events. “It increases our footprint quite a bit. We’ve never had a space this large. So it allows us to get all of the production we anticipate needing for a pretty long time in here as well as a full kitchen and seated dining room area,” Grelli said. True to the Wigle brand, there are plenty of historical ties as well. The building was originally a post-Civil War tannery that went on to become the second-largest in Pittsburgh. And much like Philip Wigle’s influence on the company, Threadbare will call upon another American legend