O'Hara couple finds home for Tortured Souls brewhouse in New Kensington

The journey from home beer brewer to brewery owner has been a tortuous one for Scott Wyman and his wife, Angie.

After the O’Hara couple’s plan to locate their brewery, Tortured Souls Brewing, in a former Sharpsburg church fell through, they looked at multiple places in and around the Pittsburgh area.

“We’ve had the rug pulled out from under us so many times, we could open a carpet store,” Scott said.

Ultimately, the Wymans settled on New Kensington and a former restaurant near a place they knew well — the Pittsburgh Ice Arena on Craigdell Road.

While still working on the building, the Wymans plan to open Tortured Souls in early January. In addition to their beer and other Pennsylvania-made libations, their kitchen will feature authentic New Orleans food from Pittsburgh-based caterer Roux Orleans.

“This place feels like it’s going to work,” Scott said.

The building across the parking lot from the ice arena had long been home to The Breakaway Bar and Grill, which closed in 2020, and was briefly the Crossbar Grill.

As a hockey family, the Wymans knew the area because one of their two sons, Ethan, 21, played at the arena, and they hung out at Breakaway.

They’ve been rehabilitating the building since signing a lease in October. That has included repainting the exterior — formerly blue — black with red trim around the windows.

“We’re really trying to make it our own,” Angie said.

That it was previously a restaurant has saved them money in some areas so they can spend it elsewhere, she said.

“The place has good bones,” Scott said. “It just needs a little lipstick.”

After meeting in a biology class at the University of Pittsburgh in 1998, the Wymans have been married since 2001. Scott, 49, a Monroeville native, is a licensed clinical social worker at UPMC St. Margaret hospital; Angie, 43, from Rural Valley, works as a supervisor for Allegheny County Juvenile Probation.

Scott said he started homebrewing more than 10 years ago after one of his best friends got into it.

“I know how to boil water. I can do this,” he said. “One thing led to another.”

Asked about the origin of the “Tortured Souls” name, which they came up with six months into brewing, Angie said Halloween is their favorite holiday.

“We’re all tortured souls in one way or another,” Scott said.

Beer names reflect the theme — such as “Endless Void,” a Cascadian dark ale; “Resurrection,” a coffee stout; and “Salem’s Lament,” a New England IPA.

While he makes many varieties, Scott said his focus is stouts and porters — the “dark stuff.”

“I can appreciate the complexities,” he said.

Producing beer at the building, Scott said his capacity will be 120 gallons per batch, with 70% going into kegs and 30% into cans. What sells he’ll keep; if something doesn’t sell, he’ll switch to something else.

Their 12 taps will include Scott’s own beers and a rotation of guest brews. Their brewing license allows them to offer beer, wines and liquors that are made in Pennsylvania.

A small cocktail menu will focus on bourbons and whiskeys. Angie plans to start a seltzer program.

“It’s fun to learn,” she said. “It takes a lot of patience.”

And now for the food

The Wymans are subletting their kitchen to Mike Barnes, a New Orleans native who moved to Pittsburgh in 2014 and started Roux Orleans, his catering business, in 2016.

Barnes, 45, said he has more than 30 years of kitchen experience. At Tortured Souls, he’ll be offering authentic New Orleans cuisine such as gumbo, jambalaya and po’ boys.

“For Roux Orleans to be inside of a brewhouse, I think that’s amazing,” he said. “I’m excited. Be ready to experience New Orleans.”

While not yet open, the Wymans are hopeful Tortured Souls will become a destination, bigger than just one place, allowing them to eventually leave their current careers and be something they can do together.

“We hope this is a launching point to other things,” Scott said.

“It’s a good starting point, not an end,” Angie said.