Pittsburgh Brewing Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pittsburgh Brewing Company | |
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| Location | Pittsburgh, PA United States |
| Year opened | 1861 |
| Annual production | 1.2 million U.S. barrels (2004) |
| Active Beers | |
| American | Macro lager |
| American Light | Light lager |
| American N.A. | Low alcohol beer |
| Augustiner Dark | Munich dunkel lager |
| Augustiner Lager | Vienna lager |
| Drummond Bros. | Macro lager |
| Eagle Malt | Malt liquor |
| Falls City | Macro lager |
| Gerst | Munich dunkel lager |
| I.C. Golden Lager | Premium lager |
| I.C. Light | Light lager |
| Iron City Beer | Macro lager |
| J.J. Wainwright's Evil Eye Honey Brown | Brown ale |
| J.J. Wainwright's First Brewing Light Lager Beer | Light lager |
| J.J. Wainwrights Select Lager | Macro lager |
| Light Brigade | Light lager |
| Night Flight | Malt liquor |
| Old German | Pilsener |
| Olde Frothingslosh | Pale ale |
| Penn's Best Light | Light lager |
| Penn'sBest N.A. | Low alcohol beer |
| Prime Time | Macro lager |
| Sterling | Macro lager |
| Totally Dirt Cheap Beer | Macro lager |
| Totally Dirt Cheap Light Beer | Light lager |
| Wiedemann | Macro lager |
The Pittsburgh Brewing Company is a beer company located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1861, a young German immigrant, Edward Frauenheim, started the Iron City Brewery, one of the first American breweries to produce a lager, in the bustling river port known at the time as the 'Smoky City'. This founder of Frauenheim, Miller & Company started brewing what is now PBC’s flagship – Iron City Beer – in a city thriving on industry and commerce.
By 1866, the brewery had begun to grow. The business outgrew its original facilities on 17th Street and moved into a four-story brick building that the company built at Liberty Avenue and 34th Street, then worth an estimated $250,000, where Pittsburgh Brewing still operates. Iron City Brewery later built an additional three-story building – just three years later.
The two buildings, carrying an average stock of about 10,000 barrels of beer, housed only the latest and most-approved machinery appliances the industry offered. Twenty-five of 30 skilled and experienced workmen were employed full-time. Iron City Brewery continued to expand its markets to become the largest brewery in Pittsburgh.
After the expansion, Leopold Vilsack, a Pittsburgh native who learned the brewer’s trade at Pittsburgh’s old Bennett Brewery, joined Frauenheim, Miller & Company. The young man later became a partner, investing his small wealth in the firm when Miller retired and another partner died. Iron City Brewery then became Frauenheim and Vilsack Company.
Frauenheim and Vilsack’s fame spread throughout the business circles all over the country, for they had built one of the most complete and extensive breweries in the United States. With a brewing capacity of about 50,000 barrels a year, the Iron City Brewery was an impressive operation being able to compete favorably in sales to any brewery west of the Atlantic Coast. Historians and newspapers were amazed that a brewery could be so big. The total value of Iron City, including everything from stock to raw materials, was about $150,000 – an unheard of sum for a brewery.
By 1886, the Iron City Brewery had about 500 reception casks, each up to 60 feet in circumference and 20 feet high, to hold 45 to 50 barrels of beer in each. And the brewery had about 10,000 kegs in constant use, evincing that serving its fans was no little job.
During the latter part of the 19th century, trusts became the business vogue, and industry after industry began to draw together to achieve safety through size. The brewing industry proved no different.
On February 3, 1899, the Pittsburgh Dispatch reported that 12 local brewing firms applied to transfer their license to the trust known as Pittsburgh Brewing Company; Wainwright Brewing Company, Phoenix Brewing Company, Keystone Brewing Company, Winter Brothers Brewing Company, Phillip Lauer, John H. Nusser, Ebhardt & Ober Brewing Company, Hippely & Sons, Ober Brewing Company, J. Seiferth Brothers, Straub Brewing Company and the Iron City Brewing Company.
In addition to these 12 Pittsburgh and Allegheny County breweries, nine breweries outside the county took part in the merger. In all 21 breweries joined to make Pittsburgh Brewing Company the largest brewing operation in Pennsylvania and the third largest in the country. The combined facilities, worth about $11 million, provided a capacity of more than one million barrels. Greater efficiencies and more modern equipment made it practical to close many of the 21 breweries shortly after the incorporation without relinquishing capacities.
Prohibition, starting in 1920, forced many breweries, distillers and taverns to close, yet Pittsburgh Brewing Company survived. One of only 725 American breweries left when the movement was repealed in April 1933, PBC produced soft drinks, ice cream and 'near beer' and ran a cold storage business to endure those years. The brewery’s creative efforts kept alive a Pittsburgh tradition and foreshadowed the future innovations that would again restore security in times of struggle.
In the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Brewing Company acquired the Queen City Brewing Company (1901-1976) of Cumberland, Maryland. The Queen City Brewing Company was also known as the Old German Brewing Company and included the Cumberland Brewing Company (1890-1958) which was purchased by the brewery in 1958. At its peak, the Queen City brewery produced over 250,000 barrels of beer and ale a year in Cumberland. The company prospered greatly during the 1950's and 60's, however, Labor disputes and lack of sales caused the Queen City Brewing Company to close its doors in December of 1974, thus transferring its Old German, Old Export, Heritage House, Old Dutch, Brown Derby, Gamecock Ale, and American brands to the Pittsburgh Brewing Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Queen City brewery was demolished in April, 1975, ending a combined 152 years of brewing in Cumberland Maryland. [1]
 Old German Beer |
 Old German Beer Poster |
 Cumberland Brewing Company |
By 1977, Pittsburgh Brewing was one of just 40 breweries left in the country. To rebound from difficult years, the brewery introduced a new light beer – IC Light. IC Light’s aggressive marketing campaign targeted the young discerning beer drinker. Both men and women enjoyed the new beer that captured 80 percent of the local-light beer market. IC Light’s popularity apparently also heightened the sales of Iron City. Iron City regained the position of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s favorite beer soon after IC Light’s debut.
In 1986, Pittsburgh Brewing Company was acquired by and merged with Bond Brewing Holdings Ltd. of Perth, Western Australia. But seven years later, the company’s owner, Alan Bond, suffering financially, gave up the brewery to Pittsburgh entrepreneur Michael Carlow.
When Carlow was forced to relinquish control of the brewery because of Pittsburgh National City bank’s allegations of a fraud scheme, Pittsburgh native Joseph Piccirilli gained ownership of the brewery. The investment group Piccirilli represents, Keystone Brewing Company, closed the $29.4 million purchase September 12, 1995, at a hearing in U.S. bankruptcy court, showing a new commitment to Pittsburgh Brewing Company’s products.
Piccirilli proved dedicated to advancing the brewery into the 21st century. His youthful enthusiasm prompted many new ideas, most notably the aluminum bottle. However his lack of experience led to a sharp decline in sales. Pittsburgh Brewing had hovered around the 1 million barrel production mark even through rough financial times. After posting less than 400,000 barrels in 2005, and late on a number of bills, Pittsburgh Brewing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy where they stand today. The future of Pittsburgh Brewing is currently uncertain.
[edit] Products
Their most popular products are: Iron City Beer (a macro-style pilsner), I.C Light, Augustiner and Augustiner Dark. They also produce: American, American Light, American Ice, Old German, Brigade and Brigade Light. Other brands include Sterling, Falls City, Drummond Bros., Wiedemann and Drewrys, which were acquired from the Evansville Brewing Company (Evansville, Indiana) in the late 1990s and today are largely shipped to midwestern markets such as Louisville, KY, Cincinnati, OH and southern Indiana.
 Iron City Beer |
[edit] Innovations
- First snap-top can, produced in conjunction with Alcoa, 1962.
- First twist-off resealable cap, 1963.
- First brewery to print scenes honoring local sports teams and individuals.
- First draught beer available in a can, Iron City.
- First malt cooler, Hop-n-Gator.
- First light beer[citation needed], Mark V, made in 1976.
- First aluminum beer bottle, produced in conjunction with Alcoa, 2005. According to Alcoa, the bottle has three times the aluminum of typical cans, giving it better insulation (gets cold faster; stays cold longer). The maker claims the bottle keeps beer cold up to 50 minutes longer. It is also lighter than glass, unbreakeable, resealable, and is coated to prevent the aluminum from affecting the taste.
[edit] References
- ^ Amanda Paul, Tom Robertson, Joe Weaver, "Cumberland", Arcadia Publishing, Copyright Oct 1, 2003, Paperback, ISBN 0-7385-1498-5, page 46.
[edit] External links
| Pittsburgh-based Corporations (Within the Pittsburgh Metro Area) |
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| Pittsburgh-based Fortune 500 Corporations: U.S. Steel | PPG | H.J. Heinz | PNC Financial | Mellon Financial | WESCO International |
| Pittsburgh-based Fortune 1000 Corporations: Allegheny Energy | Consol Energy | Allegheny Technologies | Dick's Sporting Goods | Kennametal | American Eagle Outfitters | Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel | Mylan |
| Pittsburgh-based Forbes Largest Private Companies: 84 Lumber | GNC | Giant Eagle | Sheetz |
| Externally owned, regionally based, and other Pittsburgh corporations: American Bridge | Ampco Pittsburgh | Bayer USA | Calgon Carbon | Dollar Bank | DQE Holdings | Eat'n Park | Federated Investors | FedEx Ground | GlaxoSmithKline | Guru.com | Highmark | iGate | Koppers | Michael Baker | Mine Safety Appliances | NOVA Chemicals | Oxford Development | Pittsburgh Brewing Company | Respironics | rue21 | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center | Vivisimo | Wabtec |
