Iron City Brewing Company

The Iron City Brewing Company (also known as the Pittsburgh Brewing Company) is a beer company that until August 2009 had been located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. On June 11, 2009, it was reported that the brewery was "moving"^[1] to Latrobe, Pennsylvania. That move was recently completed and Iron City is now produced in the Latrobe Brewery that was once used to produce Rolling Rock. The ties to Pittsburgh still exist though, as even the Iron City website still lists "a four-story brick building on the corner of Liberty Avenue and 34th Street" as the brewery's location.

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."^[2] This founder of Frauenheim, Miller & Company started brewing Iron City Beer, now the flagship of the Iron City Brewing Company (PBC), in a city thriving on heavy 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. Just three years later, Iron City Brewery erected an additional three-story building at the site, where PBC operates to this day.

The two buildings, carrying an average stock of about 10,000 barrels, used state-of-the-art brewing equipment. At the time, 25 of the operation's 30 skilled workmen were employed full-time, and Iron City Brewery continued to expand its markets to become the largest brewery in Pittsburgh.

After the 1866 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 brewing industry across the country, as the company 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, able to compete favorably in sales with any brewery west of the Atlantic Coast area. 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 ft (18 m) in circumference and 20 ft (6.1 m) in height, each of which held 45 to 50 barrels of beer. And, the brewery had about 10,000 kegs in constant use, evidence that serving its client base was no small job.

Regional trust

During the latter part of the 19th century, trusts became the business vogue, and industries began to merge or form trusts to achieve stability through size and take advantage of economies of scale. The brewing industry was no exception.

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 future innovations that would again restore security in times of struggle.

Post-prohibition

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 a year in Cumberland. The company prospered during the 1950s and 1960s; however, labor disputes and declining sales caused the Queen City Brewing Company to close in December, 1974, transferring its Old German, Old Export, Heritage House (brewery)|Heritage House, Old Dutch, Brown Derby, Gamecock Ale, and American brands to the Pittsburgh Brewing Company. The Queen City brewery was demolished in April, 1975, ending a combined 152 years of brewing in Cumberland Maryland.^[3]

By 1977, Pittsburgh Brewing Company was one of just 40 breweries left in the country. To rebound from difficult years, the brewery introduced a new light beer, branded as Iron City Light—or IC Light. IC Light's aggressive marketing campaign targeted the young discerning beer drinker. Both men and women enjoyed the new beer, which quickly captured 80 percent of the local light-beer market. IC Light’s popularity apparently also heightened the sales of regular Iron City beer, as it soon regained the position of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s favorite beer.

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 fraud [3] (allegations which subsequently led to Carlow's imprisonment for fraud)[4], 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 moving 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 (PBC had been hovering around the 1 million barrel production mark, even through rough financial times). After producing fewer than 400,000 barrels in 2005, and being late on a number of bills, Pittsburgh Brewing Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Brand relaunch

In 2007, the brewery was purchased and brought out of bankruptcy by Unified Growth Partners. They renamed the brewery to its original name of "Iron City Brewing Company" and hope to return it to full production and overcome the numerous shortcomings of the formerly neglected business.^[4]

In May 2009, Iron City Brewing signed a deal with the City Brewing Company to begin producing beer at their former Latrobe Brewing Company plant,^[5] with brewing started in June and bottling/kegging production resumed in July, 2009.^[6]

Products

Iron City Brewing Company's most popular products are: Iron City Beer (a macro-style pilsner), I.C Light, Augustiner and Augustiner Dark. PBC also produces: American, American Light, American Ice, Old German, Brigade and Brigade Light. In June 2011, I.C. Light Mango was launched in 12oz clear bottles only. Other brands include 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.

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 (sued for trademark infringement by Gatorade and ceased production).
• First brewer to use the aluminum beer bottle on a large scale, produced in conjunction with Alcoa, 2005. According to Alcoa, the bottle has three times the aluminum of typical cans, giving it better insulation. The maker claims the bottle keeps beer cold up to 50 minutes longer. It is also lighter than glass, unbreakable, resealable, and is coated to prevent the aluminum from affecting the taste.

References

External links

• Official website
• RateBeer
• Drink Iron City
• 360° panorama of the kettle room