New owners today took control of the brewery formerly known as Pittsburgh Brewing, ending the company's 21-month stay in bankruptcy and promising to invest $4.1 million in the long-neglected Pittsburgh institution.
A group of investors led by Connecticut businessman John N. Milne will operate the Lawrenceville brewery under the name Iron City Brewing, building on the tradition of the 146-year-old brewery.
And another chapter ends in the strange modern history of this big old brewery. $4.1 million ought to be able to cover the debts and leave something for desperately needed upgrades. Now it's up to Pittsburgh's beer drinkers. I've said over and over that Iron City is a fine mainstream lager -- if you like that kind of thing -- and IC Light is one of the better light beers I've had. So Pittsburghers: are you gonna drink advertising, or are you gonna drink local?
8 comments:
I just had an Irn the other day that had been sitting in my beer fridge for way too long. I was surprised at how well the beer kept, there was no oxidation or off flavors. Must be the magic from those aluminum bottles.
I do agree that this is a pretty good beer, not one of my favorites, but a good beer. I think it would make a great session beer.
I became an Iron City fan on a sweltering August day in 2004. We had seats in the middle deck at PNC Park to watch the Mets steamroll the hapless Pirates.
Maybe I'm romanticizing it a bit, but the ballpark setting, the gorgeous view of Pittsburgh's skyline, the contrast of the day's heat and the cold beer (and the fact that the aluminum bottle KEPT that beer cold) made me an Iron City fan. I buy it by the case from time to time when I can get it.
Iron City costs $8.99-plus a 6-pack in Los Angeles. I think it's worth it just to have the liquid memories.
I wish we could get the aluminum bottles.
Embrace Iron City, yeah. But don't overlook the little guys like Penn, East End and the numerous choice brewpubs there as well. OK...maybe not numerous but...
Share the local love.
Good on IC though. Good luck to them.
Hey, Loren, no question and never a choice! When I get to Da Burgh, I do always have a draft Arn...eventually, because it's getting hard to find. But after that one signifying beer, it's local craft brewers all the way. Well...unless I stop in the Sharp Edge, of course. All those Belgians are tough to turn down.
So Lew, when you getting back to 'Da Burgh"? We miss you.
Jeff, I can't begin to tell you how much I want to come back for a long visit: Bocktown, Rivertowne, and about four other new places I want to visit, and all the old familiar haunts, and of course, the people. But realistically? Maybe November. Actually...that might work out.
I've been trying to get the hipster crowd to embrace IC like they did with PBR. I wrote about it a while ago here:
http://badluckcity.wordpress.com/2007/03/26/save-iron-city-beer/
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