Day 328, Nov 24 / Kaiser Pils

Day 328 / November 24, 2011

Kaiser Pils

Pennsylvania Brewing Co / Pittsburgh, PA

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I’m thankful for beer!

And many other things, of course.  But good beer is definitely on the list.

I had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner yesterday at my in-law’s in-law’s house.  Specifically, it was my wife’s sister’s husband’s sister’s house.  I guess the person there most distantly related to me would be my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law’s stepmother’s mother.  I can figure that out, but once you start talking about second cousins once removed, I’m entirely lost!

Anyway, there was a great spread, entirely non-conducive to the 50 Pounds part of this quest, which I think we all know isn’t gonna happen this year.  My sister-in-law-in-law made one version of stuffing with pomegranates and figs, which was unique and quite tasty!

After I had digested most of the feast, I opened up a Kaiser Pils, from Pennsylvania Brewing Company in downtown Pittsburgh.

The Penn Brewery has a storied history.  The buildings on Pittsburgh’s North Side originally housed the Eberhardt & Ober Brewery, pictured below. E&O Brewing was founded in 1852, and in 1899 merged with 19 other breweries in and around the city to form the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. The plant continued to turn out its E & O and Dutch Club brands until 1952. 

Tom Pastorius, the son of German immigrants, first founded the Pennsylvania Brewing Company in the mid 1980’s, with a mission to bring true German style beer back to Pittsburgh. He originally contracted out his brewing, but bought the historic E&O buildings in 1987, and began outfitting them with new brewing equipment.  Pastorius was also instrumental in getting Pennsylvania’s laws changed to allow breweries to serve food, thus paving the way for the birth of brewpubs in Pennsylvania.

In 2003, an investment firm bought a controlling stake in Penn Brewery.  Pastorius became less involved in the business, and eventually retired in 2008 at age 65.  From 2003 to 2008, the new owners made several changes to the business, eventually contracting out the brewing operations and closing the brewpub.

But apparently, Pastorious has Penn beer in his blood.  In 2009, an opportunity arose for Pastorius to buy back the business.  He assembled a group of like-minded investors and bought it back, restarting brewing at the location in 2010 and re-opening the brewpub.

There’s some great information about this story from Inc. Magazine, Wikipedia and the Pennsylvania Brewery Historians websites.

The Kaiser Pils is actually more of a traditional German style pilsner than their flagship beer, Penn Pilsner, which is really an amber Vienna style lager beer.  The Kaiser Pils is light in color, and has a crisp, hoppy taste.