Duquesne Brewing Company

Duquesne Brewing Company
Location	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owner(s)	Mark Dudash
Year opened	4 April 1899 (1899-04-04) – 1972 (1972) 2008 (2008) – present
Website	www.duquesnebeer.com
Active beers
Name Type Duquesne Pilsener (Pilsner)
Inactive beers
Name Type Silver Top Lager Pilsner Silver Top Ale Ale Duke Ale Ale Duquesne Pilsener Pilsner Duquesne Bavarian Beer ? Duquesne Bock Beer Bock Duquesne Heavy-Dry Beer ? Duquesne Draft Beer Draught Old Nut Brown Ale Brown ale Frontenac Pale Ale Pale Ale Carnegie Beer ? Duquesne Buccaneer Beer ?

The Duquesne Brewing Company was a major brewery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from its founding in 1899 until its dissolution in 1972. The brand was revived under the name Duquesne Bottling Company in 2008, in order to re-establish the beer in Western Pennsylvania starting in the summer of 2010.^[1]

Awards

• 2011 World Beer Championships Silver Medalist, Pilsner Beer Category

History

Founding

Old bottle of Duquesne Pilsener showing the Fort Pitt Blockhouse mislabeled as "Fort Duquesne".

The Duquesne Brewing Company was officially incorporated on April 4, 1899.^[2] The first president was Henry Miller, formerly a furniture salesman. The original trademark of the brand was a depiction of Fort Duquesne (though it actually featured a depiction of the Fort Pitt Blockhouse with the words "Fort Duquesne" underneath it^[3]), and the more recognizable "Prince of Pilsners" trademark was added later.^[2]

The brewery decided to use refrigerated train cars to ship the beer, an innovated move the early twentieth century. A Chicago stockyard man, Max Epstein, connected Duquesne with Armour and Company, and had Duquesne's company logo emblazoned on one of the cars. At first sight, the Duquesne reps thought the car was a giant billboard for their company and purchased twenty cars. The money that Epstein netted from the sale enabled him to found the General American Transportation Corporation.^[4]

Even before Prohibition, Pittsburgh's brewing operations had begun to combine into fewer players, with most ending up under either the umbrella of the Pittsburgh Brewing Company or the Independent Brewing Company of Pittsburgh. Duquesne was among one of fifteen joining the latter in 1905.^[5]

The obverse and reverse of an old Duquesne Beer coaster, showing some of the beer's branding

Prohibition

Starting in 1920, Prohibition forced many breweries, distillers, and taverns to close. Duquesne was one of only 725 American breweries left when the movement was repealed in April 1933. In 1937, the company renamed itself as the Duquesne Brewing Company of Pittsburgh. The company, reformed under their original charter, emerged as the largest brewing company in Pennsylvania at a yearly production rate of 325,000 barrels.

Expansion

Duquesne's production capacity increased to two million barrels after World War II when a new building opened at the South Side site in 1950,^[6] making it one of the top ten breweries in the United States. The company's best known brand was "Duke," and its popular advertising slogan was "Have a Duke!"

The company had plants in Carnegie (Plant 3) and McKees Rocks (Plant 2),^[7] in addition to the South Side flagship brewery, although those soon closed after the new brew house opened at Plant 1 in 1950 (Plant 3 closed in 1952, and Plant 2 in 1950).^[8] The curved profile of the 1950 building at Plant 1 was to accommodate the PRR Whitehall Branch, which serviced the brewery from sidings along and off Mary Street.

In January 1963, Duquesne expanded into the Cleveland market by purchasing the rights to P.O.C. Beer from the Pilsener Brewing Company after they closed their plant.^[9]

Dissolution

While the company had been profitable through the 1950s, profits had declined by 1962 to $211,586 and the trend showed no sign of abating.^[10][11] A proposed 1965 acquisition by Pittsburgh Brewing ran afoul of anti-trust laws, and was enjoined in United States v. Pittsburgh Brewing Co. and Milton G. Hulme. The Friday family, longtime stewards of the brand, would lose control to investor Raymond Sigesmund in a stock battle in 1966. Sigesmund brought in his son-in-law, Franklyn D. Jeans, to run the brewery, but the problems continued. Jeans fired Lando, Inc., the company which had replaced long-time agency Vic Maitland in 1965 on the Duquesne Brewing advertising account, and replaced them with his own company, Admark.^[12]

Sales at Duquesne Beer had fallen to $13 million by 1971.^[13] The company, due to competition from national brands sold its labels to C. Schmidt & Sons Brewing Company of Philadelphia in late 1972, and closed the flagship plant. Schmidt brewed Duquesne in Cleveland into the 1980s, but sales fell drastically after Allegheny County commissioner Thomas Foerster called for a boycott of out-of-town beers; by the very end of the beer's production, the packaging was even changed to look like Schmidt's.^[13]

Beers

The Duquesne Brewery's stable of brands included Silver Top Lager, Silver Top Ale, Duke Ale, Duquesne Pilsener, Duquesne Bavarian Beer, Duquesne Bock Beer, Duquesne Heavy-Dry Beer, Duquesne Draft Beer, Duquesne Porter, Old Nut Brown Ale, Frontenac Pale Ale, Duquesne Beer, Carnegie Beer and Duquesne Buccaneer Beer.

Duquesne Brewery building

The old Duquesne Brewing Company building, built in 1899, at Mary and 21st Streets in the South Side Flats neighborhood of Pittsburgh, is now home of the Brew House Association.

The 1899 Duquesne Brewery brewhouse building, located at Mary Street and 21st Street in the South Side Flats neighborhood, now is home to the Brew House Association, which provides housing, studio space, and a gallery for Pittsburgh artists. The adjacent 1950 brewhouse building has been partially restored but is currently vacant. The cellar and keg department is now a self storage facility. A storage and garage building has become living space. The former office building has become Beitler-McKee Optical. The bottling works has become U.S. Cargo. Raff Printing and Rynn's Luggage occupy the case storage and shipping buildings. The bridge between the bottling works and case storage stands, while the bridge connecting the two brewhouses has been dismantled.

Duquesne Brewery clock

The clock, with AT&T logo on the face

The Duquesne Brewery clock, a Pittsburgh landmark, was the largest single-face clock in the world when it was installed in 1933, advertising a "nationally known soft drink".^[14]

The 60-by-60-foot (18 × 18 m) clock face, with a 35-foot (11 m) minute hand and a 25-foot (7.6 m) hour hand,^[15] both of laminated aluminum, is nearly twice the size of London's Big Ben, and was built in Georgia by Audichron for $12,500 and shipped to Pittsburgh.^[16] The clock, designed by Audichron founder John L. Franklin, is driven by a 1.25-horsepower (0.93 kW) Janett motor.^[17]

Originally located on Mount Washington,^[18] the clock's face was used as advertising for a succession of beverages, including Coca-Cola, and Ballantine, Carling, and Schlitz beers. By 1960, the Duquesne Brewing Company had bought the sign and installed it in its current location in the South Side.^[18] The Pittsburgh Brewing Company paid $44,000 to repair the clock when it took over in 1999, paying $5,000 a month to show its logo on the face. In 2002, Equitable Gas paid to have their name placed on the clock. In October 2009, AT&T took over the rights to advertise on the clock and has redesigned the face to display the traditional blue and white AT&T logo.^[19]

Restoration of the brand

Some of the newly re-established Duquesne Bottling Company's first batch of Duquesne Pilsener Beer released in early August, 2010.

In June 2010, Pittsburgh-area attorney Mark J. Dudash announced plans to resurrect the Duquesne Beer brand, to be brewed by the City Brewing Company at the Latrobe Brewing Plant in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, starting in late June.^[1] Dudash and his wife, Maria, had incorporated Duquesne Bottling Company in late 2008 as formal start to the project, and also re-registered the brand's trademark, which had expired.^[1]

Dudash stated that the second incarnation of Duquesne Beer will cost $16.95 a case for loose bottles,^[20] and would be ready for sale in eight wholesalers throughout Western Pennsylvania by mid- to late July, or early August.^[1][13] The new brew is a "golden yellow pilsener with three hops for just a 'gentle bite' with no aftertaste and extra malt for a bright white head".^[1]

The beer became available for purchase throughout western Pennsylvania in early August 2010.^[21]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Olson, Thomas (16 June 2010). "Duquesne Beer to flow again in Western Pennsylvania". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_686214.html. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Duquesne Brewing Co. history began with founding in 1899". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: p. 10. 28 June 1950. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=txMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1853,913372. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
3. ^ http://www.usbeerstuff.com/irtp/duke02.jpg
4. ^ "GATX Corporation". Company histories. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/GATX-Corporation-Company-History.html. Retrieved 4 July 2010. 
5. ^ Van Wieren, Dale (2007). "Chronology of the American Brewing Industry". BeerHistory.com. http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/chronology.shtml. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
6. ^ "Civic leaders attend opening of Duquesne's modern brewhouse". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: pp. 9–10. 28 June 1950. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=txMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4038,923850. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
7. ^ Evans, J. Kenneth (26 July 1988). "Heat wave is blamed for fire in Stowe". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: p. 6. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e1ANAAAAIBAJ&pg=5044,7008653. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
8. ^ Kern v. Duquesne Brewing Co. of Pittsburgh, 739 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS (72), 17 Pa. D. & C.2d 299 (Common Pleas Court of Allegheny County 1958).
9. ^ Lahmers, Ken (8 April 2009). "Kaleidoscope: Brewing relics dot landscape". Aurora Advocate (Aurora, OH: Record Publishing Co.). http://www.auroraadvocate.com/news/article/4561723. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
10. ^ "Kaiser Reports Greater Income". New York Times: p. 9. 9 March 1963. 
11. ^ "Duquesne stockholders get offer to sell stock". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: p. 37. 14 December 1965. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NdwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7179,2592432. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
12. ^ Smock, Douglas (22 July 1974). "Old hassles haunting Duke Beer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: pp. 1, 20. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gmQwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1634,2684714. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
13. ^ ^{a b c} Boselovic, Len (27 June 2010). "Duke Beer chief 'rolling the dice'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://post-gazette.com/pg/10178/1068390-435.stm. Retrieved 4 July 2010. 
14. ^ "Other campuses". Armour Tech News (Chicago, Ill.: Armour Institute of Technology): p. 2. 3 April 1934. http://archives.iit.edu/technews/volume13/tnvol13no8.pdf. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
15. ^ Danver, Charles F (30 October 1962). "The big clock". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: p. 31. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WtcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6366,4709034. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
16. ^ Paris, Barry (27 June 1983). "Time is no longer frozen on landmark clock". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: p. 17. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sk4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6515,5908302. Retrieved 3 July 2010. ^{[dead link]}
17. ^ "Duquesne Brewery Clock, Pittsburgh". NAWCC Communications Forum. 5 May 2009. http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?t=50052. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
18. ^ ^{a b} Brashear, Derrick (16 January 2010). "History of Duquesne Brewery clock faces". rusty bridge. http://rustybridge.com/post/337822200/history-of-duquesne-brewery-clock-faces. Retrieved 4 July 2010. 
19. ^ Nelson Jones, Diana (28 October 2009). "AT&T to sponsor landmark clock on the South Side". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09301/1008753-53.stm. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
20. ^ "Local attorney bringing back Duquesne Beer". KDKA (CBS Broadcasting). 16 June 2010. http://kdka.com/local/Duquesne.Beer.attorney.2.1755262.html. Retrieved 4 July 2010. ^{[dead link]}
21. ^ "Home". Duquesne Bottling Company. http://www.duquesnebeer.com/home.html. Retrieved 6 August 2010. 

External links

• Duquesne Bottling Company (official website)
• Duquesne Beer's fan page on Facebook

News articles

• Boselovic, Len (June 27, 2010). "Duke Beer chief 'rolling the dice'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://post-gazette.com/pg/10178/1068390-435.stm. 
• Olson, Thomas (June 16, 2010). "Duquesne Beer to flow again in Western Pennsylvania". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_686214.html. 
• "Local attorney bringing back Duquesne Beer". KDKA. June 16, 2010. http://kdka.com/local/Duquesne.Beer.attorney.2.1755262.html. 
• Napsha, Joe (July 27, 2010). "Real brew, virtual marketing". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_692103.html. 
• Napsha, Joe (Sunday, August 14, 2011). "Duquesne chief applauds revived beer's 1st year, pushes for more". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_751461.html.