E-Malt.com News article: USA, PA: Duquesne Brewing to revive Fort Pitt beer brand in August

After introducing a light version of its flagship Duquesne Pilsener beer, the revived Duquesne Brewing Co. said it will turn attention to bringing the iconic Fort Pitt brand back to taverns and distributors by late summer, Triblive.com reported on June, 27.

Mark J. Dudash, president of the Upper St. Clair company, said a Fort Pitt specialty lager will be brewed in late August or early September. His company owns the trademark for the century-old brand, he said, despite a claim by Jones Brewing Co. of Smithton that it has the rights to the Fort Pitt name.

“I never would have put all the resources, time, effort, money into doing Fort Pitt, if I didn’t abide by the law,” Dudash said.

Sandy Podlucky, who took over Jones Brewing after her husband, Gabriel, died in 2006, has said her company has the state Liquor Control Board’s permission to sell Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania. The Jones company owns Stoney’s beer but hasn’t made Fort Pitt since the mid-1990s.

The new Fort Pitt won’t follow a previous recipe, Dudash said, but his company’s announcement said it would be “worthy of its grand past” and made with English hops and two-row barley, considered best for brewing.

Fort Pitt Brewing Co. was a major local brewer with plants in Sharpsburg and Jeannette, but it ceased operations in 1958.

A Baltimore brewery acquired the label at one point, and Jones Brewing brought the brand back to the region in the 1960s.

Duquesne Brewing published the Fort Pitt trademark in July 2009. Dudash said he has an October deadline to come out with a Fort Pitt brew.

Fort Pitt’s marketing and distribution details haven’t been decided. “Initially, the most important thing is to get it out” for sale to meet trademark requirements, he said. Should Jones Brewing come out with its own Fort Pitt beer, “We are going to end up in Western District (federal) court,” he said.


29 June, 2012