City Brewing in Latrobe pondering next move after losing Iron City account

The Latrobe brewery once home to Rolling Rock beer in its classic green bottles is poised to lose another iconic local brew: Iron City Beer.

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. announced plans to make its popular lager at a former glass plant in East Deer. The company revealed late Wednesday it will move production from the City Brewing Co. plant in Latrobe to its own facility to be built at the shuttered PPG glass plant along the Allegheny River sometime next year.

The company’s flagship beers — Iron City, IC Light, IC Light Mango, Old German Premium Lager, American and American Light, and Block House Brewing Summer Break — now made in Latrobe will be produced at the new facility, Pittsburgh Brewing spokeswoman Anna Angotti said.

“There’s an opportunity for doing some brand innovation as well,” Angotti said. “We haven’t finalized or discussed anything specific at this time.”

Wisconsin-based City Brewing has been producing Iron City beer since 2009, when Pittsburgh Brewing Co. closed its brewery in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood after 148 years.

City Brewing officials in Latrobe and Wisconsin could not be reached for comment Thursday.

It was speculated in November that City Brewing’s operations in La Crosse, Wis., Latrobe and Nashville could be for sale. CEO George Parke denied the report. The company’s website touts its beer-making capabilities at its three breweries, but does not identify its customers.

The denial came about a year after an announcement that Pabst Co. would shift its production to City Brewing plants by 2024 under an agreement that would last about 20 years. At the time, Parke said the addition of the Pabst contract would result in more investment in its plants.

Ann Powell, Latrobe’s code enforcement officer, said City Brewing officials have talked about potential projects at the plant but have not submitted site plans or applied for a building permit.

Another product made at the Latrobe plant — Duquesne Beer — appears poised to stay. It was revived by former Upper St. Clair attorney Mark Dudash. On Thursday, he said his beer is doing well, and 2020 was a good year, despite the covid pandemic.

Some beer brand owners have turned to contract brewing to reduce their financial risk, while others have wanted to move into their own facilities, said Bart Watson, chief economist for the Colorado-­based Brewers Association, a trade group for the craft brewing industry.

By coincidence, Pabst is the largest contract brewer in the nation, Watson said. After inking a deal with City Brewing to brew its brands, Watson said it acquired a Miller Coors brewery.

“It was a head-scratcher,” Watson said, adding that Pabst may end up selling that newly acquired plant.

City Brewing could fill the lost production with other products in need of a brewery, such as hard seltzer, Watson said.

Any drop in production at the City Brewing plant in Latrobe would mean a loss of revenue for the Latrobe Municipal Authority, which provides water and sewage to the facility. When Latrobe Brewing was making Rolling Rock, the brewery was the authority’s largest customer.

Latrobe Brewing was founded in 1893 as part of the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. After closing for Prohibition, the brewery reopened and launched its Rolling Rock brand in 1939. It was sold in 1987 to Labatt Brewing Co., the first in a string of several ownership changes through mergers over the next 20 years.

In 2006, Anheuser-Busch Co. of St. Louis bought the Rolling Rock brand for $82 million. The company moved production of Rolling Rock to a plant in New Jersey and sold the Latrobe facility to City Brewing.

City Brewing had shutdown in late 2008 when Boston Beer Co. moved its Sam Adams beer production from Latrobe to a plant in the Allentown area.

Brewing at the facility resumed in 2009 with Iron City Beer and several other contract brewing deals. Those include, or have included, Stoney’s and Stoney’s Light, Guinness Blonde American Lager and Red Stripe.