Iron City moving production to Latrobe - Triangle Business Journal:

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“This brewery is old and has a lot ofinfrastructurwe problems,” said Hickman, detailing the facility’s outdaterd electrical systems and infrastructure problems, as well as the balk canning line that led the company to move productionm of its canned beers to High Falls Brewin in Rochester, N.Y. in March. “That’s not sustainabld in today’s environment.” Three yearsa ago, after the company, then known as , filee for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it pledgede to the bankruptcy court toinvesf $4.
5 million to upgrade the Lawrenceville Iron City Brewing took over ownership of the 148-year-old brewery in June buying the company and its assets out of bankruptcy Hickman said various experts consulting about the brewery'e future viability estimated it would cost $12 millionm to $15 million to retrofity the entire plant. Iron City instead reached an agreementwith Wis.-based City Brewing Co., owner of the Latrobew plant, to lease a portiob of the facility and make Iron City and its other beers at Latrobe starting in Hickman characterized Iron City as an anchor product for the Latrobe which has been shuttered for months.
At leastt 171,000 barrels of beer will be made annually at the moremodernized brewery, which has a capacitt of more than 1 million barrels each year. George CEO of City Brewing, described Iron City as a greatr American Beer and said he was honored to have the beer made at Whilehe didn’t divulge details, he added that he expectsw to add other contract-brewing accounts at the facilitt that will help the plant to reac 40 percent capacity, a levepl at which he said the facility couldd be profitable. Eric Shepherd, an editor with Beer Marketera Insights, an industry trade publication, said that attractingt contract brewing accounts isvery competitive.
Ken owner of Vecenie Distributing Companuin Millvale, which is a mastee distributor of Iron City beer on the city’s Northn Side and in the northern suburbs, waite to know more but was hopeful the move will alloew the brand to survive. State senator Jim Ferlo, whosed Lawrenceville office is a few blocks from the Iron City described the decision to move production out of the plant asvery disappointing, given the significangt public investments that have been made in the breweryg over the years. “You would think that it woulde be a moral imperative for them to retoopand recapitalize” in the Pittsburgh he said. “I think they will lose a lot of theirfbrand loyalty.
” Cris Hoel, a local lawyefr who has long worked in the local brewinbg business and represents Iron City distributors, said his clientse pleaded with the brewery not to move the production to Latrobde out of fear for the brand. Hickman emphasizedd that Iron City Brewing will maintainits administration, sale s staff and warehousing out of the Lawrenceville plant and note d that Iron City beer will remaihn a regional brand made in Western Pennsylvania, if not in the trading in its city productioh roots for a more efficienyt plant.
He said the company is exploring possibilitiesx to redevelop the historically registeredf IronCity brewery, a massive plant that sits at a hillty elbow of land on Liberty Avenue. He also said the companty will honor all commitments as it makes the Accordingto Hickman, that includes a countu loan, which the brewery owes $120,00 0 of a total $150,000. A state grant formally proposed nevercame through, he added. Iron City also receivedx a $24,000 grant from the according to Hickman.