Duquesne Brewing Company

Location

Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Opened

1899 – 1972
2008 – present

Owned by

Mark Dudash

Website

www.duquesnebeer.com

Active beers

Name	Type
Duquesne Pilsener	(Pilsener)
Duquesne LT	(Light Beer)
Fort Pitt Ale	(Ale)

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 Brewing Company in 2008, in order to re-establish the beer in Western Pennsylvania starting in the summer of 2010.

The Duquesne Brewing Company was officially incorporated on April 4, 1899. 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), and the more recognizable "Prince of Pilsners" trademark was added later.

The brewery decided to use refrigerated train cars to ship the beer, an innovative move in 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.

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.

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 Duquesne was one of only 725 American breweries left when the movement was repealed in April 1933.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.

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Wikipedia