Last call put off for Pittsburgh Brewing

Last call put off for Pittsburgh Brewing

Hearing postponement could let in other industry veterans

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 By Len Boselovic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bankrupt Pittsburgh Brewing dodged another bullet yesterday when what was anticipated to be a do-or-die court hearing on the fate of the

145-year-old Lawrenceville brewery was postponed.

Instead, Pittsburgh Brewing co-owner and President Joseph R. Piccirilli, his attorney and creditors' attorneys attended a closed door meeting with U.S. Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge M. Bruce McCullough, who two weeks ago declared Mr. Piccirilli's plan for saving the brewery dead on arrival.

The conference occurred after the judge held a hearing on the brewery's unpaid federal excise taxes.

An attorney representing the U.S. Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau told Judge McCullough the federal agency won't shut down the brewery as long as it complies with the judge's Oct. 24 order requiring timely payment of its excise tax obligations. The brewery is delinquent in payment and has been unable to obtain a bond ensuring payment of the taxes, normally cause for the federal agency to insist either on daily payments or closing the brewery.

"We are not here to force the bond issue today," assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Skirtich said.

Mr. Skirtich said Pittsburgh Brewing is the largest brewer in the country not in compliance with the regulations.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Piccirilli declined comment on the meeting with the judge, saying participants agreed to keep the discussion confidential.

The latest delay came exactly 11 months after Pittsburgh Brewing sought bankruptcy protection. The filing was sparked by the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority's threat to terminate service over more than $2 million in unpaid bills.

Meanwhile, creditors and other industry officials say efforts to find someone other than Mr. Piccirilli to rescue the brewery are focused on two high-profile beer industry figures: David Fuhrer, son of South Side beer wholesaler Frank B. Fuhrer Jr., and former Pittsburgh Brewing President Jack Isherwood. The sources said both are considering taking over the Iron City and IC Light brands if they can convince Pittsburgh Brewing's creditors to back their plan instead of Mr. Piccirilli's.

Neither Mr. Fuhrer nor Mr. Isherwood returned calls yesterday seeking comment.

Tracy Taylor Perles, Mr. Piccirilli's spokeswoman, said talk of Mr. Fuhrer's involvement is only speculation.

"Joe Piccirilli's intent is to pull the company out of bankruptcy and operate it himself," she said.

The hearing postponed yesterday was on the brewery's request for $500,000 in interim financing from Craig Newbold, an East Liverpool, Ohio, financier. The loan must be approved by the judge. Creditors object to the conditions of the financing, saying it will put them even farther back in the lengthy line of people and businesses who are owed money by Pittsburgh Brewing.

The $500,000 loan would tide the cash-strapped company over until the brewery raises $7 million in equity and debt from unnamed investors. The brewery plan's lack of detail infuriated Judge McCullough at a hearing two weeks ago.

"The plan you've got ain't gonna work. That plan doesn't fly," he said at the time.

Reply to
tomkanpa
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That gives me an idea of where this is going. The court is going to separate the brands from the brewery. I expect the brewery will be closed and the beers will be brewed under contract to another company.

Tom W

Reply to
Tom Wolper

Gee, you'd think Jim Koch, whose "Boston" Beer Company is thinking of building a brand new brewery, since it's contract with Miller in going to end in 2008...

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...would purchase the brewery- since it WAS the brewery that put him on the map in the beginning.

"I went to a few breweries in the northeast. I had this old recipe [from his grandfather] with a few intricacies in it-krausening, decoction mash-so you needed a certain brewery configuration. Not every brewery could make it, but there were a few who could. I settled on Pittsburgh Brewing.

I needed the best brewing mind that I could get, which was Joe Owades. >snip<

At Pittsburgh Brewing, it was very valuable to go with Joe. Four or five years earlier, he'd basically saved that brewery by developing IC Light. They thought he was a god. So if I would ask them to do something, they would question it. Then Joe would say "He's right," and they'd do it."

from

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AND it's closer to Boston than Cincinnati! (Maybe it's time to rename the company Samual Adams Brewing Company, anyway...).

Reply to
jesskidden

Updating the story:

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Excerpt:

David Fuhrer said yesterday he is not interested in investing in Pittsburgh Brewing, deciding it would be too expensive to rehabilitate the bankrupt Lawrenceville brewer's plant.

"I am out," Mr. Fuhrer said. "I just determined it was going to take way too much money to fix that place up to get it efficient."

Reply to
Tom Wolper

Am I the only one who can't stop laughing at the idea of someone being called, "Mr. Fuhrer"?

dave

Reply to
dave kelley

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