Pittsburgh beer legacy won't dry up

Well I remember the commercial, Fort Pitt....Thats It!

I also used to drink some Duquesne.

I like Iron City, but I buy Genny Because its cheaper in the Burg.

some Duquesne. I like Iron City, but I buy Genny Because its cheaper in the Burg.>

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I drink Straub. I've been tapping quarters of it for over 20 years. Upon my doctor's advice, I now tap Straub Light. In my opinion, it is the best light on the market.

Why would light beer be better than regular beer? Seems to me the calorie difference is not all that great. It seems as if Pittsburgh brewing is bottling a brand called "Gibbons." At least it was being sold in the same area as the rest of the Iron City products at the distriubutor. I think it used to be made by an eastern PA company. I like the returnable 16oz bottles, and wish more beers were bottled that way.

Tom

Gibbons was one of the several old Eastern PA. brands that The Lion brewed and sold at economy prices. According to the website,

"Do you still brew traditional beers like Gibbons? Yes. The Lion still brews most of its traditional brands including Gibbons, Stegmaier, Bartels, Esslinger, Brubaker, and Liebotschaner Cream Ale. They are mostly available in Pennsylvania in 16 ounce returnable bottles."

... they still do.

Yeah, well, I don't know if that's the most accurate way to determine a beer's origin.

It's (another) dying tradition (along with the stubbie bottle, the steinie deposit bottle, the quart deposit bottle, the seven oz. deposit bottle, etc.- I guess even calling them "deposit" bottles is the wrong term, since a lot of states have deposit laws for throw-away bottles. Re-useable, then.).

It seems the 16 oz. deposit bottle was primarily a NE US package (or, at least, it lasted longest there)- besides Pennsylvania, the old Falstaff/Narragansett brewery in Cranston RI used to bottle a lot of their beers in that package, some, it seemed, ONLY came that way (Pickwick Ale & Croft Ale to mention two long gone brews). Utica Club and Genesee used the package, too, IIRC. Didn't Anheuser-Busch make special 16 oz. returnable bottles for Budweiser JUST for the PA market?

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No sugars, no salts, no preservatives, 96 calories compared to 128. I'm overweight, sugar is elevated (I'm not diabetic) and I was put on blood pressure pills. I like beer, so switching from Straub to Straub Light was a logical move. Every little bit helps.

Also less alcohol, which converts directly to calories.

gs

Maybe less residual sugar, and definitely fewer calories. However, *no* beer should have "salts" or preservatives, regardless of alcohol level.

Isn't some water for brewing certain beer styles treated with minerals to harden/soften the water? I always thought that that statement of Straub's label was a way of saying, "We don't need (or can afford) to treat our water" but, I can see how it maybe just one of those label claims like "NO ASBESTOS or ARSENIC" or "NO ANIMALS HARMED IN THE BREWING OF THIS BEER (well, not counting the yeast)" which *suggests* other beers DO have them .

excluding the "natural" preservatives of hops and alcohol, we all hope! (Hops being used rather lightly in Straub- maybe THAT'S what they mean ).

No more than would naturally occur in water. So if your not drinking distilled waster there is no real difference and light beer will have the act same amount as standard