Pittsburgh Brewing launching new craft beers

I wish Oktoberfest brews did not replace Pumpkin beers..."Real" Pumpkin beers can be decent, but Oktoberfest brews are delicious.

 

30+ years too late. Pittsburgh (original contract brewer of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in 1985) was among the early old-line brewers which brewed for the first generation of "contract/craft" beers - along with F. X. Matt, Fred Koch, The Lion, Schell, etc. In 1987, Jim Koch even accused Pittsburgh of brewing "clones" of SABL for some of the other contract craft companies, yet the brewery didn't try to jump into the new craft segment with their own label at the time, as Matt did with Saranac, Schell with their Pilsner and Weiss for MdV, Fred. Koch (owned by UK's Vaux) with their Jubilee Porter, The Lion with the Brewery Hill line, etc.

 

I think I've heard that Pittsburgh's Augustiner Lager was supposed to be a SABL clone.

 

PBC purchased the Augustiner brand in the mid-1970s when Ohio's August Wagner closed. Then it was just one more of Pittsburgh's large portfolio of standard AAL's.

Not sure when they reintroduced it with a reformulated recipe but IIRC it was around 2000. From what I've read, it was more aimed at getting a piece of the runaway success Yuengling Traditional Lager's market (both in price and recipe) than Sam Adams Boston Lager.

But even so, it was still 15 years too late for a "craft" line from an old line brewery.

 

@jesskidden You know far too much about beer history. I know you have the website but do you have a job in the field or is it just a hobby?