An ellipse-shaped piece of copper from a boil kettle at Penn Brewery was stolen from the brewery’s brewhouse Sunday morning. The roughly 4-square-foot section of copper had been removed during repairs in July 2023, the brewery said Friday.
Pittsburgh police have identified suspects and are working to recover the half-inch-thick piece of pure copper, according to Penn Brewery Director of Sales and Marketing Amy Huseman.
“Retrieving it would be ideal for us,” Huseman told TribLive. The theft was especially significant because the brewery planned to turn the copper into a memorial plaque honoring late head brewer Andy Rich.
Penn Brewery also posted about the theft on social media Thursday.
“While some may see scrap metal, this piece represented decades of Penn Brewery history and craftsmanship,” read a post from Penn Brewery.
“Amid everything else happening around us, it is disappointing that anyone would choose to take something with such deep historical and sentimental value to the brewery and to those who worked here through the years,” the brewery wrote.
The theft comes days after the historic brewery complex was listed for sheriff’s sale June 1 as it undergoes Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.
Last month, Penn Brewery owner Stefan Nitsch insisted the brewery was not closing. Since then, the brewery has highlighted its opening hours and events, including a “Halfway to Oktoberfest” celebration last Saturday.
Huseman said Friday that the brewery is actively brewing beer, with nine vats of its forthcoming Oktoberfest beer in the tank. The brewery’s event plans, she said, extend into the fall.
The brewhouse uses copper kettles former Penn Brewery owner Tom Pastorius originally imported 40 years ago from Germany. The copper kettles are used in contrast to most mass-produced beers, which use stainless steel.
Penn Brewery also uses a German-engineered electric brew system, first installed by Pastorius, to manage mashing, boiling and pumping. The system operates with commands in German.
Pastorius and his wife Mary Beth established the modern Penn Brewery, one of the first craft breweries in the United States, in 1986, with a commitment to brewing German-style beers using traditional methods. Known as Pittsburgh’s oldest brewery, the Penn Brewery site has been used for brewing since 1848, when it was operated by two German immigrant families, the Eberhardts and Obers.
Penn Brewery also maintains the site’s lagering caves, a network of subterranean tunnels used by 19th-century brewers to cool beer before electric refrigeration. The caves are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.