surfaceone
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Hey Jay,
Here's some Carnegie reminiscences :
"Remember when: Chartiers Valley Brewery thrived at turn of century
by Jonathan Kyle Staff Writer
November 2, 2005
Years ago, before names like Budweiser and Coors occupied the taps and coolers in Carnegie taverns, residents of the borough had a local choice.
The corner where North Star Chevrolet resides - Jane and Chestnut streets - used to be home to the Chartiers Valley Brewery.
The brewery was built in 1901 by the Chartiers Valley Brewing Company. It began making its brand's signature ales and lagers under Brewmaster Kaning in the seven story-building.
Walter Hanczar, 88, lived in Carnegie his whole life, much of it spent in a house across the street from the brewery. He remembers when the Pittsburgh Pirates held events in the brewery's social hall.
"We used to get autographs from the players when they brought the team they were playing to the brewery," Hanczar said. Only a young boy at the time, Hanczar had met Honus Wagner, recalling how "he enjoyed drinking beer."
The brewery was next to an ice-packing plant. In a time before refrigerated cars, the ice was used to keep kegs cool in transport. Hanczar devised ways to keep his icebox filed.
"They had these machines that would cut 300- pound blocks of ice into 50-pound blocks," Hanczar said. "We would crawl under them and fill buckets with ice to pack our iceboxes. It looked like it was snowing."
The Carnegie beer maker was purchased by the Independent Brewing Company of Pittsburgh in 1904, but continued to produce ales under the Chartiers Valley name.
One such brand was Carnegie Beer, which Hanczar described as "a good working-man's brew. It had a good, strong body."
The brewery, like many others around the country, was forced to close in 1920 when the U.S. ratified the 18th Amendment, ending the legal sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The brewery attempted to sell what they called low-alcoholic beer during prohibition, but "that didn't go over too well," Hanczar said.
The prohibition was repealed in 1933 with the passage of the 21st Amendment, effectively allowing purveyors of ales and lagers to begin working again.
"When they opened again, they built a 100-foot bar outside," Hanczar said. "For three days, they gave away free beer and sandwiches. Some beer hounds were there for all three days. The line was three-people-thick behind the bar."
The Duquesne Brewing Company, which was based in South Side, reopened the brewery under the Chartiers Valley name. After some time, they began moving workers to their expanding South Side facility.
The brewery closed in 1952 because Duquesne Brewing began production exclusively from their South Side location. Attempts were made to rent out the facility, but the few renters didn't last long.
"They [Duquesne Brewery] refused to sell the building because they thought it would open more competition," Hanczar said. The building stood idle for a while, but it was eventually closed.
The building was torn down shortly afterward.
Chartiers Valley Brewery at its peak produced a number of different beers over the course of those 19 years. Label names included Frontenac Ale, Old Carnegie Beer and Anteek Beer." From.
 From.
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Mystery Beer Bottle - 
It is a great place and great folks! 
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