When we think of Straub we think
of St. Marys, Pennsylvania. After all who doesn’t know of Straub’s beer? But in
Pittsburgh’s history there was another Straub named John. Both Peter and John
came to America from Germany but were not related other than by name. Peter
from Baden-Württemberg and John from Hesse-Darmstadt
in the Grand Duchy of Hesse by Rhine. John Straub landed in America on July 4,
1831. Talk about a day to remember.
It is said the Peter Straub
worked for the Eberhardt & Ober Brewery on what is now Pittsburgh’s North
Side. In the 1800’s it was Allegheny City. It is also said that Peter work
under John Straub. Facts: They were note related. Fact: er, no, Peter most
likely worked for John Straub at the Canal Street brewery. Peter was in St.
Marys in the 1870’s and E&O did not buy John’s brewery until 1883. Whilst
in Allegheny County Peter Straub worked in McKeesport and then moved to
Brookville and Centerville. But then a brewer’s daughter, Sabina Sorg caught
his eye and the rest is history.
John Straub came to America and
essentially walked to Pittsburgh from Baltimore. He lived in the area near Ross
Street and was befriended by a tailor who gave him start-up money to open a
brewery. Straub opened in 1834 at Third Avenue at Market Square, then called
Diamond Square. John moved from Pittsburgh to Allegheny in 1843 and built a
brewery at South Canal Street adjacent to the Pennsylvania Canal that opened in
1834.
John is not listed in the list of
Pittsburgh Firsts but should be. In 1849 he sent an order to Philadelphia for
something new to America; lager yeast. It came via canal boat and in 1850 John
Straub brewed Pittsburgh’s first lager beer.
John’s brewery burned in 1858 and
as his insurance expired the day before he was out of business but re-built. The
Eberhardt & Ober Brewery bought him out in 1883.
John’s son, Henry went into the
brewing business. In 1882 he bought the Union Brewery in Bloomfield from John
Gangwisch. There were strong connections between the Gangwisch and Straub
families. Two of the Gangwisch boys alone with J. Straub bought the old Depple brewery
in Manchester.
In 1899 the Pittsburgh Brewing
Company formed and acquired a number of breweries in Pittsburgh. One on the
list was Straub’s Union Brewery in Bloomfield. After 1920 the name Straub was
never used in Pittsburgh until Peter’s brews came to town. His brewery
continues to thrive to this day. The Henry Straub Brewery closed in 1920 and Pittsburgh
Brewing converted the facility to the Tech Ice Cream factory.
For more on Peter Straub of St.
Marys, see http://www.pittsburghbrewers.com/styled-2/styled-23/styled-32/index.html
P.S., don't ask me how/why this plopped in here with such big gaps. I have no idea how this works.
