Brewery

A little bit of Philadelphia's brewing history goes on the block Thursday. At 11 a.m. the old Ortlieb brewery, on Poplar Street between Second and Third Streets, will be sold at auction. The owner, Joseph W. Ortlieb, a member of one of the city's best-known brewing families, said the proceeds will go to his new venture, a boutique beer called Trupert American Pilsner. "I'm basically liquidating assets here," said Ortlieb, known to Philadelphians for his "Joe's Beer" ads. Real estate sources said Ortlieb's prospects are unclear.

William H. Pflaumer, 76, the last of the local beer barons, died of heart failure on Saturday, May 22, at Pennsylvania Hospital. Mr. Pflaumer was a quintessential Philadelphia character widely known as "Billy" or, more grandly, "Billy the Beer King. " The final owner of the brewery that produced Schmidt's - Philadelphia's best-known beer - he was sentenced to federal prison in 1983 for evading more than $125,000 in excise taxes. The Christian Schmidt Brewing Co., between Second and Hancock Streets south of Girard Avenue, was the city's last independent brewery and had been a local institution since 1860.

Christian Schmidt Brewing Co., Philadelphia's last remaining independent brewery, may be negotiating a buy-out from one of the nation's larger brewers, sources in the beer industry said yesterday. The prospects of such a sale were reported in Beer Marketers' Insights, a Nyack, N.Y., industry newsletter. In its article, the newsletter identified Pabst Brewing Co. of Milwaukee, Stroh Brewing Co. of Detroit and the G. Heileman Brewing Co. of La Crosse, Wis., as possible buyers. William T. Elliott, Schmidt's president, would not comment yesterday on any possible sale.

People might say they'll drink an herbed medieval ale brewed with mugwort and bog myrtle, but when it comes time for the barkeep to actually pull the tap handle, they're more likely to fall back on the familiar. Or so posits Tom Baker of Earth Bread + Brewery, who skeptically named his "black gruit" beer "The Bradley Effect" after the flip-flop voter syndrome often cited during the recent election. This ancient brew, which predates the use of bitter hops and uses herbs instead, is a great example of the esoteric styles Baker loves to create.

A meal of "bread and water" sounds like a harsh sentence. Change that to "bread and beer" at Ardmore's Tired Hands - their crusty loaves baked in cast-iron pans with ale yeast - and I'll have fun all night. Jean Brouillet IV's formula for a brewery-cafe is simple, where the local fare is in service of his inventive beers. And that sturdy bread, served with a rich yellow Trickling Springs butter, sea salt, and fennel pollen, is all the sustenance I'd need. As one of the brightest entries in our current micro-brewery boom, Tired Hands beers are worth the spotlight, with numerous interesting variations on hoppy American ales and Belgian-style saisons, my favorites, anchored by funky and bubbly FarmHands.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which licenses the state's breweries, is studying a number of options outlined in a legal memorandum that could affect the future of C. Schmidt & Sons' brewery now that its owner, William F. Pflaumer, is in prison for a felony conviction. Robert Ford, a LCB spokesman, said the three-member board of Mario Mele, Daniel W. Pennick and Ralph O. Barnett is weighing whether it can force Pflaumer to sell his shares in the brewery or resign as the company's chairman and manager.

Philadelphians are buying more craft beer than ever, but the region's brewmasters are bracing for the biggest name in beer to move into town. Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Budweiser products and the world's largest brewer, trademarked the name "215" this spring, along with the area codes for 14 other U.S. cities. The filing is the first public step toward creating a new beer by the same name. "We're being attacked," said Bill Covaleski, brewmaster and president of Victory Brewing Co., a craft brewery in Downingtown.

It once was the biggest brewery in Pennsylvania, employed 1,400 people, produced a cool three million barrels of beer a year, and provided Northern Liberties with its trademark scent of fermenting hops. In its heyday, there were Schmidt's Scholarships and celebratory dinners at the Bellevue Stratford. In 1987, it closed down, and since then, the once-thriving home of "beautiful beer" has slowly turned into a weed-strewn graffiti gallery. Tomorrow, at 10 a.m., unless owner William H. Pflaumer succeeds in another legal maneuver, the brewery will go on the block, to be sold at sheriff's sale.

William H. Pflaumer, the owner of Schmidt's brewery, has heart problems that may lead to "sudden death," and he should not be sent to prison for evading taxes until more tests are conducted, his attorney contends. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Weiner, who sentenced Pflaumer to a three- year term in 1983, was to hear arguments in the case today. Pflaumer, 51, who reputedly has ties to organized-crime figures, has been free pending appeals, which ended Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his conviction.

IT'S A MOONLESS Thursday night in North Wales, Montgomery County. Down a dead-end street just past the giant Merck & Co. pharmaceutical plant, tucked along the SEPTA R5 railroad tracks, a darkened industrial building attracts a young crowd. The unpaved parking lot is full, light sounds of live jazz seep from the rear door, and the air carries the familiar aroma of malt. Welcome to Prism Brewing's Tap Room, one of the region's best-kept beer-drinking secrets and, it turns out, a harbinger of a remarkable surge of suburban breweries.