Uncle Sam says brewer owes taxes

Pittsburgh Brewing debt dates to 2001

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
By Len Boselovic, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The U.S. Treasury is the latest creditor pursuing troubled Pittsburgh
Brewing over unpaid bills, saying it is owed nearly $746,000 in federal
excise taxes dating back to 2001.

The agency's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms made the claim in
a tax lien filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Aug. 25. It
covers taxes that were due from December 2001 to April 2003.

"We are on a payment plan for that right now," spokesman Jeff Vavro
said, calling the matter "old news."

Pittsburgh Brewing is waiting on word from the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corp. on whether it can terminate an underfunded pension plan covering
about 530 current and former employees. The Lawrenceville brewer told
the federal agency it will be forced out of business if it is required
to keep retirement promises it made.

As of June, the brewery had not made nearly $900,000 in required
contributions to the pension plan since October. Another $455,000
contribution was due last month, but Vavro said he did not know whether
it was made. The fund has a deficit of more than $5.6 million.

Meanwhile, the brewery is also being pursued by a Downtown law firm
over $107,800 in legal fees it says it is owed for helping Pittsburgh
Brewing win lower assessments on three Lawrenceville properties.

And there's been no movement in a dispute over $2 million in claims
against the brewery for unpaid sewage bills.

The brewery told the PBGC in April that it lost $1.2 million from
operations over the last three years despite $1 million in cost
reductions and forbearance by lenders, government agencies and others
who have granted concessions. The concessions included $4.6 million in
forgiven debt.