New York Breweries History: Piels Brothers INC
Piels was a popular New York brewery which was located in the East
New York section of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1883 by Gottfried, Michael
and Wilhelm Piel.
William Piel had the world’s largest beer sign erected on the roof
of the brewery. It was an electric sign that was 100 feet high and weighed
14 tons. It took six weeks to build the sign. If you stood on the Eastern
Parkway El station platform at night, you saw a dwarf throwing a bowling
ball down the alley and hitting the pins for a strike.
In 1955 as Piel Bros. sales slowed down, the Trommer plant—probably
with the highest cost—was closed down. In 1963, the R&H plant in Stapleton
was also closed down. September 20, 1973, Piel Bros. plant in East New York
was closed down after 90 years of operation. For a short period of time the
Willimasett Plant continued to operate, but then it was shut down.
Shaefer bought the Piel Brothers label and Shaefer is now owned by Pabst.
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