Pittsburgh police detective helps Penn Brewery recover stolen piece of its history

A suspect has been arrested for stealing a historic part of an iconic Pittsburgh brewery. 

According to Penn Brewery, a person is in custody for stealing part of their historic copper brew kettle. They said that the original bottom of the kettle had been removed during a repair in 2023. 

The original plan was to turn it into a memorial plaque that would honor their former head brewer. 

On Sunday morning, it was stolen. 

"Our plan was to make that into a commemorative plaque for one of our former brewers, Andy Rich, who passed away, so it was a piece of history and a sentimental item for us," said Penn Brewery owner Stefan Nitsch. "I was just disgusted that somebody would do that for a couple of bucks. To do something like that, I mean, it's a slap in the face, so disappointing." 

Nitsch said that they worked closely with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and one detective helped them track it down to a nearby scrapyard, and they were able to get it back. 

"Detective Lang from Zone 1 did an awesome job tracking down and retrieving that piece of history for us," Nitsch said. 

Nitsch and his daughter were able to go to the scrap yard and get it back, and said that now they will proceed to make the commemorative plaque, and they'll be hosting a reception for the detective who helped them get it back.