Piels Brewery

The windows are cemented shut, doors locked, and no one is around or inside. Metal gates seal off entry, the silence of rooms and machinery are in a dead slumber. The swaying of a nearby single tree beckons you to stop and leave. It chills you. Before this begins to start as a haunted house story let me announce that it is not. This ghost building is in fact an administration for two brothers from Germany situated in the industrial park of my neighborhood. This two story complex was built during the 1950’s by the Piels Brewery Company, founded in 1883. The German brothers needed a base to supply their very successful lager beer. After fighting the good fight they would soon be assimilated by the larger predators that we all see in advertisements today.

Now abandoned in East New York’s Industrial Park the Piels brother’s administration building grows grey and dull after a cease of production in 1973. There is sign with a number that is barely decipherable. Suggesting that there is space available, the area itself is unattractive, unapproachable. Worn from the lack of maintenance the paint falls to the ground like autumn leaves. No surprise here either, some sections of wall are missing! Nature already taking its toll sluggishly growing weeds and patches of grass where ever it may find suitable. The rain over the decades decays what little red color is left.

It still stands as symbol of the little guys that could, a small lager beer company that at first formed in Germany expanded in one of the most important places in the world. This having been the first time I’ve ever seen or heard of such a company surprises me. Whether it is from half a century ago or just yesterday new history is presented. For as long as I lived here there are still new areas for me to explore and learn about. Yet after all this thinking and researching and the overall enduring bicycle ride that leaves me parched I raise the most important question of the day. Like a question that strikes gold........is there any beer inside?