Beer brewing may return to the Penn Brewery on the North Side.

Tom Pastorius, who founded the brewery in 1986 and sold most of it to Birchmere Capital in 2003, is working with a group of investors who have negotiated to buy back Birchmere's stock. They've applied for a $300,000 Urban Redevelopment Authority loan for working capital as part of a plan to fix up and return brewing to the building.

Penn stopped brewing on Vinial Street late last year and has been having its brews contract brewed in Wilkes-Barre. After saying last November that it was looking to relocate the restaurant elsewhere in the city, causing an uproar from customers, the brewery announced in February that it was staying there long-term. However, the company never actually signed that five-year lease and has been paying its rent month by month.

Some details of the new deal became public once they appeared on the agenda for tomorrow's URA meeting, where the loan is to be presented for approval.

According to the agenda, the other investors are Linda Nyman, Gary Cindrich and Corey Little. Mr. Pastorius would retain his minority share and be president and CEO of Pennsylvania Brewing Co.

However, he said yesterday that the deal was contingent on the real estate having a new owner. The site is now owned by E&O Partners, with which Mr. Pastorius said the North Side Leadership Conference has been negotiating to buy the site.