The Yuengling brewery

The Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory of beers.

Whenever I write blog posts, I conduct a bit of research beforehand. My primary sources tend to be websites, while secondary references might include historical plaques at the location or books on the subject. On average, I spend about one to two days reading up on the topic.

For this post, I've compiled "a lot" of "research" over the span of several years. Depending on who you ask, that could be dedication or a problem.

That's because I'm talking about drinking Yuengling -- Pennsylvania's most renowned beer.

Its reputation is so large that, when some Pennsylvanians say they want a "lager," the bartender knows to pour Yuengling. The popularity of "America's Oldest Brewery" doesn't stop at the state border, though. Yuengling's distribution has gained so much ground over the years that the brewery touted the highest beer sales volume of any craft brewery in the United States in 2016, according to the Brewers Association, a not-for-profit trade group. Even more impressive is the fact that Yuengling came in fourth in beer sales volume among every major beer company in America that same year, being bested only by Anheuser-Busch Inc. (first), MillerCoors (second) and Pabst Brewing Co. (third).

To be fair, how do you expect Yuengling to compete with a beer that was named "America's Best Beer" 124 years ago?

That second ranking is impressive when you consider how Yuengling is an independent brewery and Anheuser-Busch owns more than 50 beer brands, some of the more notable ones including Bud Light, Budweiser, Busch, Goose Island, Hoegaarden, Land Shark, Michelob Ultra, Natural Light (Natty Light), O'Doul's, Rolling Rock, Shock Top and Stella Artois. The full list is below.

Credit: www.anheuser-busch.com

I think part of the reason beer lovers show so much admiration for Yuengling is not just because of its quality, but because it has remained independent for more than 185 years and has fended off challenges including the Great Depression and Prohibition. There is a threat that continues to loom over independent breweries such as Yuengling, however.

One of the biggest fears among craft brewing organizations and beer aficionados is large-scale companies buying out smaller brands in an attempt to consolidate the industry. An example in our state was Rolling Rock, a beer that was produced in Latrobe from 1939 until 2006, when Anheuser-Busch bought the brand for $82 million, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time. Rolling Rock's production left Latrobe and went to New Jersey instead.

A beer brand being bought out after almost seven decades of local production alarms craft brewers who favor a competitive market with mostly independent breweries. Rolling Rock is just one of several beer brands that have been sucked into larger beer companies.

To be fair, the owners of these independent breweries made the choice to sell their brand. It's not like Anheuser-Busch is using eminent domain to seize brands by force. But the thought of a longtime family-owned company such as Yuengling being owned by anyone other than the family would be upsetting to many who favor businesses with roots in their communities.

Judging by Yuengling's commitment to keeping the company in the family -- in addition to its recent business decisions over the past few years -- I think it will remain an independent brewery for some time.

Cheers to that.

The Yuengling family's dedication to beer goes back to the brewery's founding in 1829 by David G. Yuengling. At the time, David Yuengling called the facility "Eagle Brewery," which was located on Centre Street in Pottsville, according to the Yuengling website. The name "Eagle Brewery" explains why Yuengling's iconic logo features a bald eagle standing on a beer barrel.

It didn't take long for Yuengling to experience his first setback. A fire destroyed Eagle Brewery about two years after it started operations. Instead of accepting defeat, David Yuengling had a new brewery built on Mahantongo Street in 1831. This facility is the iconic burgundy building that remains in Pottsville today.

The brewery would stay in the Yuengling family when David Yuengling's son, Frederick, joined his father as a business partner. The brewery's name changed to D.G. Yuengling & Son in 1873 when the partnership was formed, according to the Yuengling website. The name has stuck since then.

Frederick Yuengling would help increase the brewery's production by adding a bottling line to the plant in 1895. Shortly after, Frederick died in 1899 at the rather-young age of 51. He had only one son, Frank, who took over the brewery's operations, the website says.

I'm unsure of what the brewery's fate would have been if Frank decided against taking the reins, since both David and Frederick were deceased by that point. Regardless, Frank must have embraced the beer industry because he would go on to lead the Yuengling brewery for more than six decades. In that time, Frank would experience significant milestones and challenges.

Frank Yuengling faced the largest threat to alcohol during his leadership at the brewery: Prohibition. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited alcohol across the United States, was ratified in 1919. This should have been a death sentence for the Yuengling brewery, but it decided to improvise in the meantime.

According to the Yuengling website, the brewery began producing "near beer products." The website doesn't really specify what these "near beer products" were, but after looking around online, I found out that some contemporary "non-alcoholic beers" contain about 0.5 percent alcohol by volume, which means it has a similar taste to normal beer but without the fun. In comparison, Yuengling's Traditional Lager today is 4.4 percent ABV. To put that into perspective, you would need to drink about nine Yuengling "near beers" to experience the same buzz of just one Yuengling Traditional Amber Lager. Seems like more effort than it's worth. Isn't the point of beer to relax and NOT work?

Yuengling whipped up another idea to keep business afloat during Prohibition: ice cream. In 1920, Yuengling constructed a dairy across the street from the brewery as a way to bring in revenue while beer was illegal, according to the Yuengling website. This dairy still stands today, and visitors who take a tour of the brewery not only get to see the inside of the ice cream facility, but they get to sample Yuengling beers at a bar there. How many ice cream places do you know of where you can get a buzz?

Joking aside, the dairy no longer produces ice cream. However, another member of the Yuengling family has brought the ice cream back, and it is available for purchase. You can find that information here.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ... lager!

The Yuengling brewery did manage to mark a major milestone during Prohibition. In 1929, Yuengling celebrated 100 years as a brewery, though it could legally only do so with its near beer products. That must have been one bittersweet office party.

It would take another four years before Yuengling could truly celebrate, but in 1933, Prohibition ended, and the brewery recognized the event by producing "Winner Beer." Yuengling sent a truckload of the special beer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a token of the brewery's gratitude, according to its website.

The Yuengling brewery survived Prohibition, and Frank Yuengling would go on to lead the company until his death in 1963 at the age of 86. During his lifetime, Frank managed the brewery as president and chairman of the board for 64 years, according to the Yuengling website. Upon his death, Frank's sons, Richard L. and F. Dohrman Yuengling, took over the brewery's management.

In the coming years, the brewery achieved more recognition. In 1976, Yuengling was put on national and state registers as "America's Oldest Brewery," according to its website. Three years later, the brewery celebrated 150 years of business.

The brewery continued to stay in family hands when Richard L. "Dick" Yuengling Jr. bought the business from his father and became president in 1985, according to the company website. Dick Yuengling remains the brewery's figurehead today.

Since assuming control of Yuengling, Dick has increased the brewery's reputation and operations more than ever before. In 1987, he reintroduced "Yuengling Traditional Amber Lager," which is now the company's "flagship brand," according to its website.

I assure you, I have this only for journalistic purposes.

At one point, Yuengling grew so massive in popularity that it had trouble keeping up with demand. According to the company's website, Yuengling withdrew from markets outside the local area in 1996. About two years later, Dick Yuengling resolved the supply-and-demand issue by announcing plans to build a second brewery in nearby Mill Creek, which is about 3 miles from the original site.

Yuengling also purchased the former Stroh's brewery in Tampa, Florida, in 1999 to expand production. Yuengling began making beer in Florida that summer, according to the company website. The Mill Creek brewery began production two years later. Yuengling surpassed 2 million barrels of beer in 2009, according to the brewery's website. Three years later, Yuengling became the largest U.S.-owned brewery, and two years after that, it celebrated 185 years in business, the website says.

The Yuengling family's dedication to its brewery and brand should be evident by this point in my post. Based off its expansion and beer sales volume numbers, the Yuengling brewery looks like it will continue to be a mainstay in family hands in Pennsylvania for some time. 

It's worth mentioning that anyone who appreciates beer and history ...

This goober.

... can witness firsthand how Yuengling beer is produced from start to finish. The Yuengling brewery is open for public tours for people of all ages. The tours are free, and they end with free beer samplings. Beats any museum tour you've ever taken, right?

All you have to do is go to the Yuengling brewery's gift shop inside the old dairy building and reserve your spot on the tour. You can find tour dates and times by clicking this link: https://www.yuengling.com/visit-us/#tab_pottsville-pa

My brother, Cody, convinced me to take one of these tours with him a few months back. I might have been persuaded by the prospect of free beer.

The tour guide starts by taking you across the street into the brewery's basement, where the beer was stored before the advent of refrigeration. The basement includes old wooden barrels and metal kegs used to store beer over the years.

Old metal kegs

Old wooden kegs.

The tour guide then takes you through tunnels in the basement, which stored more beer. Workers dug out these tunnels by hand over the span of 10 years, according to the tour guide. I hope that, if the workers were awarded pension afterward, it included a lifetime supply of Yuengling. I think they deserved it.

In certain areas, you can see layers of brick around some of the tunnel entrances. According to our tour guide, the government made sure to block off the entrances to these tunnels during Prohibition so Yuengling couldn't attempt to bootleg.

All cave tours would be much more exciting if they included beer.

After touring the basement, visitors get to witness more of the operations within the brewery. This includes the fermentation process and canning/bottling. An interesting tidbit of trivia is that the brewery and the canning/bottling facility share only one conveyor belt, which means bottling and canning must be performed on separate days. Cody and I came on a day when Yuengling was canning, so we got to witness hundreds of cans making their way through the building as they were prepared for shipping. Watching the process is quite therapeutic.

The tour ends in the old dairy, where the guide lets guests sample two of any of the Yuengling beers currently in production. I tried two I never drank before: Yuengling Premium (a light-tasting pilsner) and Lord Chesterfield Ale (for people who are photogenic).

What a stud.

According to Cody, the beer sampling inside the dairy is somewhat new. Back when he toured with our friend Alan, Cody said the samples were served at Yuengling's Rathskeller, a small bar within the brewery that was built in 1936, according to the Yuengling website. Cody admits the rathskeller was much smaller, so tourists were crammed in when trying beers. The dairy provides more open space in comparison. The gift shop is also located right behind the dairy's bar, so patrons can get a buzz and then spend money on Yuengling T-shirts, key chains, mugs and growlers.

I might have been influenced by Yuengling's business model.

The Yuengling tours aren't just for beer drinkers. Because it has been around since 1831, the brewery is just as historical as other Pennsylvania buildings like Penn State University's Old Main or the state's Capitol Building. The brewery predates the Civil War and the invention of the automobile and the airplane. It's a significant part of Pennsylvania's heritage.

It'll be interesting to see if Yuengling will continue to be "America's Oldest Brewery" for another 185 years. I'll raise a glass to that, and I'm sure many other Pennsylvanians would, too.

 *** Much of the information for this post came from the Yuengling brewery's official website. You can learn more about Yuengling and see old photographs of the brewery and the Yuengling family here: https://www.yuengling.com/ ***