my undergraduate days were spent in binghamton, ny right on the pa border back between 01 and 05. being a boy from vt i'd never heard of yuengling before. everyone in school thought it was the hotsh*t, a house party with yuengling kegs was hands down a more packed party - always. i, however, did/do not believe it was steps above fresh molson lagers, and dare i say it, even imported fosters. it's cheaper than sam adams and frankly, that is part 1 of the equation of better sales, it doesn't taste like the rest of the comparably priced swill, in fact it's slightly better. then if you account for the current market trends of buy local and small plus the new 'awareness' of craft brew in america, people see the price point, they see and hear the hype of family owned, american to the core business and they buy it. best part is, it's bounds better than american bmc, so they keep coming back. i'll stick to yuengling in an absolute pinch, but given a choice, no way. end socialist anarchic ranting.
that being said, i'm thrilled they are doing so well and finally distributing outside of their regional geographic market, means they're making money to pay their IP lawyers for the trademark and copyright clearances inherent to brand expansion.