Yuengling

Has anyone heard anything about this brewery?
Apparently it is the oldest operating, American owned, brewery.

Their lager is pretty decent, and so is their porter and "black and tan". They have a few other beers that are available where I live, but I've not gotten around to trying them yet.

I'm quite a fan of Yuengling Traditional Lager, or "lager" as it is known in PA. Unfortunately, I have to drive to West Virginia to get it because they don't distribute in Ohio.

It's ok in a pinch. Sort of halfway between BMC and craft brew. If, for instance, I'm out of town, on my way to a party or someone's house and I need to grab some beer, and all the convenience store has is that and BMC, I'm picking the Y. But these days, all but the dumpiest ghetto marts seem to carry SNPA at the very least...

Evan! said:

It's ok in a pinch. Sort of halfway between BMC and craft brew. If, for instance, I'm out of town, on my way to a party or someone's house and I need to grab some beer, and all the convenience store has is that and BMC, I'm picking the Y. But these days, all but the dumpiest ghetto marts seem to carry SNPA at the very least...

Click to expand...

+1

Its ok and definitely better than BMC but not as good as most craft beers

I was born in the town of their brewery. They make better beer than BMC, but they still use plenty of corn grits. I don't really care for the lager (too much corn), but won't decline it like I would BMC. The Porter isn't bad and the Chesterfield Ale is OK. The Black & Tan is a combination of the porter and the Premium (which is crap), so the Black & Tan isn't near as good as it could be if it was the Porter and the Chesterfield Ale.

I don't know all of their history, but I believe during prohibition, they made ice cream. When I was a kid there used to be a Yuengling ice cream parlor in Pottsville and one could buy Yuengling ice cream at the supermarket.

Yes, yuengling is abundant in MD. Definitely a step up from BMC and reasonably priced. One of my favorite brews. That I can get anywhere, that is.

It's a good recession beer, in that it costs a whopping 18 bucks a case. Although, I have to say that I will only get it in cans from now on. The bottle are the green glass we all know and hate, and if they've been sitting around for any period of time, they skunk just like Heine. I usually reach for it on really hot summer days, and I take it on camping trips and for music festivals (no glass allowed).

I'm in CT though, so it's an hour and a half drive to the nearest store in NY to get it.

menschmaschine said:

Chesterfield Ale.

Click to expand...

Lord Chesterfield is all malt and 100% cascade... apparently it is a lager too, even though it says ale on the label.

I'd love to have to only drive an hour or 2 to get a rack of YB&T pint cans. Near as I can tell, id have to drive 19 hours to find it.
It's long been one of my favorite breweries. I have a driver's jacket patch and a 12"x20" poster of B&T with a blank area to put the name of the band playing or happy hour specials.
Man. You're making me wanna get a passport/visa so I can visit NY or MA and get some.

Yuengling is right outside of Philly and is still a family owned and operated business. Dick Yuengling is a great guy and takes pride in the brewery from what I hear. They are a pretty big operation, certainly not a craft or micro brew. The Lager, as we all call it, is on tap in just about every bar in or around Philly and is much better than the bottle stuff by a long stretch. I recently had Lager on tap in DC and it wasn't the same as the stuff on tap around Philly. I am not sure if it doesn't travel well or what, but it is just fresher around here. I wouldn't really seek out any of their beers like I would with a Russian River or something like that, but if you are in the Philly area, or find it on tap somewhere, definitely grab a pint. I know they have expanded to some new markets lately and hopefully they can keep that fresh taste to their beers.

Grew up in PA. It is a fine beer, and I always enjoyed supporting the oldest operating brewery in America. Even most of the old school bars who have BMC on tap have a Yuengling lager on tap, so that meant something drinkable was on tap at most places. It's not a great beer, but it is way more rounded and flavorful than BMC.

The black and tan is a decent representation of the style. I pretty much always had a case of the Chesterfield Ale in the house. To me this was a very drinkable session ale, with a very nice finish, and at a reasonable price. I do miss the fact that I can't get any out west.

Jaysus said:

Lord Chesterfield is all malt

Click to expand...

Malted barley? Not saying it isn't, but if it is, it's probably 6-row.

Jaysus said:

apparently it is a lager too, even though it says ale on the label.

Click to expand...

That's crazy talk (not you, them). If they're doing that, well... I just don't know what I'll do. That's like if I go to a restaurant and order a steak and they bring me out a plate with a banana on it.:cross:

I like it okay if nothing else noteworthy is available, but my Teamster friends call it

SCAB BEER

read the labor dispute Teamsters foaming over ejection at Yuengling

Jaysus said:

Lord Chesterfield is all malt and 100% cascade... apparently it is a lager too, even though it says ale on the label.

Click to expand...

The hell you say?

Why do you believe this?

I used to drink this quite frequently when I lived in PA and remember more of an ale taste from it. I remember a clean, slightly thin, lightly hoppy, easy to drink ale flavor. A nice beer to drink cold on a hot day.

I looked it up and Yuengling claims it is an ale, beer advocate claims it is an ale, and wikapedia (for what it's worth) claims it is an ale.

woollybugger2 said:

I like it okay if nothing else noteworthy is available, but my Teamster friends call it

SCAB BEER

read the labor dispute Teamsters foaming over ejection at Yuengling

Click to expand...

If the union wants to legally insert themselves where they are not wanted, Yuengling will just brew 100% in Tampa where they have a large brewery. Dumb.

I just saw a history of beer in America on the History Channel and they showed the modern operation of the Yuengling brewery. The brewer mentioned that "in this vat we have about 13,000 pounds of corn grits and about 1,000 pounds of malt."

Can that possibly be the ratio in their brews? Or is that possibly a cereal mash stage taken out of context - corn grits needing to be mashed with a small percentage of 2-row or 6-row in order to convert.

Yuengling has a great story but the beer is mediocre at best.

it's a good middle of the line beer, better then BMC, not as good as a microbrew, but a nice solid beer that is better then your traditional bud. i still want to try there black and tan.

Growing up in Pittsburgh area I graduated from Rolling Rock to Yuengling before finding good beer. In Pittsburgh if you ask for Yuengling you get the lager as its the common one. Way better than BMC by a good margin and like others said it is cheap. As much as I love my craft beer, it's damn expensive, especially since you have to buy a case of 24 in PA (you can buy 6-pack in a bar but usually %33 of the price of a case). So if you are buying beer in bulk for parties, Yuengling is great since most BMC'ers can handle it and most snobs can tolerate it. Good middle ground.

A PA native myself, I think the best way to describe Yuengling (the lager) is as my favorite pitcher beer. Enjoyable to share with friends but light on the wallet as well.

skadalajara said:

I'd love to have to only drive an hour or 2 to get a rack of YB&T pint cans. Near as I can tell, id have to drive 19 hours to find it.
It's long been one of my favorite breweries. I have a driver's jacket patch and a 12"x20" poster of B&T with a blank area to put the name of the band playing or happy hour specials.
Man. You're making me wanna get a passport/visa so I can visit NY or MA and get some.

Click to expand...

Not in MA you won't....they don't distribute here, it's frustrating. It's virtually 100% unavailable in MA, I think all of New England actually, although I've heard rumors you can find it in western Connecticut closer to NY state. The closest I've been able to reliably find it is heading west on 90 to Albany, NY. I put it on par with Rolling Rock - it's a cut above BMC and I've never regretted buying a case given the price and relative quality.

Well, you couldn't buy it in New Haven County... at least not 2 years ago. I grew up there and, as such, never heard of Yuengling, then I went to college in upstate New York (1.5 hours from PA, though) and Yuengling was everywhere. It was usually the same price as BMC beer, but definitely a step up.

I have fond memories of the many parties we threw with a keg of Yuengling in the middle of our living room. And, of the time we substituted snow for ice to cool the keg and wound up freezing it.

Peregris said:

I just saw a history of beer in America on the History Channel and they showed the modern operation of the Yuengling brewery. The brewer mentioned that "in this vat we have about 13,000 pounds of corn grits and about 1,000 pounds of malt."

Can that possibly be the ratio in their brews? Or is that possibly a cereal mash stage taken out of context - corn grits needing to be mashed with a small percentage of 2-row or 6-row in order to convert.

Click to expand...

must be a cereal mash because that makes no sense.

It's very abundant in Pennsylvania and very popular. I like the lager for a session beer when there is nothing else to pick (ie free beer) at weddings and what not. It's good when it's hot out because it does have a very crisp taste.

The funny thing is I once thought Yuengling Lager was a "dark" beer when I was in coming up through hike school. The other funny thing is I have heard people say or imply that's it's a Japanese or Asian beer because of the pronunciation (Ying-Ling). At least I was never that naive.

HA, that's funny. Once my dad visited me at college and we had some Yuengling together. For about 3 years after, he'd always ask me about that "Ling Ling" beer.

sc1584 said:

Not in MA you won't....they don't distribute here, it's frustrating. It's virtually 100% unavailable in MA, ...

Click to expand...

When did that change?
I'm a native Masshole. Grew up in Middleton and moved to Dorchester when I was 19. Lived in various parts of Boston Metro for the next 6 years.
There's a liquor store on Commonwealth Ave, just inbound of the Summit Ave T stop, that I used to buy my B&T from for $12/rack. And they frequently put it on sale for $10.
There was another place in Brighton Center that also had it all the time and cheap.
Blanchard's (at least the Harvard Ave location) always had it, the lager and Chesterfield, but a little more expensive than the smaller guys. I don't think Marty's carried it, but, with Blanchard's a block away, and Marty's being more expensive in general, we only ever went there for stuff you couldn't get elsewhere.
If they really don't distribute there anymore, I guess that's just one more reason never to move back and to rarely visit.

I drank so much of Yuengling's Lager in the late 90's (I was in college at Penn State) that I lost the taste for it. Their Chesterfield Ale is pretty good as well.

I love me some Yuengling Lager when I am looking for a beer to drink 6 to 12 of. So much better than BMC. It only recently became available in GA.

their second brewery is in tampa, about a mile up the road from me. used to be a schlitz brewery years ago and strohs for a while. they have brewery tours daily. i've been a few times (i'll do anything for a couple free beers!).
they seem like a pretty good company. they have allowed use of their meeting room for local brewing competitions. i buy them occasionally when i need a 12 pack of cheap storebought beer.
(they're actually a block from busch gardens, that was originally their old brewery. and they used to give free beer away until inbev took them over and halted this 50 year tradition)

Yuengling is amazing...as far as large commercial breweries go, they are top notch. Their Lager is amazing, Porter is also amazing, Chesterfield Ale is amazing...their Premium and Premium light leaves a lot to be desired, but I'd drink it over Coors/Miller/Bud any day. Even their Light Lager is good for a Light beer. I myself and trying to make a Lager clone...can't seem to find any clone recipies though.

I had the lager on draft just West of Philly. I would put it up there with the best of the macro lagers, but certainly not on a different level.

Boston Lager is certainly more distinctive and full flavored.

Okay, maybe not amazing across the board, but they put out a totally respectable beer. At the bar I work at we have ten beers on tap, always bud light and yuengling and then 8 other top notch microbrews. I've found that if I can get those bud light session drinkers to drink a yuengling, it doesn't take much to push them over the edge to some really good microbrews.

To say that yuengling is crap is a bit absurd, its a totally respectable beer for those of us that can't drop bills for those 12 dollar six packs all the time.

And I like that my dad gets wasted at golf tournaments and orders us round after round of "bling blings"!

woollybugger2 said:

I like it okay if nothing else noteworthy is available, but my Teamster friends call it

SCAB BEER

read the labor dispute Teamsters foaming over ejection at Yuengling

Click to expand...

I lived in that part of PA for a while. When they say teamster's they mean "teamsters" like in the movies. Those coal regions of PA are so crooked. Almost everywhere where you look there is a "family" that has their hands in everything. I lived in hazleton for two years. That dump is crawling with teamster types.

On another note......I wish I could get Yuengling out here in colorado. I miss that beer.

Sometimes I forget that Yuengling isn't known all over the country. Been a staple here since I can remember.... I can remember when it wasn't sold in MD but I live 5 min from PA line so was always available. I remember when they first distributed to MD. I was at an Outback steakhouse.... I saw that they had Yuengling on tap. I was surprised and ordered one. She charged me 'import' price for the draft. I asked why.... She said because it's an import. I kindly explained that it wasn't and in fact was the US's oldest brewery and made less than 50 miles away. NOPE....I even talked to the manager...said it was from China and the price wasn't moving...... What do you say?...... I paid for the beer....was worth the story....for beer geeks anyway.....

ziggy13 said:

Yuengling is amazing...as far as large commercial breweries go, they are top notch. Their Lager is amazing, Porter is also amazing, Chesterfield Ale is amazing...their Premium and Premium light leaves a lot to be desired, but I'd drink it over Coors/Miller/Bud any day. Even their Light Lager is good for a Light beer. I myself and trying to make a Lager clone...can't seem to find any clone recipies though.

Click to expand...

I'm curious what your definition of "amazing" actually is?


anywho...
Living in PA, I've drank my native-required share of every one of their beers (with the exception of the draft only bock what was out with in the last year or so). Their line up is exactly what the general consensus of this thread has presented it as, a step above BMC, cheap and readily available where distributed. I'll never pass one up at a party or someone's house but I'd sure not go out of my way for one. Nothing particularly bad about their beer, nothing great either.

HarkinBanks said:

Yuengling is right outside of Philly

Click to expand...

Just to clear something up, Pottsville is NOT right outside of Philly. It's a pretty good drive. I grew up in Reading, which is about 30 minutes for the brewery. "Lager" has been a staple beer in every bar in eatern PA since I can remember. They make some decent beers compared to BMC, and the lager is VERy sessionable. I ussually drink it watching football or at a cookout or something like that. It's drinkable and is low ABV.

Yuengling isn't bad as far as commercial lagers go. Better than most stuff from BMC IMHO.

Strange distribution though.

A couple points to add to this.

First, I think Yeungling's is a big part of the reason that Philly has turned into such a great craft beer city. People grow up on Yeungling's here (as someone else noted, go into any bar in the area and order a lager, and Yeungling's will be set up). It's really is a clear notch better than BMC. If you grow up expecting something better than the mass produced BMC products, you are probably already open to having a good craft brew.

The Chesterfield Ale recipe has not changed in almost 100 years.

The Tampa brewery was bought by Dick Yeungling because he wanted an excuse to spend his winters in Florida.

The brewery has always been in the hands of someone named Yeungling (I think it always passed father to son), but this could change since Dick has no sons (in the event his daughters take married names). The succession process is unusual, if not unique. Whoever took over the brewery would always buy it outright.

Hammy71 said:

I was at an Outback steakhouse.... I saw that they had Yuengling on tap. I was surprised and ordered one. She charged me 'import' price for the draft. I asked why.... She said because it's an import. I kindly explained that it wasn't and in fact was the US's oldest brewery and made less than 50 miles away. NOPE....I even talked to the manager...said it was from China and the price wasn't moving...... What do you say?...... I paid for the beer....was worth the story....for beer geeks anyway.....

Click to expand...

That is really funny.

WOW!