The Whole Story of Yuengling
By GREGG KIRK
It was one of the hottest days of the year, and the wheel balance of my car
was so off that I couldn't reach speeds faster than 65 m.p.h.
without experiencing a shimmy that practically shook the steering wheel
from my hands. I was to later find out that my right-front tire had worn
through the steel radials and was in serious danger of blowing out as I
traversed the mountainous roads leading to Pottsville, PA.But I didn't care.
More important things were at hand. I was heading to the country's oldest
brewery, D.G. Yuengling & Sons, where I would meet and interview owner
Dick, Jr. and drink a cold Amber Lager pulled from the bottling line by the
owner himself.
The fifth-generation Yuengling would tell me of his current problem of not
being able to keep up with the demand for his products, but
eventually we broached the subject of how it all began -- back in 1827, when
Dick's great, great grandfather, D.G. Yuengling arrived in
Baltimore on a boat from Wartenburg, Germany
Actually, things began further back -- in 1802 when a vein of anthracite was
discovered and Pottsville was changed into a coal-mining town almost
overnight. This thriving community, good water supply, and location were
apparently what attracted D.G. to the area, where he opened the still-standing
facility in 1829 and called it the Eagle Brewery. The original plant probably
turned out about 600 barrels of beer per year which was sold locally in kegs.
Lager and Porter where the first two products known to be sold from that
facility. D.G., a stickler for quality, according to Dick, Jr. ran the plant until
his death in 1876.
D.G.'s son, Frederick, soon took over after he made a pilgrimage to
Germany, where he learned the brewing process. He died in 1899, but
before he passed on, he sold the business to his son, Frank.
Frank ran the brewery for 64 years and through some of the toughest times
the business faced. During the Prohibition era, the plant
survived by producing "near beer," a grain drink that had its alcohol
removed by a "de-alcoholizer" that actually remained in the building
until the mid-'50s. This concoction was sold to the local bars, where it was
promptly spiked with grain alcohol, when the Feds weren't
looking.In 1963, Dick Sr. and his brother Dohrman bought the plant from
Frank's estate during a bad period for small breweries. It was a time when
the larger companies were ruling the entire country, and so many smaller
facilities were being shut down that it looked as if the U.S. would only
support four or five large beer companies.
It was during this time that Dick, Jr. began working odd jobs at the plant.
"From the time I was 15, I worked here," Dick says. "And from
that time on, my father tried to discourage me from doing it." Dick, Jr.
finally quit in 1973 after a dispute with his father but was asked to
buy the facility back in 1984, when Dick, Sr. took ill with Alzheimer's
disease.
In 1979, things changed for the better for the microbrewery. "It was our
150th anniversary and the local market really got behind the
brewery in support," he says. "CBS did a special, and we received a lot of
positive publicity."
But things didn't really turn around for the plant business-wise until Dick,
Jr. hired marketing and sales manager Dave Casinelli in 1985.
That year, the facility was churning 130,000 barrels per year and had what
Yuengling describes as an "inexpensive, coal-region beer
image." After serious pressure from Casinelli to change that to a "gourmet
beer image," by launching an expensive marketing and
packaging campaign, Yuengling relented, and the brewery capped this with
the introduction of its Amber Lager in 1988.
In 1990, the flood gates opened. Yuengling was suddenly a hip beer, and
young, college types in Philadelphia suburbs bought it by the
truckload. Yuengling's Porter was also recognized by beer connoisseur
publications, and its Black & Tan literally created a segment of the
beer market when competing breweries released copycat versions of it.
In 1995, Yuengling is brewing 300,000 barrels per year and cannot keep up
with the demand. "We are absolutely, flat-out running out of
beer," says Dick, Jr. "We're not able to supply our wholesalers with our
product. Kegs are filled, shipped that day, sold, and tapped within
a day. I never dreamed I'd see this happen."
Yuengling intimates that the brewery is toying with the idea of opening a
second brewing site, but time will tell. At this point, the fifth-generation
owner is just happy keeping his museum and gift shop in gear (25-30,000
people visit per year), and providing the Delaware Valley with some of the
best beer in the country.
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