Yuengling's double deuces debut

From the Pottsville Republican, by Staff Writer Rory Schuler, August 12, 2002
 

Keenly termed "deucy deuces" by big beer bottle aficionados, the Yuengling Lager 22-ouncer has arrived.

Last Thursday, D.G. Yuengling & Son's manufactured about 15,000 cases of its newly packaged classic brew, all of which had already been purchased by distributors from as far north as Albany, N.Y., and as far south as North Carolina.

"We sold everything we made on Thursday," owner Richard L. Yuengling Jr. said Wednesday. "That has happened a lot over the past 10 years, but it's very unusual for a new product launch."

In an attempt to compete with the big boys - America's top three brewers, Anheiser Busch, Miller and Coors - the enlarged Lager bottles boast a new, more expensive pressure sensitive label, which looks like part of the bottle.

"It's more expensive, but it's a better package," Yuengling said, adjusting a topless can of Lord Chesterfield Ale doubling as a pencil jar on his desk in his original Mahantongo Street brewery office. "It's a more convenient package." Made in Glenshaw, near Pittsburgh, the bottles are shipped to Yuengling's Mill Creek plant, and eliminate the local labeling process.

The "double deuce" follows last year's introduction of Yuengling's most popular brew in a 32-ounce quart bottle, and a Light version of Lager.

"He's a wise man," said Raymond A. Westcoat, owner of Coney Island Downtown, who has sold about a case of the 22-ounce bottles since it hit the shelves. "Schuylkill County likes its beer. And a bigger bottle means more beer."

The rest of the mid-Atlantic states like their Yuengling beer as well, helping to make America's oldest continually operated brewery the fifth or sixth largest in the nation.

Although it trails the top-three brewers considerably, Dick Yuengling said that his company has grown nine times what it was when he purchased it in 1985, and he doesn't care where his 170-year-old family business ranks.

"I hired the right people to sell beer to the right retailers," Yuengling said. "We've been working hard to upgrade our image, and our packaging."

The brewery - which has added a new $14 million plant in Mill Creek, Port Carbon, to its original downtown Pottsville location - has gone from producing about 130,000 barrels per year to more than a million in 2001.

"We're surviving, and employ around 200 people now," Yuengling said, as vintage brew advertisements housed in antique frames give his office a nostalgic beer-making ambiance.

Four cans of Black and Tan sit unopened on the floor, and a single green bottle of Lager pokes out of a box, which looks like its about to be mailed - all amid typical office clutter.

Outside in the office waiting room, several 12-pack cases of 22-ounce Honey Brown Lager bottles - produced by a Yuengling competitor - occupy an empty seat, possibly the partial inspiration behind the new product with a sleeker look.

Targeting delis and six-pack shops, the new product is expected to be a big seller, aiming at a crowd that opts for a larger beer, but not so large that its contents warm before consumption.

"It's an image," Yuengling laughed. "You have to be in the right package."