Yuengling clears land for brewery

May 2000 target date for opening

MARK NANCE/Staff Photo

Robert W. Weber, Valley View, guides a section of pipe into place as Tim B. Butler, Pine Grove, lifts it with an excavator at the site of the new Yuengling brewery.

MILL CREEK -- Plans for the new $50 million Yuengling brewery are on schedule.

The 16 acres of land for the 1-million barrel capacity brewery, situated in Port Carbon and East Norwegian Township, have been cleared of shrubbery, and plans for the infrastructure have begun.

``It's coming along very quickly,'' said Richard L. Yuengling Jr., the fifth-generation family member to operate America's Oldest Brewery. ``We're ready to go. It's a matter of how fast they can get the frame up.''

So far, the project's construction companies have cleared the area and are installing the drainage system, said James L. Helmke, vice president of operations for D.G. Yuengling & Son, Pottsville.

``It has been cleared and leveled, and the subdrains are going in as we speak,'' he said.

Other ongoing labor includes working with the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority to build the sewage pretreatment plant, developing the plans for the floors and walls of the building and purchasing the brewing equipment, he said.

The building plans are expected to be completed within a month, Helmke said.

The new brewery, which Helmke hopes will be making beer by May 2000, will be constructed in five phases. The construction of the building is expected to be during the first year, and the installation, hookups and testing of the brewery equipment will occur during that second year, he said.

``At this point, we have probably acquired over half of the equipment required to run the brewery,'' he said.

Some of that equipment includes the brewing vessels and almost the full bottling line, including bottle washers and fillers.

Much of the equipment for the new 272,000-square-foot brewery has and will be taken from other breweries, Helmke said, and will be fully refurbished. The company is buying both new and refurbished equipment, he said.

``We feel safe and secure that the quality of the pre-owned equipment is there,'' Helmke said. ``I think we're probably a little bit ahead in acquiring the equipment for the facilities.''

Work to lay the foundation for the new building is expected to begin as soon as the design plans are complete, said James D. Cresswell, president and owner of Cresswell Brothers Inc., Pottsville, one of the construction companies working on the project. Miller Brothers Construction Inc., Cressona, will be working together with Cresswell, Helmke said.

The foundation could be done by the end of the year and the building raised during the spring, Helmke said.

The plans for what could be ``America's Newest Brewery,'' were announced May 8 at a press conference before about 100 people.

Yuengling told the crowd that with the help of his four daughters, Jennifer L., Deborah M., Wendy L. and Sheryl L., the business would stay in his family and expand.

The new brewery will create as many as 100 jobs and will bring Yuengling into a more expanded market.

The company's Mahantongo Street facility, which opened in 1829, will remain an active brewery, dropping its production probably to 250,000 barrels a year. This year, it is expected to produce more than 600,000 barrels of Premium, Porter, Chesterfield Ale, Amber Lager and Light, a 400-percent increase since 1990.

The goal of the company since the announcement was to have the operation up and running within two years.

``Although, because we have the infrastructure basically purchased, it may be sooner,'' Yuengling said. ``I'll be excited about being in there.'