Yuengling will brew beer in Florida

Tampa site to help supply, market growth

D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. is taking on the South.

Yuengling's purchase of an idle Stroh Brewing Co. plant in Tampa, Fla., should be finalized by next week, owner Richard L. ``Dick'' Yuengling Jr. said Tuesday night.

The purchase will allow Yuengling to enter the southeastern market, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina, he said.

But the main reason for buying the Florida brewery, which has a 1.5-million-barrel per year capacity, is to help Yuengling to fully serve its current markets until its new Schuylkill County plant opens in late 2000, he said.

Every summer, distributors get frustrated when the supply of Yuengling is limited by what the historic Pottsville plant can put out, he said.

Experiencing 383 percent growth over the past seven years and expanding production from 160,000 to 600,000, barrels, ``we're out of beer again,'' Yuengling said. ``We've been out of beer for nine years.''

Yuengling, who he doesn't want this to be the 10th year of a beer shortage, said he can't have wholesalers in the distribution area angry in the summer, the peak season.

Meanwhile, the 272,000 square-foot, $50 million brewery, which is being constructed in the Saint Clair Business Park, will allow entry into markets in New York, Ohio and New England states, Yuengling said.

The company will also be able to further penetrate Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia, he said.

The hope is to open the new Schuylkill County brewery, located in Port Carbon and East Norwegian Township, without missing a beat, Yuengling said.

When the opportunity to buy the Tampa plant presented itself, Yuengling decided he had to act.

In December, Stroh announced it was closing its brewery in Tampa, laying off more than 150 people, to cut capacity, according to the Associated Press.

The family-owned company struggled with declining sales, a loss of contract business, increased competition and heavy debt before announcing in February that it had sold its brands to Pabst Brewing Co. and Miller Brewing Co., the Associated Press reported.

``We will never have the ability to buy a plant of that capacity again,'' said Yuengling, who knows of only two others that size: Rolling Rock and Pittsburgh Brewing Co.

The Tampa plant is actually small by today's standards, he said.

Most breweries, like Stroh's in Allentown, are 4-million-barrel per year capacity, which is ``way more'' than Yuengling could sell, Yuengling said.

In fact, 85 percent of the U.S. beer market comes from Budweiser, Coors and Miller, he said.

``They virtually steamrolled everyone else into oblivion,'' he said, adding Yuengling will fight to survive.

Yuengling's existing brewery in Pottsville, the new one at the Saint Clair Business Park and the Tampa plant will together have a 3-million-barrel capacity, he said.

Yuengling has already hired a half-dozen workers for the southern brewery. James L. Helmke, vice president of operations, has been overseeing the details, he said.

The plan is to begin brewing in Tampa in May and start selling that beer in June.

Yuengling admits the turn of events occurred faster than he thought, and it's a high risk opportunity, ``but that's me.''