Familiar Yuengling eagle already visible at new site

SAINT CLAIR -- It will be a while before the new Yuengling brewery is producing beer, but an important symbol of America's Oldest Brewery is already on site. The familiar D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery eagle is embedded into one of the gargantuan concrete walls that will make up the $50 million structure. The walls and the eagle are easily visible to drivers passing the 16-acre site along Mill Creek Road near the Saint Clair Industrial Park.

``Everything is coming along well,'' said fifth-generation owner Richard L. Yuengling Jr. ``I've already heard some nice comments on the eagle.'' The concrete walls are being produced Schuylkill Products, Cressona. The 272,000-square-foot building is being constructed in five phases by Miller Brothers Construction Inc., Cressona, and Creswell Brothers Inc., Pottsville. The new addition is moving along to meet its beermaking debut in May 2000, according to James L. Helmke, company vice president of operations. ``It is beginning to move fairly quickly now,'' he said.

The announcement for what was nicknamed ``America's Newest Brewery'' came May 8, 1998, before a crowd of more than 100 guests at a press conference. It was also announced the facility would create as many as 100 new jobs.

Since September, construction crews have cleared the area, installed a drainage system and began erecting the steel framework.

Construction of the warehouse portion of the facility which includes the eagle is expected by August, with completion of the remainder of the building by year's end. Installation, hookups and testing of brewery gear will then be completed, Helmke said.

Of course, ``There is still a lot of work to do,'' Yuengling added. ``Just because the walls are up does not mean we are ready to brew.''

The same goes for the company's southern expansion, Yuengling said, as preparations continue for the opening of a facility in Tampa, Fla.

Announced in April when D.G. Yuengling & Son purchased the former Stroh Brewing Co. plant, Yuengling said he would like brewing to start ``shortly,'' but one item still needs to be met: a flavor match.

``Conditions are different down there,'' Yuengling explained, noting the difference in water for example. ``We won't do anything until the character of our product is the same as from Pottsville. Nothing will go unless we have a flavor match.''

The Florida brewery, which has a 1.5-million barrel per year capacity, will help the company expand its current markets by penetrating into Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia, Yuengling said.

Yuengling said he hopes to be able to reach that goal by summertime.

A half-dozen workers were hired for the southern site in April, with plans to begin operations in May. German native and former Stroh Master Brewer Otto Wiesneth was named manager for the Tampa facility in May.

Combining Yuengling's existing, historic 1829 ``America's Oldest Brewery'' on Mahantongo Street in Pottsville with the Saint Clair and Tampa additions, will create a three-million barrel capacity, Yuengling said.