Yuengling story!

[swzine]

You guys don't know me too well, but, from my few posts on here, you probably know that Yuengling is my favorite beer! There is a book coming out soon - Yuengling: A History Of America's Oldest Brewery (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786419725/qid=1107228011/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-8019315-5159300?v=glance&s=books). Apparently it'll be out in March. I was searching the web to find out more about it. Instead, I found an interesting article from Inc magazine that I figured I'd share. It's a little old but it's new to me! I had absolutely no idea that my little local beer, that you can only get in a handful of states, is the 5th largest brewer in the US!

http://pf.inc.com/magazine/20040701/yuengling.html

[chazwicke]

That is an excellent article. It does neglect to mention that Yuengling operated a plant in Richmond, Virginia for a short time in the mid 1800s. I have a photo of that plant in my office.

I believe that Lew Bryson did a thesis on Yuengling.

[swzine]

Originally posted by chazwicke
That is an excellent article. It does neglect to mention that Yuengling operated a plant in Richmond, Virginia for a short time in the mid 1800s. I have a photo of that plant in my office.

I believe that Lew Bryson did a thesis on Yuengling.

I've seen that picture you're talking about, but never heard the history behind it. I've been to the brewery a few times, and they dont' tell that story. Hopefully it'll be covered in the 200 page book that's coming out! You know anything about it?

I found it interesting that Boston Beer would be the "oldest" brewery if they hadn't shut down for a few years.

I wish (but don't expect) that Yuengling would get out here in TX. It costs me like $40 a case, including shipping, to get it shipped out here! You all know how Texans are. I don't think a yankee beer like Yuengling would do too well here. Even A-B has a TX only beer called Ziegen Bock to appease the Texan mentality.

[swzine]

I found a brief reference to it on beerhistory.com (http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/yuengling.shtml). It even mentions two more in New York and another in British Columbia. I never heard anyhting about them! Never even saw a picture.

Even the History section of yuengling.com doesn't reference the Richmond Brewery. I wonder why it's such a secret!

[chazwicke]

David Yuengling's eldest son, David, Jr., eventually left Pottsville to establish a second brewery on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, appropriately naming it the James River Steam Brewery.

The framed picture that I have says it was established in 1866.

I was aware of much of the history of Yuengling and have visited the PA plant a couple of times. The caves were neat.

[fretlessman71]

Maybe it's nary mentioned because James left over an argument and was disowned....?

[chazwicke]

Very possible there was a split in the family. We'll have to wait until Swzine reads the book. Or maybe Lew knows.

[Katefan00]

For a semi-macro, I like Yuengling. Most of my friends do as well, I figure that's an improvement over the real macros. Incidentally, a Yuengling rep came by a pub I was drinking at a few months ago and distributed some Yuengling gear, I can't remember what all now -- I think a beer koozie, a pin and a baseball cap, to celebrate their anniversary. I'm keeping the baseball cap, but I'd be glad to send you the other schwag if you want.

I gotta say, though, I am still partial to Ziegenbock... it was what made me love beer! First beer I ever really grew to enjoy -- before that I didn't much care for beer at all.

They served it at a little peanut shells-on-the-floor place called Vernon's in downtown Corpus Christi, near the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, where I did my first internship as a reporter. Just a little ole dive bar, long and narrow -- I think it was built out of a couple lanes of an old bowling alley. Of course that's where the reporters and editors hung out after work mostly. It was the only beer they had on draft that wasn't BMC ... so that's what I'd drink. I still typically pick up a few 6ers of it whenever I go home to visit.

I can still taste it now -- at Vernon's they'd serve it in frosted mugs. Good stuff. Way too many hazy late night memories of that place.

K.

[Katefan00]

Pardon the two posts in a row, but I see you live in Sugar Land.. I'm from Houston myself originally. Have you ever tried Spec's in downtown Houston on Smith St. to see if they stock Yuengling? I would think if anywhere in town is going to stock it, they would. And they stock stuff from several Northeastern breweries like Dogfish Head and such as that, which is generally much less widely distributed.

It'd be a bit of a drive for you, but it'd probably save you money if you're paying $40 a case for the stuff. Just a thought.

K.

[swzine]

Originally posted by Katefan00
Pardon the two posts in a row, but I see you live in Sugar Land.. I'm from Houston myself originally. Have you ever tried Spec's in downtown Houston on Smith St. to see if they stock Yuengling? I would think if anywhere in town is going to stock it, they would. And they stock stuff from several Northeastern breweries like Dogfish Head and such as that, which is generally much less widely distributed.

It'd be a bit of a drive for you, but it'd probably save you money if you're paying $40 a case for the stuff. Just a thought.

K.

I have not been to the downtown Specs, but I've heard many stories about it. There is a Specs in Sugar Land that I go to from time to time. I seriously doubt that they'll have Yuengling because of the limited distribution of Yuengling. The nearest state that has a distributor is Alabama. I'll take your advice and check sometime. Right now I get it shipped from vintagecellar.com. It's like $18 for the beer and $22 for shipping. I only order 3 or 4 cases a year. I buy kegs of Shiner Bock and drink that mainly.

[swzine]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Very possible there was a split in the family. We'll have to wait until Swzine reads the book. Or maybe Lew knows.

I'd love to hear more about that James River Brewery, as well as the other 3. I had seen the picture you have, but never heard a thing about the other 3 until yesterday. I can't see how there can be a 200 page book about Yuengling that won't cover it. I assume it'll be a lot of old pictures, but have no clue. I really can't find out very much about the book and I wonder if it'll even be released on schedule.

[Stahlsturm]

Last time we were in the US (= May 04) I tried some Yuengling while we were cruising down the Shenandoah Valley. I thought the lager was ok. I really did like the Porter. When we were back in RI I tried to find it but to no avail.

Good thing we took another trip up to Maine and I got some Atlantic Brewing Coal Porter. That was so good I actually bought a t-shirt :D

[fretlessman71]

I'd love to get ahold of both of those porters, as well as a few others like Edmund Fitz... I'm going to be doing an extended tasting of porters from all over the place just for fun, and the more the merrier. I've had the Yuengling porter before - pretty dang good! :)

[Stahlsturm]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
I'd love to get ahold of both of those porters, as well as a few others like Edmund Fitz... I'm going to be doing an extended tasting of porters from all over the place just for fun, and the more the merrier. I've had the Yuengling porter before - pretty dang good! :)

You´d want to try a few of the "Dunkel" beers they brew around here, hehehe.

[fretlessman71]

Left Hand / Tabernash Brewing is less than an hour from here, and they make a Dunkel Weiss.... fantastic stuff! Very interesting! If I wasn't so busy trying to taste every beer on the planet I'd make it a regular staple. But right now I'm going to focus on porters - my first craft beer love.... :)

[Stahlsturm]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Left Hand / Tabernash Brewing is less than an hour from here, and they make a Dunkel Weiss.... fantastic stuff! Very interesting! If I wasn't so busy trying to taste every beer on the planet I'd make it a regular staple. But right now I'm going to focus on porters - my first craft beer love.... :)

I wasn´t talking about "Dunkles Weißbier", I meant just "Dunkel" which is pretty much the continental equivalent to a Porter.

[chazwicke]

They Yuengling Porter was a staple for us back in the late 70s. It actually had flavor. It was in the returnable steinie bottles. I'm not a huge fan of the lager. It is drinkable but there are so many others out there that blow it away.

[Stahlsturm]

The Yuengling lager would need a tad more hop IMO.

[chazwicke]

Agreed.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Stahlsturm
I wasn´t talking about "Dunkles Weißbier", I meant just "Dunkel" which is pretty much the continental equivalent to a Porter. So, can you recommend a few Dunkels that I might be able to get here in the states? I guess beer styles are like horseshoes... close counts!

[swzine]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
I'd love to get ahold of both of those porters, as well as a few others like Edmund Fitz... I'm going to be doing an extended tasting of porters from all over the place just for fun, and the more the merrier. I've had the Yuengling porter before - pretty dang good! :)

Vintage Cellar (where I order my Lager) has the Porter for $18.95 plus shipping. Like my Lager it would be about $22.00 for shipping. http://www.vintagecellar.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=VCOS&Product_Code=13496_24

They also have six packs for $5 plus shipping. http://www.vintagecellar.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=VCOS&Product_Code=13496_6

I love that site. The first time you order it's a pain cause you have to scan an email OR fax a copy of your ID. After the first time they keep it on file, so you don't have to do it again.

[Katefan00]

Don't forget Liquid Solutions, too.

http://www.liquidsolutions.ws

I've never ordered anything from them, but have heard good stuff. I often drool over their "Wall of Beer."

K.

[swzine]

Originally posted by Katefan00
Don't forget Liquid Solutions, too.

http://www.liquidsolutions.ws

I've never ordered anything from them, but have heard good stuff. I often drool over their "Wall of Beer."

K.

They don't seem to have my Yuengling. Vintage Cellar was the only place I could find my beer! I searched long and hard.

[Stahlsturm]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
So, can you recommend a few Dunkels Yes


Originally posted by fretlessman71
that I might be able to get here in the states? No

[chazwicke]

Here is the a photo of Richmond Yuengling print. Excuse the flash.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Stahlsturm
Yes


No *sigh* Chaz, how much are tickets to Deutschland again?

[chazwicke]

My son was asking last night when we were going. He was surfing the net looking up Schlenkerla and Bamberg.:D The Dollar is soooo poor against the Euro which could be a factor into just how long and where we go. It won't prohibit the trip.

[Stahlsturm]

1 EUR = 1.3 USD

[chazwicke]

Thats not too bad.

[swzine]

Guess what guys...I think the book is out now!

There is a pic on amazon.com, which wasn't there before, and it no longer mentions preordering! I'll probably blow the $40 on this one!

By the way (a little off topic), I went onto Borders.com since I have a coupon...and now it IS part of Amazon. I wonder when that happened!

[swzine]

Well, I ordered it! But not from Amazon. Their site said 2-4 weeks for shipping. Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, and ecampus.com also had it listed, but they all said unavailable because it hadn't been released yet. I went direct to the publisher's site and ordered it! It said it was available for immediate shipping, so it seemed like my best bet.

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-1972-5

[chazwicke]

Cool! Let us know how it goes. I'm curious about the Virginia connection.

[chazwicke]

Just got an email from Beer Books. they have autographed copies of the new book by both the author and Dick yuengling.

http://www.beerbooks.com/cgi/ps4.cgi?action=enter&thispage=1353&order_id=!ORDERID!