There are several things consistent through just about every brewery tour I've taken. They're going to discuss the four essential ingredients for making beer, the two main types of beer and what makes them different, and how various kinds of yeasts eat the sugars in the wort. They'll point to their fermentation tanks and make exaggerated hand gestures to illustrate the aforementioned facts and processes. And at some point, you'll probably wish you were getting some hands on experience with beer consumption rather than beer production. But you need not fret! Most tours are less than a half hour long, so the highly desired tasting is never too far from taste-bud ecstasy.
The best and most memorable tours are those that have what others do not. While most tours have a guide that is frothing at the mouth with brewery know-how, only one has bragging rights to say they're America's oldest brewery. If there's one thing you could add to a tour to make it better and more interesting, it's history. And Yuengling has more history than a world civilizations text book (ok... maybe not quite!). Breweries are not unlike a finely aged wine or cheese. Treated properly, they only get better as they get older.
Yuengling Brewery - Pottsville, PA
Having survived the prohibition era, 183 years of existence, and five generations of family ownership/operation among many other achievements, it's not surprising that Yuengling continues to grow as a staple beer on the East Coast of the US. I love trying new beer, and don't often buy the same beer twice. But Yuengling lager is definitely an exception. Businesses like this don't survive so many hardships and rough times without good reason.
There is a quaint little nook up on the hillside of Pottsville, PA that the Yuengling brewery likes to call home. Driving to the brewery, you might think you've taken a wrong turn into a residential area, but you're actually in the right place. Something as simple as walking in and finding where the tour starts is almost impossible without the signs that tell you where to go.
It's obvious there has been addition after addition to the building, which effectively created a maze of rooms for confusing guests into thinking they should have made that left turn at Albuquerque. But alas, the sound of voices and that wafting, beckoning scent lead me to the right place.The tour started seconds after we arrived. About 30 of us were lead single file through each floor of the almost ancient brewery. Each wall, window, and piece of equipment or art had it's own unique story. The room with the fermentation tanks and mash tuns has a beautiful stained glass ceiling, and also murals that further illustrate the history of day to day operations. We snaked between tight spaces from room to room until we arrived outside. Lucky for us, they were bottling on this particular Monday. The tour guide said they mostly can at this location, so it was certainly a rare treat.
Walking into the bottling/canning room was almost my favorite part of the tour (free beer is always #1). If I could have drank in the air, I would have. It was a luscious smack in the face of buttery, malty, bliss I've only ever known to belong to Yuengling. I would have paid to stay in that room for the remainder of the day. Beyond the smell, watching the equipment do its thing was entrancing. The flow of our single file through the building was lost to the hypnotizing machinery and stunning scent of beer. People pushed past those snapping pics with their iphones and then found themselves being passed by once their own gaze was caught. The game of leap frog ended once the tour guide coaxed us from our dreamlike state with rumors of an underground cave.
Going down there was like the fellowship of the ring was being lead through the depths of Moria (minus the orcs and other baddies, of course). It was a real, honest-to-goodness, water-dripping-down-from-the-ceiling rock cave! Some of the brick still exists from when it was walled off during the prohibition. Pretty dang neat!
We surfaced shortly after our venture to the center of the earth to enjoy the fruits of so many years of labor. But before I go into the beer, I'll say a few things about the lovely tour guide. She was great, and took care of the crowd like a mom does her brood of children (but not in the wiping-dirt-off-our-cheeks-with-her-spit kind of way). She kindly watched after us to make sure we didn't get lost, and taught us everything we needed to know about life at the brewery. She was funny, and incredibly knowledgeable of the business. She was clearly not someone hired from the outside just to babysit the tour guests. The brewery itself was so captivating that we probably could have had a poor tour guide and still had a great time. But her expertise was all the more helpful. Plus, she's the one that gave us free beer!
The sampling room (pictured above) was called the Rathskellar, and has been serving up fine brews since 1936. The walls and shelves are lined with an entire evolution of bottles and historic decorations. It even holds a cuckoo clock in homage to the German heritage of the Yuengling family. I was excited to enjoy a beer here as so many did before me. I didn't bother trying the lager, as it is a taste very familiar to my palate. Instead, I tried the porter and Lord Chesterfield Ale. The porter is really what you could expect from just about any porter, but with that buttery, Yuengling-y taste that comes from their signature use of corn grits. The Lord Chesterfield Ale is probably their hoppiest (really not THAT hoppy, though), and just plain delicious. Most of their offerings taste like different permutations of their lager, but the Chesterfield Ale really stands out on its own. Arlo and I even bought two Chesterfield Society mugs to enjoy at home!
If the tour wasn't enough history for you, you can gander through the gift shop/museum. It's the perfect place for any history buff, even if beer isn't your cup of tea. Those that enjoy both, as I do, are in for a big treat! Of all the brewery tours I've been on, this was my absolute favorite. Maybe I just lucked out with the fact that they were bottling, we had a great tour guide, and it wasn't too crowded. Or perhaps it's just the fact that so many years of existence and history make for a good time, anytime. Either way, I urge you: if you ever visit a brewery, make it this one! Disappointment is nearly impossible.
Here's to another 180 years of great beer!
Next Up: River Horse Brewery - Lambertville, NJ
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