Pottsville, PA
Yuengling Brewery is the oldest brewery in the U.S., having started operation in 1829. We visited the Pennsylvanian brewery prior to hockey in Allentown.
Two of Yuengling’s beers were introduced in 1829, and are still produced today: Lord Chesterfield Ale, & the Porter.
The location for the brewery was perfect for a couple of reasons: The brewers originally received their water for the brewing process from a natural spring that came out of the hill behind the main brew house. The second was that the hills provided the perfect location for caves to be dug into the hillside. The caves were used for the cool storage of barrels & barrels of freshly brewed beer.
Prohibition brought many inevitable changes to Yuengling, including the production of near beer, and the still manufactured Yuengling Ice Cream.
The brewery’s Rathskellar was built in 1936. The original tasting room is still there behind the gate.
The mural in the photo was painted by the resident artist. The painter, in a moment of early self portrait, painted himself into the mural. He is located behind the pipe. I’ve never been a big selfie guy. The stained glass was installed very early on. The windows from above were letting too much light through, and the beams were blinding the workers when they bounced off the original copper boilers. The stained glass was added to diffuse the sunlight.
The work shop! No tour is complete, without a walk through the work shop area. I could have spent much more time there, but the beer tasting was calling.
We were told that bottling beer only happens one day a week at this brewery. Most beer goes out in cans from the Pottsville brewery. A great tour of the iconic eastern brewery. Yuengling, is still the king of beers, in this neck of the woods.
