A New Domestic Beer Leader - Yuengling

[Bourbon Boiler]

Helped by their move into Ohio, Yuengling passed Sam Adams to become the largest US owned beer seller in 2011.

http://articles.mcall.com/2012-01-12/business/mc-allentown-yuengling-sales-20120112_1_yuengling-boston-beer-beer-marketer-s-insights

[Tony]

I had no idea, thanks for the link.

Best regards, tony

[Bourbon Boiler]

I never would have guessed it either. With such narrow geographic coverage, it's shocking they were close enough to surpass Boston, and should blow them out next year with a full 365 in Ohio.

[bad_scientist]

Yeah, and Yuengling only has a few products, while any place that sells beer will carry 2 - 5 or more different Sam Adams beers.

I wonder if Boston Beer is falling behind because they can't decide whether they want to be like Budweiser or Dogfish head. So much shelf space is taken up by their niche beers and their stream of non-distinctive new offerings, and my guess is that not many people will pick those over a similar beer by their favorite microbrewery.

[ebo]

I guess I just don't get the whole Yuengling thing. I live in Ohio, and I was very happy to hear Yuengling was coming. After I had my first one, I was very let down after all the hype surrounding the brand. The Black and Tan is tasty, but nothing all that special. The regular Lager and the Light are absolutely nothing special.

I'll take Sam Adams products any/every time over Yuengling.

[smokinjoe]

More interesting info that surprised me this week was that Coors Light passed Budweiser as the #2 beer in the US. Bud Light remains #1, and Budweiser to #3. It seems the King is getting eaten away from both sides. Those who wish to drink American-style macro beers are going with lights. And, the micros and whatever you call SA, Yuengling, etc. are taking share from the other side. Ouch.

[Gillman]

Exactly. I wonder if this was "planned" by the macros (who still have over 90% of national sales). I.e., we'll specialize in light and others can take the small amount of the rest. Or did it come about due to a slow decline in the quality of mainstream lagers like Budweiser, Miller High Life, Pabst, etc., in other words, consumers increasingly can no longer see a purpose for bland full-strength lagers so they veered mostly to light with some to craft beers and regionals like Yuengling?

It is the opinion of many beer fans, including me who know the full-strength beers over a 40 year period, that they are not nearly as hoppy and full-tasting as in 1970. And how did 1970 compare to 1950 and 1933...?

I am sure Budweiser in 1900 and even 1933 was a great beer, it probably tasted, in hoppiness and maltiness, a lot like Sam Adams Boston Lager which follows an 1800's recipe. The industrial brewers may well have lost sight of what the product was all about. Or maybe again they perceived that 90% of the people will never like beer of character, so light beer is for them and we'll put our muscle behind that. I am not sure which it is, maybe a bit of both.

Gary

[DeanSheen]

I guess I just don't get the whole Yuengling thing. I live in Ohio, and I was very happy to hear Yuengling was coming. After I had my first one, I was very let down after all the hype surrounding the brand. The Black and Tan is tasty, but nothing all that special. The regular Lager and the Light are absolutely nothing special.

I'll take Sam Adams products any/every time over Yuengling.

Funny, I'm exactly the opposite. I love Yuegling but I'm pretty burnt on the craft beer thing. I have been drinking high ABV beer since Ohio lifted the ban around 10 years ago but I much prefer whiskey these days.

My tastes in beer run more towards Session beers. I like to be able to sit down and drink a few. Add in the cost of Micros and it gets even worse. Most anything here that is decent in a Micro goes for $10/6. I can get a 12 of Yuengling in the grocery store for $10.35.

So far they have Yuengling at Browns Stadium and The Q where the Cavs play. I hope they get it at Jacobs Field as well.

I used to not mind Budweiser before they took out all the hops and made it sweet. Yuengling is defenitly my goto 'regular' drinking beer now and many Ohioans agree. Just wait till next years numbers come out!

Ohh as an aside, had a friend in from Munich over the Holidays and he loved it. He liked Session Red a bit more but he was very fond of standary Yuengling.

[Gillman]

Point taken Robert but Yuengling Traditional Lager is actually (IMO) a good beer, to me it has many of the attributes of the old Budweiser circa-1970 and earlier...

The Black and Tan doesn't do it for me but I've always liked the porter, and it predates the craft era which gives it something special IMO.

Gary

[ThomasH]

Yuengling black and tan is my new go to beer. At 10.50/12, you can't beat it!

Thomas

[callmeox]

I'm with Rob...more for me if you don't like it.

The lager is a clean and balanced beer flavored beer. Tack it on to Session Red and Bitter American and you have my house beer rotation.

[DeanSheen]

I'm with Rob...more for me if you don't like it.

The lager is a clean and balanced beer flavored beer. Tack it on to Session Red and Bitter American and you have my house beer rotation.

What he said. And much rejoicing because now 21st Amendment has moved to a 12 month production schedule for Bitter American. Good times! :grin:

[T Comp]

...I used to not mind Budweiser before they took out all the hops and made it sweet. Yuengling is defenitly my goto 'regular' drinking beer now and many Ohioans agree. Just wait till next years numbers come out!

Point taken Robert but Yuengling Traditional Lager is actually (IMO) a good beer, to me it has many of the attributes of the old Budweiser circa-1970 and earlier...

The Black and Tan doesn't do it for me but I've always liked the porter, and it predates the craft era which gives it something special IMO.

Gary

As I was a dedicated Budweiser drinker in the '70s it looks like I need to find me some Yuengling. I had the lager a few years back but it is still not sold in Illinois. And like Robert I now prefer getting my abv from whiskey and have also trended back to the lower alcohol session beers...so you all got me wanting a Yuengling now :grin: .

[DeanSheen]

As I was a dedicated Budweiser drinker in the '70s it looks like I need to find me some Yuengling. I had the lager a few years back but it is still not sold in Illinois. And like Robert I now prefer getting my abv from whiskey and have also trended back to the lower alcohol session beers...so you all got me wanting a Yuengling now :grin: .

I'll try to remember to bring a 12 at least in the Spring so you can refresh your memory.

[Gillman]

Good plan and it might be noted there are two Yuengling lagers. One is the Traditional Lager, the other is their Premium Beer. The Traditional Lager formula was introduced in the 1980's, i.e., after influence had been felt from the emerging craft brewers. It is therefore, or IMO, a quasi-craft beer with a full taste. I suspect the company resurrected a pre-Pro recipe for this because while Traditional Lager uses some corn adjunct, the taste is again quite full-bodied and with reasonable bitterness.

The Yuengling Premium Beer existed before and is lighter, using more adjunct and less hops. It is sort of in the position of the current Pabst PBR, Schlitz, Miller High Life, Budweiser, i.e., fairly light-bodied and mild-tasting. The Black and Tan is a mix of the latter and the Porter.

In my view, it was the Traditional Lager that really set the pace for this company and enabled it to grow as it did. This is satisfying too because Yuengling is a very old company, the oldest continuing brewer in America I believe, it reaches way back to the early 1800's with a stall only for Prohibition. It's like the little train that could...

Watch too for their Lord Chesterfield Ale, a nice floral ale in the style of the 1950's ales. Great iced on a hot day.

Gary

[bad_scientist]

I lived in Philly for a while in the late '90s and the city was awash in Yuengling back then. The story went that Yuengling was about to go under in the '80s or thereabouts, and their beer was considered crap. They had tried selling at a very low price point but it wasn't working. Somebody decided that price point was a big part of the perception of how good a beer was, so they raised their prices and positioned their products as premium beers. The rest is history.

This was just college frat boy gossip, of course, and I have no idea if there's any kernel of truth in it, but anyway, that was the story back then.

I hope the regular beer (not the Premium Lager) has improved since then. They used to sell these stubby quart bottles of it and, man, that stuff smelled like insecticide.

[Jono]

The article states Pabst does not brew it own beer, that the beer is from the U.K.....really? Odd. The Pabst site seems to skirt the issue somewhat...

http://www.pabstbrewingco.com/about/company-info/

They talk about the breweries obtained over the years and that they brew over 30 beers....are we to believe all of it is imported? How does that make sense?

PBR brewed in the U.K.??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pabst_Brewing_Company

I remember the great tour at the Milwaukee brewery...very nice buildings etc. Now it is being developed into commercial properties.

" It is currently the holding company contracting for the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquors..."

Wow, how sad. Who knows where the product comes from.....

[Gillman]

Interesting. I thought their beers were brewed mostly in Eden, NC at the Miller plant there, i.e., by a contract arrangement, but these things can change over time.

Gary

P.S. Miller is part of SAB Miller, whose head office is in England I believe, maybe that explains why some think the beer is brewed in England.

[ebo]

For the record: I don't dislike Yuengling. I just found that after all the raving from friends and co-workers about it, it just wasn't anything all that special. I was under the impression this stuff was some kind of super beer. Yea, it is similar to Budweiser........ a "better" Budweiser, for lack of a better way to put it.

I certainly won't turn it down if it's offered, and I do buy the B&T fairly often, for the simple reason that it's a nice beer at a reasonable price.

[callmeox]

What he said. And much rejoicing because now 21st Amendment has moved to a 12 month production schedule for Bitter American. Good times! :grin:

My shopping cart today. The BA box still says "seasonal" but the production date on the cans says 12/23/11

I'm set for a while now. :grin:

[Bourbon Boiler]

I've said it before on these forums, but to me Yuengling is a major step up in quality of the big 3, and a minor step up in price. There are certainly more steps up available in quality, but not without paying for it.

[bad_scientist]

I've said it before on these forums, but to me Yuengling is a major step up in quality of the big 3, and a minor step up in price. There are certainly more steps up available in quality, but not without paying for it.

Sam Adams Lager is $1 more per six pack, or 16 cents extra per beer, compared to Yuengling. That's the deal of the century, and I see it every time I go to the store. My wife made me realize that Sam Adams, when it's not fresh, can be nasty, while Yuengling is always fizzy corn water refreshing, so it's important to get a newly brewed bottle.

[ratcheer]

I think those who are let down by the Yuengling brews are somewhat missing the point. I do not think their beers are supposed to be a mind boggling gourmet experience, but rather a very good quality everyday beer. Which they certainly are, and at a fraction of the cost of Sam Adams.

Tim

[bad_scientist]

I think those who are let down by the Yuengling brews are somewhat missing the point. I do not think their beers are supposed to be a mind boggling gourmet experience, but rather a very good quality everyday beer. Which they certainly are, and at a fraction of the cost of Sam Adams.

Tim

$1 less per six pack than Sam Adams.

[DeanSheen]

$1 less per six pack than Sam Adams.

Not in Ohio. $7.99 vs $5.17.

I'll double check next time I'm in the store. I never look at SA products as I never buy them. They were nice 10 years ago when there was less variety. Now I'll go the other way and pay a dollar or two more for a much better micro brew than SA.

SA has priced themselves out of the market for my tastes. The fact that I'm not real fond of the beer makes it even easier to walk on by.