E-Malt.com News article: US, PA: America’s oldest brewery to enter Ohio later this year

Pottsville beer-maker D.G. Yuengling and Son, America's oldest brewery plans to enter the Ohio market later this year, the Morning Call reported on June, 21.

Pat Noone, the company's business development manager, said that Yuengling has been in discussions with retailers and distributors in the state and it could be available in Ohio as soon as October.

The company has been eager to enter the Ohio market, but wanted to make sure it had an adequate supply of beer to accommodate demand, Noone said.

The company would not comment on the article.

Yuengling, which has two breweries in the Pottsville area and a third in Tampa, Fla., is only available in East Coast and Southeastern states. It recently expanded capacity at its Mill Creek brewery near Pottsville after plans to buy a brewery in Memphis, Tenn. fell through.

Demand for Yuengling has surged in recent years and it is considered one of the most coveted brands in the beer industry. Its beer sales rival Samuel Adams-maker Boston Beer Co., even though it is only available on the East Coast and in the Southeast.

Its leading brand, Yuengling Lager, is known for craft-brew quality at prices comparable to Budweiser and Miller.

Yuengling shipped nearly 2.2 million barrels of beer in 2010, about 1 percent of all domestic beer shipments, according to the Suffern, N.Y. trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights. That made it the No. 9 beer-seller among domestic brewers and importers. And it's sales have grown in recent years while overall beer sales in the United States have dropped.

The family business began in 1829, when German immigrant David G. Yuengling opened Eagle Brewery in Pottsville. The name changed to D.G. Yuengling and Son in 1873. Richard "Dick" Yuengling, Jr., the current owner, purchased the brewery from his father in 1985.


24 June, 2011