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America’s oldest brewery has a survival story that reads like a crash course in U.S. history, and we’re pouring it up as part of our Red, White, and Booze celebration for America’s 250th birthday. From the jump, Yuengling is not just a brandbto us. It’s a living thread that runs through history, industry, and the way certain beers become part of a place’s identity, especially here in Pennsylvania.

We follow the brewery back to 1829, when German immigrant David Gottlieb Yuengling picks Pottsville, Pennsylvania and starts what was first called the Eagle Brewery. Coal country demand, cool storage caves for lagering, a devastating fire, and a relocation that still defines the brewery’s home base all shape the foundation. Along the way, the company becomes D. G. Yuengling and Son, locking in a family legacy that keeps the story personal and surprisingly resilient.

Then comes the big test: Prohibition. We talk through how Yuengling stays alive by brewing Near Beer and even running a dairy that makes ice cream, plus the celebratory flex when Prohibition ends in 1933 and beer gets sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. We also trace the modern era, from Dick Yuengling Jr.’s expansion beyond Pennsylvania to the return of the amber lager in 1987, the flagship green bottle that helped turn “lager” into a shorthand order at bars across much of the East.

If you love beer history, American lager culture, or the behind-the-label business moves that keep a legacy brewery thriving, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share with a fellow lager drinker, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.

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