This last weekend I took at trip out to Philadelphia for the very first time in my life. My wife and I were there for a very dear friend's funeral service so the majority of our trip was spent amongst friends and family as we celebrated our lost loved one.
But mourning at a funeral is no reason for a beer lover such as myself to neglect sampling a locally brewed beer.
The Yuengling Brewery was established by David G. Yuengling in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1829. Fast forward 191 years later and Yuengling now sports the motto: "America's Oldest Brewery."
"America's Oldest Brewery"...that just screams to me, "HEY WE'VE BEEN MAKING KICK ASS BEER FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS!!"
Sadly, I didn't taste any such exclamation in their lager. Instead, in one simple, solitary sip of their suds I was able to conclude that not only was this a terrible beer, but that any brewery who sold this beer had absolutely no idea what they were doing when it comes to brewing a good lager.
I mean sure, the Yuengling Traditional Lager is technically a lager. It's has a nice color to it and that familiar, built-for-the-masses lager taste, but it was exactly that mass produced flavor that ruined my Yuengling experience almost immediately.
To be frank, if I'm about to drink something from the oldest brewery in America, then I want to drink something that tastes like it was made from a recipe perfected over hundreds of years of trial and error, and over thousands upon thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears. But sadly this is a lager that rests in the same class as every other lager available at any gas station, ball park or college bar. This is a lager that tastes like it was made afters pending thousands and thousands of man-hours perfected the flavor found in other lagers.
What a shame, Yuengling. What a shame.
Overall Review: 2 / 5
