Why the fascination with Yuengling?

• swamisez

  

  It has to be one of those scenarios where people claim to love it simply because they don't have free access to it.
  
  Yuengling is a fine beer, but seems hardly as good as many claim it is.
  
  Have any of you tried Sam Adams, Fat Tire, anything from Avery in Boulder? So many great beers yet I hear all of the Ohioans talking up Yuengling.
  
  Someone enlighten me as to its unknown novelty?
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  its pretty good.
• BuckeyeBlue

  

  I love Yuengling. Drank it a lot when I was stationed in New York state. Now that I'm in California, I miss it. I realize there are a LOT of beers out there that are as good or better though. I've found my substitutions, but I wouldn't turn one down if I had the chance to get one.
• ts1227

  

  swamisez wrote: It has to be one of those scenarios where people claim to love it simply because they don't have free access to it.
  
  Yuengling is a fine beer, but seems hardly as good as many claim it is.
  
  Have any of you tried Sam Adams, Fat Tire, anything from Avery in Boulder? So many great beers yet I hear all of the Ohioans talking up Yuengling.
  
  Someone enlighten me as to its unknown novelty?

  All the other stuff you mentioned is too damn heavy.
  
  Yuengling is a great balance right in between. More to it than a Bud Light or Miller, but not as full bodied as a Sam Adams (which has an aftertaste that is like a slow rot moving down your esophagus)
• Timber

  Agreed about the fact that it is unavailable in Ohio... makes it more appealing.
  
  We had the same experience in Ohio with Coors before we could buy it. (Used to drink it at The Dog Track in Wheeling)
  
  Everybody wanted Coors when we could not buy it... Same with Yuengling. Just human nature I guess.. to want what is not easliy attainable.
• I Wear Pants

  I'll take a Yuengling over a Sam Adams any day.
• matdad

  Yuengling is very good but certainly not the "nectar of life" that so many bragged about. Warsteiner is my favorite. Stella Artois is pretty darn good too.
  The older I get though I've found that I darn near have to drink beer on an empty stomach. After a full meal, I just can't drink more than one or two.
• Gameover

  went to school in PA and never thought of it as a beer of choice for myself.
• dlazz

  swamisez wrote: It has to be one of those scenarios where people claim to love it simply because they don't have free access to it.

  Like marijuana?
• se-alum

  

  I can't imagine anyone ever wanting a Coors, might as well get ya a big glass of water. I like Yuengling, and don't really care for Sam Adams. It's just a matter of personal taste. I would never travel anywhere just to get Yuengling, but definitely like it when I'm somewhere where it's available.
• iclfan2

  

  I agree with OP. Yuengling is nothing to write home about. Regular run of the mill beer, nothing special.
• I Wear Pants

  If people who talk about Yuengling like it's the greatest are only doing it because it's unavailable.
  
  You naysayers are only doing it because everyone likes it and you poo on popular things.
  
  Moral of the story: Yuengling is pretty damned good but nothing to get really excited about. Although I'd rather drink it than almost any other big brand beer.
• ts1227

  

  matdad wrote: Yuengling is very good but certainly not the "nectar of life" that so many bragged about. Warsteiner is my favorite. Stella Artois is pretty darn good too.
  The older I get though I've found that I darn near have to drink beer on an empty stomach. After a full meal, I just can't drink more than one or two.

  Warsteiner and St. Pauli Girl are some solid imports.
  
  Only bad part about Yuengling (or any beer that is a light amber or heavier) is the beer shits. Good lord.
• I Wear Pants

  St. Pauli Girl is funny because Pauli was a common name for hookers wherever that beer is made. So adding St. to it is funny.
• Timber

  I keep hearing about the possibility of Yuengling being distributed in Ohio... One vendor said the various distributors were lobbying for the rights to sell.
• I Wear Pants

  PA's alcohol laws actually give an unfair advantage to Yuengling.
• I Wear Pants

  Now, keg by keg, America's oldest brewery is expanding outside of Pottsville, Pa. Thanks to quirky state laws, the brewer has been able to hold its own at home against Anheuser-Busch Cos. and SABMiller PLC's Miller Brewing Co. But those laws are being challenged, and D.G. Yuengling & Son has responded by pushing into New York, Florida, North Carolina and even Alabama.
  
  ....
  
  Last year, Yuengling, which is sold in nine states, boosted its national market share to 0.6%, equal to that of Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams, which is sold all over the U.S., according to estimates by Beer Marketer's Insights, a trade publication. ....
  
  But the brewer's secret weapon is the state's arcane beer regulations, which have protected it from interlopers. Pennsylvania beer drinkers can't purchase beer in supermarkets or convenience stores, where the big brewers often squeeze small brewers off the shelves. Instead, consumers have to go to beer distributors or taverns. The beer distributors account for an estimated 70% of the state's beer sales, but by law they have to sell full cases, reducing the effectiveness of the big brewers' discounting tactics. Neighborhood taverns and delis can sell six-packs or 12-packs, but the prices there are generally quite high.
  
  The state rules, which date to 1934, the year after Prohibition ended nationally, were intended to limit alcohol consumption and protect Pennsylvania's vibrant brewing culture from outside breweries. Through the Pennsylvania Small Brewers Association, a lobbying arm for small state brewers, Mr. Yuengling has opposed any changes in the law. "These laws have enabled small brewers to survive," says the 61-year-old Mr. Yuengling.
  
  He may have a point. The market share of Anheuser-Busch, which accounts for about half of all national beer sales, is just under 29% in Pennsylvania, lower than in any other state, according to Impact Databank, which monitors the industry. And while niche microbrewers have had some success around the country, Yuengling holds an unusually large 13% share of the Pennsylvania market.
  
  But these days, rivals intent on changing the status quo are challenging Yuengling. Jay Goldstein, a beer lobbyist who also serves as president of the Pennsylvania Beer Wholesalers Association, representing wholesale distributors for both large and small brewers, argues that the state system is unfair to beer drinkers and out-of-state brewers alike.
  
  Mr. Goldstein and the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania, the lobbying arm of beer distributors, say changing the law to allow distributors to sell 12-packs is critical. They point out that consumers pay only $5.99 to $6.99 for a six-pack of a craft beer such as Samuel Adams in most states, but in Pennsylvania buying such a six-pack at a tavern could cost as much as $8.75.
  
  Consumers concerned about price buy cases from the distributors. But cases of beer from local independent brewers such as Stoudt's Brewing Co. in Adamstown and Troegs Brewing Co. in Harrisburg can cost as much as $25, compared with closer to $15 for nationally distributed domestic beers. The local brewers depend on adventuresome drinkers to give their products a try, but $25 is a big gamble. Local beer drinkers have noticed: The tax funds received from Pennsylvania beer shipments slipped 5.4% in 2003, the worst such decline in 20 years, as some consumers went out of state to buy their beer, even though cross-border sales of alcohol are illegal.
  
  "The packaging law kills small brewers and makes sure Dick Yuengling's position is never interrupted," says Mr. Goldstein. "It's not Bud they are trying to put down, it's their fellow small brewers," which haven't yet established themselves. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board says 52 small independent Pennsylvania breweries have gone out of business in the past five years.
  
  Mr. Yuengling insists his rivals are missing the big picture. The looming threat isn't lackluster beer sales or even Anheuser-Busch, he says. It's any move closer to allowing beer sales in supermarkets, which could eventually include big retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Once stores like Wal-Mart are allowed to start selling pallets of deeply discounted beer, he argues, small brewers, beer distributors and even wholesalers could be forced out of business.
  
  Despite Mr. Yuengling's opposition, many believe change is inevitable, and Yuengling, which derives an estimated 65% of its sales from its home state, would be particularly vulnerable.

• Red_Skin_Pride

  

  ts1227 wrote:

  swamisez wrote: It has to be one of those scenarios where people claim to love it simply because they don't have free access to it.
  
  Yuengling is a fine beer, but seems hardly as good as many claim it is.
  
  Have any of you tried Sam Adams, Fat Tire, anything from Avery in Boulder? So many great beers yet I hear all of the Ohioans talking up Yuengling.
  
  Someone enlighten me as to its unknown novelty?

  All the other stuff you mentioned is too damn heavy.
  
  Yuengling is a great balance right in between. More to it than a Bud Light or Miller, but not as full bodied as a Sam Adams (which has an aftertaste that is like a slow rot moving down your esophagus)

  
  
  You need to try Sam Light. I hate Boston Lager and Same light is my FAVORITE American beer and it's not even close.
• bigdaddy2003

  

  Yuengling is pretty good. The real question is what is up with the fascination with Bud Light? lol
• krambman

  

  I don't know that many people who would claim that Yuengling is their favorite beer, just that it is their beer of choice whenever they can get their hands on it (since they can't here in Ohio). Since people would choose it over anything else given the choice, it makes it sound like it's their favorite, but like with anything, if it were readily available, it wouldn't be the regular beer of choice for most people.
  
  I'm a dark beer lover but have never liked Sam Adams. It is not smooth at all and has a very harsh finish and bad aftertaste.
• Heretic

  

  I'm a fan of Yuengling. I think that part of the overall LOVE of it here is that it isn't easily available everywhere in Ohio, but it's still a very good beer.
  
  To me, it goes down as easily as any general domestic swill that I usually drink...but it has substance. If I had regular access to it, I'd probably drink it as rarely as I do now because it goes down too fast to be worth the $$$ it costs. But as a rare choice, it's well worth the money spent.
• UANyg

  I agree with most. Yuengling is a good beer. I enjoy drinking it. It is certainly not the greatest ever, which is what a lot of Ohioans will try to say. I agree that the only reason people say it is so amazing is that you can't get it often in Ohio. I enjoy it as a good beer, but the scarcity in our state has a lot to do with people's fascination with it.
• queencitybuckeye

  There's nothing wrong with it, but there are literally hundreds of better beers out there.
• redstreak one

  

  I look at as a win win situation. Its a full flavored beer without the the big cost. When I can get it, I drink it.
• I Wear Pants

  ^ +1