Sept. 17 - Yuengling Brewery

“I only go out to get a fresh appetite for being alone.” -Lord Byron

On our way home from Lancaster county we decided to visit the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville. Yuengling was founded in 1829 by German immigrant David G. Yuengling making it the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. It's been run by the same family for six generations. Originally known as the Eagle Brewery it was renamed in 1873 to D.G. Yuengling & Son. 

We waited for the tour start in the gift shop...of course and it ended in the tap room where we were treated to samples of their beer. During the tour we learned how the brewery has operated since the beginning.

Yuengling has endured because its owners were willing to change the business without discarding its identity. During Prohibition they switched to producing “near beer” containing no more than 0.5% alcohol and constructed a dairy across from the brewery where they sold milk and ice cream. It was a practical response to an existential problem. Yuengling already understood production, refrigeration, packaging and distribution. The dairy gave the family another source of revenue while alcoholic beer production was prohibited. When Prohibition ended Yuengling celebrated by brewing Winner Beer and sending a truckload to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Yuengling now operates its historic brewery and Mill Creek facility in the Pottsville area, along with a brewery in Tampa, Florida. Traditional Lager remains the flagship, while the current lineup also includes Light Lager, FLIGHT, Black & Tan, Golden Pilsner, Lord Chesterfield Ale, Dark Brewed Porter, Premium, Premium Light and Bongo Fizz.

A fire destroyed the original 1829 building; the current brewery was rebuilt on Mahantongo Street in 1831.

This is the store and tap room now. When the building was built it was the dairy and creamery.

Our tour began in the rack room. It was where "rackers" would transfer beer from the conditioning or fermentation tanks into kegs or barrels. The process was all done by hand. At Yuengling, a well-known perk of being a racker was that any kegs that failed to seal perfectly during the filling process were left aside for the workers to enjoy themselves.

The beer caves were hand-dug between 1831 and 1841. Carved out by local coal miners using basic hand tools rather than explosives. It was used for cold storage, aging and fermenting beer at a steady, natural temperature before mechanical refrigeration existed.

Murals and a stained glass ceiling in the brew house. The ceiling was installed in the 1930s to cut down the sunlight that would heat up the copper kettles. The kettles are now made out of stainless steel. The murals show the cooperage shop, a bottle washing crew and a man holding a bottle of "Winner" beer, the first label to leave the brewery after Prohibition.

The historic workers' lunch room at the brewery is known as The Rathskeller. In the years before modern workplace safety regulations, Yuengling workers used this basement bar during their lunch breaks to eat and enjoy free brewery beer. It was built in 1936 shortly after the repeal of Prohibition was repealed. 

This is part of the modern production line.

The Yuengling tasting room (tap room). I tried the Golden Pilsner and Bongo Fizz and Stan had the Lord Chesterfield Ale and Dark Brewed Porter. 

Golden Pilsner was created in 2018. This modern pilsner is pale gold in color and clean in flavor, with a snappy hop bite.  

 

Bongo Fizz was introduced in 2022. It's light, refreshing and crisp. This premium-style beer embodies tropical relaxation, finishing with a juicy burst of natural mango.

 

Lord Chesterfield Ale has been brewed since 1829. It's crafted in a unique two-stage brewing style that utilizes both conventional kettle hopping and dry hopping after fermentation. The result is a dry, sharp finish and a distinct, robust flavor derived from a combination of sweet maltiness and lingering herbal bitterness.

 

Dark Brewed Porter has also been brewed since 1829. Using generous helpings of caramel and dark roasted malts to create a rich, creamy taste with hints of dark chocolate. It offers a smooth character, balanced body and refreshing finish that makes it a truly distinctive Yuengling brew.

Sept. 16 - Lititz, PA

“Don't let someone ruin your peace just because they can't find theirs.” -Unknown

We like going places for Stan’s birthday. It's a great time of year. Not too hot, not too cold and a lot less crowded after Labor Day. We had a nice time in Lancaster and actually went to some nice restaurants to celebrate yesterday. Today we continued the celebration by exploring another town in Lancaster county. Lititz is just eight miles north of Lancaster and filled with a lot of history and charm. It’s known for its rich Moravian heritage, unique shops and sweet chocolate aroma. It was founded by the Moravian Church in 1756.

Lititz was the first community in Pennsylvania to establish a historic district, so many of the buildings in town date back to 1700-1800s. Other notable things about this cute little town: home to the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in America founded in 1861, Wilbur Chocolate founded in 1894 and the oldest all-girls boarding school, Linden Hall, founded in 1746. The town is beautiful...the perfect spot for a little getaway.

Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery

Wilbur Chocolate

Linden Hall

Just a few of the old buildings on Main Street. Several of these were built in 1730.

We stayed at The Lititz Springs Inn. The inn has operated continuously since 1764 and claims the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously operating inns in Pennsylvania. We ate at the inn's restaurant. We actually ate lunch and dinner there. It was such a nice day we wanted to sit outside and it was the best place we could find. For dinner we ate in one of their historic dining rooms.

The patio at the Inn.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal. Stan had the wild crimson snapper with butter bean, summer squash & sweet corn succotash, basmati rice. I had sea scallops with bacon jam, saffron-cauliflower puree, melted leeks and wilted garlic spinach.

The Bulls Head Pub is also in the inn. It's an authentic English pub.

We started our visit in Lititz at the Lititz Springs Park. This pretty little park was created in 1741 by the Moravian settlers. Natural springs bubble up through the limestone foundation and feed a stream that meanders through the park and under charming stone bridges. The town hosts all kinds of events here during the year. I think we could have spent the whole day just relaxing in the park, but there were other places to explore so we moved on. We spent most of the day enjoying the weather, looking at the old buildings and wandering through little shops.

There were so many cute shops full of all kinds of things.

Sept. 15 - Lancaster, PA

"Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already." -Dave Willis

We're trying to take advantage of the nice weather to do a little more exploring in our area. There's so much to see and do. We've spent a few days in the Lancaster area back in 2019, mostly learning about the Amish, but we didn't spend any time in the city of Lancaster. So today we thought we'd see what we missed and celebrate Stan's birthday.

Lancaster was settled in the 1720's and is one of the oldest inland towns in the United States. It's best known for its Amish population, having the largest and oldest settlement of Amish in the U.S. It also was the home of James Buchanan, our 15th president, and is the 8th largest city in Pennsylvania.  

Lancaster Central Market. Founded in 1730 as part of the town’s original design, the market is the longest continuously operating public market in the country. Its 60-some vendors offer a little bit of the old – from fresh local produce, homemade canned and dried goods, and family-owned meat, seafood, and poultry options – to the new, including Puerto Rican, Thai, and West African foods.  

The Central Market

We had a small lunch at C'est La Vie outside the market. It was one of the only outside places to eat that we could find. The day was so pretty we just couldn't sit inside.

Downtown Lancaster

Penn Square in downtown Lancaster.

We went to The Exchange for happy hour. It's located on the top of the Marriott. What a great view of the city.

The views...

From the highest spot we could eat to the lowest. We had dinner at Proof. It's owned by the son of some friends of ours. The food was wonderful, but there was definitely no view in this cave-like restaurant. Stan had the haddock stuffed with crab and I had the cavatelli.