Because you don't like it, it sucks and nobody should be excited about. Some don't care for Sam Adams, but I remember being excited when I'd see it in San Francisco when I lived there 10 yrs ago. I also get excited when I see Icehouse because it brings back some great memories of college....that doesn't mean it's the greatest beer of all time. Don't be so negative and judgy.
I feel like the commenter's intent was also to get a quick dig in at "transplants" from PA/NJ. Anyone who'd spent any amount of time in Philly knows that Yuengling is a staple there, and so anyone from the PA area will be excited to see it making its way into Boston. The Yuengling also has a deep history being the oldest operating brewery in the U.S. They are more than welcome up here.
Some folks like steak, some folks like hamburger, some folks like hot dogs, some folks like cat food made from beef by-products. To each his (or her) own.
I think that may be part of the point here. Some people drink PBR and Yuengling because it's cool, not because it tastes good. Others might drink it because it is cheap, and you can have 6 of them for less than 10-15 bucks at some bars, I can actually understand that. The 99 in Walpole used to have 'Bud Select' for $1.75 a draft. I am willing to drink a lesser quality beer for that price, and I actually didn't mind Bud selects. Nice light beer actually.
Anyway, if you are eating or drinking something because it is cool, you deserve to be criticized.
Since when has it been "cool" to drink Yuengling? I grew up in Philly, and if you walk into a bar and order a lager, you get a Yuengling every time. People either love Yuengling or they hate it. No one drinks Yuengling because it's "cool".
I'm talking about the Hipster crowd here. And yes, some of them drink PBR and Yuengling because they think it is "cool", the same way I used to by 40 oz. Colt 45s because I thought that was cool.
And they will do it with Yuengling, I've seen it in NYC with a friend of mine who turned hipster (long story).
PBR has been sold in Boston for the last 40 years, but saw a 25% increase in sales recently because all of a sudden people started liking the taste of it?
The industry calls these beers subpremium beer for a reason.
PBR has been a top 10 beer in eastern MA for more than a decade, if the "recent" jump in sales was strictly due to "hipsters" then I think the beer's hipness would have worn off by now. I think a lot of its popularity has more to do with anti-marketing sentiment. If I want to drink a yellow domestic pilsner (made with adjuncts) why spend an extra dollar or more per six pack when all it is doing is paying for the relentless advertising that assaults me?
Of course there may be other reasons, like if the beer was brewed in some sweat-shop brewery or something, or you wanted to get more or less drunk.....
I do not think you should drink a beer because that's what people who act a certain way like to drink.
I was mostly pointing out that it has been too popular for too long to really be considered "hipster" now and that there can be other reasons for choosing a beer (even one that is from a style with a pretty limited range; both Bud & PBR are uninteresting beers that are made very well). I used hatred of advertising as an example and you pointed out another couple of potential reasons. I think we're on the same page here. Let's go grab a beer, you can even choose what kind.
Before PBR was cool , it was a stick draft beer to chase rye whiskey down .As was Narragansett. But Gansett from Cranston had a nice color and head and taste. To me it was the best beer ever built. Before Colt, it was Haffenreffer. Its like the Byrd's' sang ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=W4ga_M5Zdn4#t=6 ). Beer should be cold and many, slàinte . How many of you here remember Schlitz , it was big time once !
First place I saw reviving it locally was the B-Side Lounge in Cambridge. Delux Cafe in the South End has long carried it (though it's currently on a hiatus amidst an ownership change). Most of the places with 100+ beer lists (Bukowski, Sunset) carry it.
Not like it used to be , they used to put a lot of trucks out on the street , nothing but Schlitz on them. That aint happening today with any beer , not even the Budweiser , o
They had it on draft for a long while. My first ever taste of beer was a sip of my dad's Schlitz when I was a tot so I will always have a soft spot for it.
There is a book titled Beer Blast which is a great read on the history of the brewing industry with a lot about its sales & marketing as well. There is an entire chapter "Number Two Schlitz its Wrists" chronicling the brewery's missteps leading to its fall. If you are interested in this sort of stuff it is great, written by one of the Van Munchings. It's probably pretty dated now & hard to find but worthwhile.
I lived in Philly and Yeungling wasn't the cool beer, it was the cheap beer that didnt taste like bud/coors/miller. A shot and a lager was $3. If you want to talk about people drinking "cool" beers, ask yourself why bud/coors/miller spends so much on marketing and advertising. That doesnt make it taste better, it just makes it cooler (to some people) and entices them to buy inferior beer.
tastes pretty good, as macro adjunct lagers go, and quite a bit better than the most popular mass-market American beers. I'm one of them, though that style of beer is rarely my first choice. I suppose it's easy to generalize and assume that because some hipsters drink it because they think it's cool, it must be awful. I'd be wary of dismissing something as bad just because people you disdain happen to like it. Even the Andelmans stumble across some good food once in a while.
When it is ice cold, it is much better than your standard 36-37 degree draft. It tastes the same as a Shlitz to me, and is a little better than a Yuengling in my opinion as well.
Hell, there are really only 2 beers that I have ever tried that I did not like, Rolling Rock and Ice House being those two.
Again, to each his own. I occasionally prefer Rolling Rock as a meal accompaniment. It is light enough for me to have a couple with pasta or pizza and not become utterly bloated, but still has a decent taste (again, to me) and delivers enough slight buzz to make the conversation flow, etc., but not so much that you'll still be impaired beyond driving ability when you leave the restaurant.
For the same reasons, although it has a little more body, I like Anchor Steam.
Now, if you want to talk about a high alcohol content, unique taste that remains on the palate for more than a half-minute, and a hipper-than-thou quotient through the roof, try a Golden Monkey ale :-)
Budeiser bought Rolling Rock , closed Latrobe brewery , Sam Adams was almost buying it , then it was going to be contract brewed there, that fell apart , Rolling Rock must be brewed at Bud plants .
You've obviously never been the Philly area. Also, Yuengling is a popular beer in most other parts of the country. Boston has just lived a sheltered life with its Sam and Harpoon.
Something like $400K on an industry kickoff party a couple weeks back.
Its success might hinge on pricing. If they price it cheaply, will it draw enough interest to displace the taps of similar brands that have retro "grandpa's Rust Belt lawnmower beer" appeal, like PBR and High Life, after the novelty wears off? If it's not dirt-cheap, will it stand up to the scrutiny of the beer-geek crowd, given how many thousands of interesting small-producer beers are around these days?
I like the Traditional Lager all right, but their other brews don't excite me so much. I frankly hadn't noticed its absence from retail shelves, though I can recall buying variety packs back when. Seems like moving into this market a few years ago would have been a surer play.
It's a solid mediocre beer, which as mentioned, is a good alternative to your PBR's & gansets, and sure as hell beats out bud light, coors light etc. But it has to be priced that way, I saw a sign somewhere advertising it for $4/pint, even in NYC I hardly ever see it above $3, plus down there you can find beer/shot specials for $5.
The good: it is a style of beer not as common in Boston
The bad: overpriced and really just a little better than bud
The ugly: when you buy a Yuengling, some of your money goes to a fatmouthed, union busting fascist asshole
Yuengling is good, but if you are paying craft beer prices for it.. why bother? And yes I really do enjoy Yuengling. But when im in NJ, i pay $2.50 for a pint.
Boston has it's own great beers, but if were going to import domestic lagers why not Old Style from Chicago? Way better than Yuengling or PBR and just as cheap!
I had some at The Independent in Union Sq last night. My first taste, pretty good cheap beer. I don't understand the extreme sentiment but then I prefer liquor. Still I'll add Yuengling to my cheap beer list when I want to save some cash, it does the trick.
I'm curious what they are selling pints for around Boston. Restaurants up here are buying Yuengling kegs at half the cost of a Sam keg, so it would be reasonable to sell a pint for $3 and change. Yuengling has always been the reliable, drinkable, well priced domestic beer but it won't sell at craft/micro prices after this initial hype period.
Solas on Boylston has it along with their great soft pretzels - pretty nice Philly combo
Comments
Some answers via Twitter
BB in JP
Brendan Behan in JP has it... delicious
Jacob's Corner in Beverly
Jacob's Corner in Beverly debuted it last night on top, mmm.
Bar Louie at Patriot-Place
Bar Louie at Patriot-Place
Who cares. Not even good. Why
Who cares. Not even good. Why are people so hyped over this when we have so many other great beers?
It's hyped by all the
It's hyped by all the transplants from PA/NJ that never shut up about this mediocre beer. It's not bad, but it's not good.
I'll stick with Narragansett when I want cheap beer
Yes
Because you don't like it, it sucks and nobody should be excited about. Some don't care for Sam Adams, but I remember being excited when I'd see it in San Francisco when I lived there 10 yrs ago. I also get excited when I see Icehouse because it brings back some great memories of college....that doesn't mean it's the greatest beer of all time. Don't be so negative and judgy.
Well put...
I feel like the commenter's intent was also to get a quick dig in at "transplants" from PA/NJ. Anyone who'd spent any amount of time in Philly knows that Yuengling is a staple there, and so anyone from the PA area will be excited to see it making its way into Boston. The Yuengling also has a deep history being the oldest operating brewery in the U.S. They are more than welcome up here.
Surprisingly,
Some people like different beers than you. Who knew....
Taste Is Always Subjective
Some folks like steak, some folks like hamburger, some folks like hot dogs, some folks like cat food made from beef by-products. To each his (or her) own.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
It isn't always about taste though Suldog......
I think that may be part of the point here. Some people drink PBR and Yuengling because it's cool, not because it tastes good. Others might drink it because it is cheap, and you can have 6 of them for less than 10-15 bucks at some bars, I can actually understand that. The 99 in Walpole used to have 'Bud Select' for $1.75 a draft. I am willing to drink a lesser quality beer for that price, and I actually didn't mind Bud selects. Nice light beer actually.
Anyway, if you are eating or drinking something because it is cool, you deserve to be criticized.
You're way off...
Since when has it been "cool" to drink Yuengling? I grew up in Philly, and if you walk into a bar and order a lager, you get a Yuengling every time. People either love Yuengling or they hate it. No one drinks Yuengling because it's "cool".
I'm not talking about people in Philly.....
I'm talking about the Hipster crowd here. And yes, some of them drink PBR and Yuengling because they think it is "cool", the same way I used to by 40 oz. Colt 45s because I thought that was cool.
Huh
Nobody here drank Yuengling because it was cool. It hasn't been sold here.
Not true
I can remember buying variety cases of Yuengling in MA liquor stores in the 90s, four different six-packs in one box.
Shoot me...
It hasn't been sold here IN A WHILE, thus the big release/marketing campaign by the company.
Hipsters did it with PBR....
And they will do it with Yuengling, I've seen it in NYC with a friend of mine who turned hipster (long story).
PBR has been sold in Boston for the last 40 years, but saw a 25% increase in sales recently because all of a sudden people started liking the taste of it?
The industry calls these beers subpremium beer for a reason.
recently?
PBR has been a top 10 beer in eastern MA for more than a decade, if the "recent" jump in sales was strictly due to "hipsters" then I think the beer's hipness would have worn off by now. I think a lot of its popularity has more to do with anti-marketing sentiment. If I want to drink a yellow domestic pilsner (made with adjuncts) why spend an extra dollar or more per six pack when all it is doing is paying for the relentless advertising that assaults me?
You should drink what tastes better.....
Or is cheaper if you want to save money.
Of course there may be other reasons, like if the beer was brewed in some sweat-shop brewery or something, or you wanted to get more or less drunk.....
I do not think you should drink a beer because that's what people who act a certain way like to drink.
Plenty of reason for choice
I was mostly pointing out that it has been too popular for too long to really be considered "hipster" now and that there can be other reasons for choosing a beer (even one that is from a style with a pretty limited range; both Bud & PBR are uninteresting beers that are made very well). I used hatred of advertising as an example and you pointed out another couple of potential reasons. I think we're on the same page here. Let's go grab a beer, you can even choose what kind.
Before PBR was cool , it was
Before PBR was cool , it was a stick draft beer to chase rye whiskey down .As was Narragansett. But Gansett from Cranston had a nice color and head and taste. To me it was the best beer ever built. Before Colt, it was Haffenreffer. Its like the Byrd's' sang ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=W4ga_M5Zdn4#t=6 ). Beer should be cold and many, slàinte . How many of you here remember Schlitz , it was big time once !
Schlitz is still around
First place I saw reviving it locally was the B-Side Lounge in Cambridge. Delux Cafe in the South End has long carried it (though it's currently on a hiatus amidst an ownership change). Most of the places with 100+ beer lists (Bukowski, Sunset) carry it.
I believe...
Ward 8 has it in the North End, maybe Trade as well.
Shlitz went away and came back.....
Not to many bars have it, but a lotkf packies do.
Not like it used to be ,
Not like it used to be , they used to put a lot of trucks out on the street , nothing but Schlitz on them. That aint happening today with any beer , not even the Budweiser , o
JJ Foley's
They had it on draft for a long while. My first ever taste of beer was a sip of my dad's Schlitz when I was a tot so I will always have a soft spot for it.
Schlitz its Wrists
There is a book titled Beer Blast which is a great read on the history of the brewing industry with a lot about its sales & marketing as well. There is an entire chapter "Number Two Schlitz its Wrists" chronicling the brewery's missteps leading to its fall. If you are interested in this sort of stuff it is great, written by one of the Van Munchings. It's probably pretty dated now & hard to find but worthwhile.
http://www.amazon.ca/Beer-Blast-Brewing-Industrys-Bizarre/dp/toc/0812963911
I lived in Philly and
I lived in Philly and Yeungling wasn't the cool beer, it was the cheap beer that didnt taste like bud/coors/miller. A shot and a lager was $3. If you want to talk about people drinking "cool" beers, ask yourself why bud/coors/miller spends so much on marketing and advertising. That doesnt make it taste better, it just makes it cooler (to some people) and entices them to buy inferior beer.
There are plenty of people who think PBR
tastes pretty good, as macro adjunct lagers go, and quite a bit better than the most popular mass-market American beers. I'm one of them, though that style of beer is rarely my first choice. I suppose it's easy to generalize and assume that because some hipsters drink it because they think it's cool, it must be awful. I'd be wary of dismissing something as bad just because people you disdain happen to like it. Even the Andelmans stumble across some good food once in a while.
PBR is ok in my opinion.
When it is ice cold, it is much better than your standard 36-37 degree draft. It tastes the same as a Shlitz to me, and is a little better than a Yuengling in my opinion as well.
Hell, there are really only 2 beers that I have ever tried that I did not like, Rolling Rock and Ice House being those two.
Back To My Point
Again, to each his own. I occasionally prefer Rolling Rock as a meal accompaniment. It is light enough for me to have a couple with pasta or pizza and not become utterly bloated, but still has a decent taste (again, to me) and delivers enough slight buzz to make the conversation flow, etc., but not so much that you'll still be impaired beyond driving ability when you leave the restaurant.
For the same reasons, although it has a little more body, I like Anchor Steam.
Now, if you want to talk about a high alcohol content, unique taste that remains on the palate for more than a half-minute, and a hipper-than-thou quotient through the roof, try a Golden Monkey ale :-)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Ha, I forgot that Rolling Rock was the hipster beer
we're going way back now . . . .
Budeiser bought Rolling Rock
Budeiser bought Rolling Rock , closed Latrobe brewery , Sam Adams was almost buying it , then it was going to be contract brewed there, that fell apart , Rolling Rock must be brewed at Bud plants .
O'Leary's
O'Leary's in Brookline has it.
JW
Jacob Wirth is having a release party on Wednesday evening.
Boston Beer Garden
In Southie posted a picture of it on their Facebook today.
Love me some Yuengling.
Yeah, check the bathroom in
Yeah, check the bathroom in your local bar.
Is this the new hipster beer?
I've had it, it was not memorable. There are 50 things on tap in Boston that are better.
Yuengling: it's the new PBR.
WRONG
You've obviously never been the Philly area. Also, Yuengling is a popular beer in most other parts of the country. Boston has just lived a sheltered life with its Sam and Harpoon.
Wrong question.
Wrong question.
The question is, is it being priced right?
In NJ, I get pitchers for $7.
Hands down the best pitcher under $10. By a barrel.
Yuengling spent a lot of money launching the brand here
Something like $400K on an industry kickoff party a couple weeks back.
Its success might hinge on pricing. If they price it cheaply, will it draw enough interest to displace the taps of similar brands that have retro "grandpa's Rust Belt lawnmower beer" appeal, like PBR and High Life, after the novelty wears off? If it's not dirt-cheap, will it stand up to the scrutiny of the beer-geek crowd, given how many thousands of interesting small-producer beers are around these days?
I like the Traditional Lager all right, but their other brews don't excite me so much. I frankly hadn't noticed its absence from retail shelves, though I can recall buying variety packs back when. Seems like moving into this market a few years ago would have been a surer play.
McGreevey's Has it
It's a solid mediocre beer, which as mentioned, is a good alternative to your PBR's & gansets, and sure as hell beats out bud light, coors light etc. But it has to be priced that way, I saw a sign somewhere advertising it for $4/pint, even in NYC I hardly ever see it above $3, plus down there you can find beer/shot specials for $5.
It's at West on Centre in
It's at West on Centre in West Roxbury.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
The good: it is a style of beer not as common in Boston
The bad: overpriced and really just a little better than bud
The ugly: when you buy a Yuengling, some of your money goes to a fatmouthed, union busting fascist asshole
So...........
So...........
How much are bars charging for it?
when its expensive..
Yuengling is good, but if you are paying craft beer prices for it.. why bother? And yes I really do enjoy Yuengling. But when im in NJ, i pay $2.50 for a pint.
Beer
Boston has it's own great beers, but if were going to import domestic lagers why not Old Style from Chicago? Way better than Yuengling or PBR and just as cheap!
Blanchards in Allston has it.
Blanchards in Allston has it.
The Independent
I had some at The Independent in Union Sq last night. My first taste, pretty good cheap beer. I don't understand the extreme sentiment but then I prefer liquor. Still I'll add Yuengling to my cheap beer list when I want to save some cash, it does the trick.
Yuengling and Tasty-Kakes
are two of the better things PA has bestowed on the world. That said, yuengling shouldn't be expensive.
I'm curious what they are
I'm curious what they are selling pints for around Boston. Restaurants up here are buying Yuengling kegs at half the cost of a Sam keg, so it would be reasonable to sell a pint for $3 and change. Yuengling has always been the reliable, drinkable, well priced domestic beer but it won't sell at craft/micro prices after this initial hype period.
Solas on Boylston has it along with their great soft pretzels - pretty nice Philly combo
Punters
Has officially tapped their first keg. I am a whiteness. Unfotunatly (said no one ever), they had to give shock top the boot...
Just had one
At Tasty Burger in Fenway
Kelley's Pub in East Boston
Kelley's Pub in East Boston has it.
$3 on tap at Newtowne Grill in Porter Square
according to a sign on the sidewalk outside.