As a kid, I thought everyone liked Yuengling. I have sepia-toned memories of my late grandpa helping himself to another “good Pennsylvania beer” while we watched Steelers games at his house near Pittsburgh. He would bring six-packs to Connecticut when he visited, and my parents rejoiced in 2014 when the brewery started shipping to their area again after a long hiatus. They joke about a friend who announced, shortly after Yuengling hit New England shelves, “I just found this new Chinese beer.”
By college, I’d learned Yuengling was actually known for being kind of a crap beer, but to people from Pennsylvania like my parents, the oldest brewery in America was a point of hometown pride, even if its product was just another bottom-shelf pick to the rest of the country. It was a beer dear to my family.
But no more. Trump has ruined it.
On Monday, Eric Trump got a tour of the brewery in Pottsville from owner Dick Yuengling, Jr., who announced his support for Eric’s father Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Thank you to Dick Yuengling for an amazing tour of the oldest brewery in the U.S! @Yuengling_Beer #PottsvillePA #MAGA pic.twitter.com/XrGVbbOiI3
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 24, 2016
And just like that, a beloved brand is forever tainted. It is a Trump beer now. As the Washington Blade reported, bars immediately began pulling the lager from taps, including JR’s Bar and Grill in DC, Ziegfield’s, Secrets, Number 9, Floriana, Stoney’s, Kangaroo Boxing Club, and more. By offering his support to Trump, Dick Yuengling has given ammunition to brand haters and has disgusted and alienated loyal supporters.
Seeing heroes dethroned is part of life, however (and yes, an all-too familiar narrative to Pittsburgh fans). When I called my mom to break the news, her response was immediate.
“Well, we won’t drink it anymore,” she said. “It wasn’t that good.”
At press time, my dad had not yet returned requests for comment on whether he’ll boycott his game-time brew.
Correction: This article originally reported that Donald Trump, Jr. visited the Yuengling brewery. Eric Trump visited the brewery.
Andrea is a fall 2016 editorial fellow at Washingtonian. She graduated from Columbia Journalism School in May and has written for Eater, Outside, and Vice. She lives in Bloomingdale.
