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COVID-19 halts Yuengling keg sales as draft beer not being purchased at restaurants, bars

The coronavirus continues to affect businesses in our area, particularly breweries.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — Yuengling Brewery, known as America's oldest, says its sales of kegs have halted due to the closure of restaurants and bars.

At Yuengling's second brewery in East Norweigan Township, just outside Pottsville, the conveyor belt rattled away as bottles zipped by, getting filled with the company's beer and arranged into packages, ready to be shipped to stores and beer distributors.

But what's not bustling off the shelves are the kegs filled with Yuengling's brew.

Yuengling's kegged beer sales have stalled as COVID-19 has halted bars and restaurants from selling draft beers.

“All the downswing of on-premise, when I say on-premise, I mean bars, restaurants, sporting venues where much of our draft beer is being sold,” said Jennifer Yuengling, the vice president of operations and the sixth generation of Yuenglings to run America's Oldest Brewery.

Established in Pottsville in 1829, Yuengling celebrated its 190th anniversary just last year.

Jennifer says over those years, the company survived world wars, even a war on alcohol: Prohibition.

It will survive this pandemic.

Unfortunately, what won't survive is most of the kegged beer, which will go stale and have to be sent to a third-party decanter.

 “What a decanter does is they remove and they safety dispose of the beer or they may use it for issues such as hand sanitizers,” explained Yuengling.

And while kegs aren't being filled, bottle and can sales are up, so the company can shift its workforce in that area.

“Oh, yeah, we're real busy,” said Jesse Gill, a forklift operator at the brewery. “Fortunately, enough to be in a business that's in demand and working for a company that takes care of us.”

Yuengling is also taking care of those who pour and serve its draft beer, by providing emergency funding to workers in the bar and restaurant industry.

“Who need the financial assistance, especially those who are working closely in the beer industry, such as bartenders, servers, those employees we know have been impacted,” said Jessica Seiders, the communications director for Yuengling.

Yuengling will begin selling beer which can be bought in-store or by curbside pickup on Friday, May 8.

More details can be found on the company’s website.

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