POTTSVILLE, Pa. — A world-famous brewery is expanding production and taking its beer to the west for the first time.
America's oldest brewer is headed to the Lonestar state.
D.G. Yuengling and Sons' iconic beers will soon be brewed at Molson Coors' facilities in Texas, bringing Yuengling to the west.
"We have these three iconic brewing families: Miller, Molson, and of course our Yuengling family, of whom we are the sixth generation family members," said Jennifer Yuengling, vice president of operations. "We’re just trying to bring some excitement and the rich tradition of our recipes and our brands and take them west."
On Friday, all four Yuengling sisters —Jennifer, Wendy, Debbie, and Cheryl—helped seal an original recipe book in a wooden crate on its way to Texas.
"We’re taking the uniqueness of that and just reinforcing the genuineness," Jennifer said.
"It was important to us to make sure it was our same quality recipes, our same yeast strain, and everything that goes into our original beers that we make here," said Wendy Yuengling, chief administrative officer. "We’re going to deliver the same high-quality products out west."
They say everything is bigger in Texas, so the armored truck carrying the recipe should fit right in. Its fortified walls will carry the proprietary formula securely, all the way to Forth Worth.
The sisters helped load the recipe's box into the back of the truck and watched as the truck pulled away, escorted by Pottsville Police.
Jennifer Yuengling will make the three-day journey too. She and a fellow executive will meet with brewers in Texas to make sure their final product looks, smells, and tastes just right.
"We stay on top of it. We go through the brands and the recipes with them," Jennifer said. "We go through the whole tasting process with them, and we ensure that it’s the same flavor profile that we have today in our 22-state footprint that we have in Texas."
Executives say it's a big milestone for the company, made possible by high demand.
"We’ve been an east coast brewer all this time, and now we finally have an opportunity to expand west, and we’re doing it with tight control over our quality and our recipes," Wendy said. "It’s very exciting. I think we’re all really proud of the fact that we can continue to expand the brand."
The first Texas-made bottles and cans of Yuengling beer are expected to hit store shelves in the west by the fall.