Yuengling begins brewing beer in Fort Worth today, now that secret recipes were delivered in Texas - The Dallas Morning News

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The beer is almost here.

On an overcast Tuesday morning, representatives from Pennsylvania’s D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery hand-delivered the family’s secret recipes and proprietary yeast strain, signaling that the Molson Coors facility in Fort Worth can now begin to brew Yuengling’s famous lager.

Jen Yuengling, vice president of operations and the oldest of four sixth-generation Yuengling sisters, will oversee the beginning of the brewing process before heading back to the family headquarters in Pottsville, Penn.

The partnership — to brew Yuengling in Texas, and to let Molson Coors take on the production — has taken years to come together. Yuengling is the oldest brewery in the United States, having been established in 1829. Its beer had previously been distributed in the eastern part of the United States only, reaching as far west as Louisiana and Arkansas.

The D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. armored truck was brought down to Texas from Pennsylvania on a flatbed truck. Then it drove into the Molson Coors facility on May 11, 2021, carrying yeast, kept on ice in a cooler, and a book of family beer recipes.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

“Now, they won’t have to smuggle it across state lines,” says Adam Collins, chief communication officer for Molson Coors, of the Texas expansion.

It sounds like a joke, but it isn’t: Beer fanatics all over the country like Yuengling lager for its low price and easydrinking quality, and we talked to several Dallasites who regularly buy it in other states and drive it home to Texas.

The transferring of the secret family recipes and the yeast in Fort Worth on May 11, 2021, was a bit of a marketing stunt, with the Yuengling armored truck driving onto Molson Coors property with two police vehicles before and after it, lights flashing. But, it also marked the first time those handwritten recipes have ever left their Pennsylvania home, Yuengling says.

The recipes are stored in a book, placed inside a crate that had been previously opened with a crowbar. The book — which they didn’t open — has handwritten beer recipes written in calligraphy, Yuengling says.

“You have to do some searching to find the recipes we use,” she says.

The Yuengling Brewery has a book of hand-written recipes.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

Yuengling is now a major beer producer, making 2.6 million barrels per year and reaching nearly two-dozen states. But the operation still feels kind of smalltown, punctuated by the fact that a Yuengling family member followed the recipes and yeast down to Texas to begin a historic expansion for the company.

Yuengling says they picked Molson Coors for the joint venture because that company is a grouping of other famous beer families — the Molsons, the Coors and the Millers. Yuengling and Collins note that there are 18 generations of family brewers represented by Yuengling’s partnership with Molson Coors.

The facility in Fort Worth where Yuengling will be made is the birthplace of Miller Lite. Today, that mega operation also makes high-production beers like Miller Lite and Coors Light.

(From left) Jennifer Yuengling, Edgardo Villarroel and Jim Crawford unload crates carrying the Yuengling family recipes to Molson Coors’ in Fort Worth on May 11, 2021.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

The Fort Worth facility will brew four Yuengling beers: Yuengling Lager (which makes up for more than 75% of the brewery’s sales); Light Lager; Golden Pilsner; and Flight, a super light beer at 95 calories.

Yuengling notes in an interview from January 2021 why the expansion to Texas is significant: “Texas is bigger than our entire north region and the last eight states that we’ve launched, combined,” she says.

Allowing another team to produce the beer in Texas, with a Texas staff, was a decision the family spent much time discussing, Yuengling and her sister Wendy Yuengling have said. It’s one of the reasons it took the 192-year-old company so many years to expand to Texas.

Partnering with Molson Coors was “the best viable option for us,” Jen Yuengling says after the recipes were delivered in Fort Worth. “We have complete confidence and faith in Molson Coors.”

Yuengling’s beers are expected to be for sale in fall 2021 at major grocery stores and liquor stores in Texas. More to come when that date arrives.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.

May 12, 2021 at 01:34AM
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Yuengling begins brewing beer in Fort Worth today, now that secret recipes were delivered in Texas - The Dallas Morning News

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