“Wait, they don’t have Yuengling in Boston?”
It’s a question that has taunted me for years. My friends were always incredulous about this arrangement, and they likely ascribed it to our Puritan heritage and aversion to happy hours. Embarrassment aside, it has always been annoying that you couldn’t buy Yuengling — a beer from the oldest brewery in America! — in Boston. In recent years I had been reduced to a kind of “legal bootlegging,” bringing a case back to Boston with me any time my travels took me to Pennsylvania.
(True story: One time, upon returning from a weekend in Philadelphia, I was carrying a case of Yuengling cans back to my apartment. During the five-minute walk, three different groups of people asked me where I got the Yuengling. They thought I knew a secret or found a stash.)
For as small a town as Boston is, we’re not used to not having stuff.
Smartest people in the world? Got ‘em!
Former presidents? You know it!
Professional sports championships? Ha!
But Yuengling, at least since I’ve been of legal drinking age, has remained elusive here in Massachusetts. And I always assumed it would stay that way forever.
I had never heard of Yuengling before I got to college. I went to school in upstate New York and most of my friends were from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. These guys have been drinking Yuengling for years, and have never thought twice about it. They spoke about it in hushed tones and raised it to mythological levels. It’s had always been available to them in the same way that I don’t remember a time when Sam Adams and Harpoon weren’t on tap here. It’s so second-nature in Philadelphia that folks there don’t have to order it by name.
“I’ll have a lager,” is the preferred verbiage.
That fact that you couldn’t buy Yuengling in Massachusetts has no doubt added to its legend here. For 20 years it was unattainable. The forbidden fruit.
“Even if I don’t feel like a Yuengling right now, I want to be able to get one.”
That all changed last October when Yuengling announced it was finally returning to Boston. I remember seeing the news on Twitter while racing to a meeting, and I couldn't believe it. Thanks to two weddings and a “guy’s weekend,” the announcement happened to come right after I had spent a lot of time Philadelphia, New York, and North Carolina — three places that all sell Yuengling. Over those two and a half months, I ordered Yuengling any time I could. Although it’s an above average-tasting beer, its novelty is what has always drawn me in. If I was in Philadelphia for work, why would I order a Sam Adams or a Heineken or a Bud Light when I could get those at home? Ten times out of ten, I’ll have a Yueng—oops …lager.
The novelty of not being able to buy Yuengling in Boston had become a running joke, even inspiring a “Bring Yuengling to New England” Facebook page that has more than 16,000 likes. (I guess it worked?) I never actually thought it would come here, and in a way that was perfectly fine. I think a small part of me liked not being able to buy it here, because it was a treat to drink while traveling for work or fun. Some people think us Red Sox fans haven’t been the same after the team ended it’s 86-year drought, and I think there’s a paralell with Yuengling.
Now that the novelty is gone, will I still want drink it? Yes. The answer is yes.
Last week, Yuengling announced that the beer would begin appearing in liquor and package stores the first week of March, and a region-wide rollout would begin February 24. Over the next two weeks, Yuengling is holding launch events at bars and restaurants across the city. On most nights, there will be several events to choose from, and I’m going to attempt to attend at least one event or one different bar each night. Ten nights, (at least) 10 Yuenglings.
This is by no means about getting drunk or going out as much as humanly possible; it’s about properly celebrating something I spent a lot of time thinking about. Along the way, I’m hoping to try some new bars, see some old friends, and maybe even make some new ones. I hope Boston embraces Yuengling, and I look forward to seeing it at my local tavern, at Red Sox games, on beaches, on tailgating tables — you get the idea.
Tonight, I’ll be heading over to the Boston Beer Garden in Southie at 8 p.m., and next Friday I’ll be at The Kinsale in Government Center after work. And in between? Not sure, but I hope you follow along at #10DaysOfYuengling.
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