D.G. Yuengling & Son

The tour is short but sweet, about 40 – 45 minutes. The coolest part of the tour is walking through the underground tunnels, dug in the 1800s, where they used to keep the beer cold back before refrigeration and seeing all the old beer bottles and ads. Our tour guide was Debbie. She was a great tour guide. Very fun, energetic, and personable. Be aware that on the tour, you will be walking up and down steep steps a few times and experience some strong smells and temperature changes. Also, the brewery has no parking lot. I suggest parking in the metered parking garage at the corner of Mahantongo & 2^nd St. You could probably park on the street, too, but we tried 2 meters on the street first and they both stole our quarters.

Just tasted the IPL, India Pale Lager. It is awful. I am a Yuengling supporter but this brew is terrible.

Best brewery tour that I have been on. Went with my wife and another couple. Totally worth the effort. Great tour, tour guide and venue. What’s not to love about the oldest brewery in America. Tasting room afterwards was very enjoyable. Small brewery that takes real pride in what they do. They allow you to walk right up to the production line… I mean within inches. This is something you need to do and will regret missing out.

I wish I had the same experience as Jim H. I too arrived 15 minutes late and was told the last tour just left however when I said, Unilocal said you guys are open until 4, she replied «Yeah, but the last tour left 15 minutes ago» I said oh, and asked if their was a tasting room or a place to grab a bite to eat and she said «no food, just a tasting room at the end of the tour.» Okay… got it. no tour. no beer. check and check. I get that they can’t make exceptions for everyone and that their tour guides have set hours but I would have liked a little more empathy. We poked around the gift shop, some very cool items, some very cheaply made crap from china. I hope to get back for a tour and I hope this disgruntled lady isn’t my guide.

Being the oldest brewery in the USA, you can expect an extensive history lesson during the free tour. I learned about the brewery itself, the products they produce (including ice cream) and the family that has operated Yuengling for generations. An interesting fact, the brewery is bought from one generation to the next. During our tour we were also shown part of the brewery’s production including the canning line as well as the infamous cave. If you don’t like beer, you might like the history. If you aren’t a big history buff, hold on til the end of the tour when you’ll be rewarded with samples.
It should be noted that the tour is long (I think ours lasted about an hour or so) and you cannot wear open toed shoes. Street parking is available, but you’ll need change for the meter.
Each tour ends in the cozy tasting room with a few cold refreshing samples of their beer. Another important note: they might be more generous when you’re in a smaller group on a slow weekday.

Fun, informative, and free tour with two beer tastings. I’ve been on the tour twice with out of town friends. The tour guides/​bartenders are easy going and you can tell they enjoy what they do. You get closer to the bottling action than any other brewery tour that I’ve been on. I am excited to check it out again when the new gift shop opens across the street.

We showed up at Yuengling about an hour before it closed, on a whim on our way home from camping. We walked in and asked about the tour and were informed that while the museum and gift shop are open until 4, the last tour left about 15 minutes ago.
Maybe we looked particularly disappointed and pathetic but the awesome woman at the gift shop, Joanne, gave a determined look and said, «Follow Me». After buying a $ 5 pair of shoes because I was wearing the forbidden open toed sandals, she whisked us on the tour.
Not only did she catch us up with the last tour, but she gave us the cliff notes tour along the way. It was really nice of her and she didn’t seem to skip anything.
We connected with the tour and Joanne went back to the gift shop. The tour was awesome and culminated in a free beer tasting (the tour was also free).
While it was just a small plastic cup filled with their delicious Porter, we definitely raised it to the great Joanne.

Had a great time on the tour. It’s more of a historical tour than actually getting to see everything, but our tour guide was very knowledgeable. Samples of beer at the end was an added bonus, and the tour is free! Check for times on their website, and they do have tours during the weekdays.

I have toured several major (Coors, Anheiser Busch, Pacifico, etc) and micro/​craft breweries. This is by far the most interesting. The tour is rich with history and you get to explore the caves from pre prohibition. Our guide was energetic, fun and didn’t spend too much time on the technical stuff. If you’re passing through, take the time to do this.

So much fun! The tour guide was beyond knowledgable and had a great, upbeat personality. Would definitely recommend the tour to beer lovers and history buffs.

The brewery tour was excellent and definitely worth doing! Being the oldest brewery in America makes it a very nostalgic stop. It lasted about an hour, and the tour guide was very knowledgeable on the history and the beer making process. If you go on a Monday, you get to see the bottling process which is only done on that day. You also get two samples of beer at the end of the tour (not bad for a free tour). They have a nice gift shop with an array of T-​shirts, tap handles and other memorabilia. We even saw Dick Yuengling outside of the brewery. He was very nice and spoke to us for a bit.

Awesome tour! This is a must for tour bucket list. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and funny! Be sure to visit the gift shop/​museum.

Great tour, really interesting. Tasting a few of the products and buying a souvenir in the gift shop added to the experience.

Yuengling is my favorite beer so it was awesome to get to tour the brewery. The tour guide was great and the tour was informational and quite enjoyable. It was cool to see the aged brewery and learn about its history. Equally as awesome is capping the tour off with some free beer samples in the old bar. Definitely worth a trip if you enjoy beer, and best of all it’s free!

My five-​star review is specifically due to our tour guide, Elaine. She was awesome. You know, that happy Disney kind of awesome that’s hard to find. She made the tour quite fun. I’d been here before but missed the tour. Getting a second chance was a real treat. I’m a fan of Yuengling beer and the idea of a family-​owned business that hasn’t sold out to foreign ownership or massive shareholder demands. The Lager is my «go to» beer.
Getting to Pottsville isn’t that hard but navigating the town’s one-​way, no turn on red streets can be challenging in the winter — it’s hilly here, folks. There’s no parking lot that I could find but there’s metered parking and each hour is only a quarter. A bargain. Meters are limited to 3 hours. That’s plenty of time to park, enjoy the tour, and shop for some souvenirs.
If IPAs or super hoppy beer is your thing, Yuengling probably isn’t your cup of tea but they did divulge an upcoming IPL (India Pale Lager.) Perhaps the hoppy-​happy folks will like it! I tried that Boston’ brewer’s Double Agent IPL and didn’t really care for it but excessive hops just make me nauseous.
So the tour is basically of what you’d totally never expect if you’ve been to one of the giant beer conglomerates. This is, as you might imagine when you’re told it’s America’s oldest brewery, a very old building with very old construction. Lots of steep, narrow staircases on the tour — it’s not handicap accessible. It’s also probably not for the larger Americans who need an electric cart to navigate the grocery store aisles.
You get to see where the beer is mixed, fermented, pasteurized, and bottled/​canned. We saw the canning process on our tour. Speedy little operation but volume is less than their other two locations. A neat historical touch is the tour of the caves where the kegs used to be stored including the «prohibition walls» erected by the government during prohibition. The stained glass ceiling was a really nice architectural touch.
The tasting at the end of the tour was great and there’s a store not too far down 61 where you can get not only a couple of cases to take home but also stop at Weis to snag some Black and Tan ice cream (not beer… Belgian dark chocolate and salted caramel ice cream!) It’s on the bottom shelf… look for it. Yellow lids. PA blue laws only allow Weis to sell a couple of six packs but Scanlans (same parking lot) will sell you cases and cases of beer.
This was a fun and informative tour!

We took a tour of the brewery on a Friday afternoon. Tours are free and includes 2 beer samples (6 – 8 ounce cups). When you walk in, follow signs for the gift shop and the tour starts there. Did I mention NO COST!
The building is really neat with cool history. This is my favorite beer and it was such a treat to come here.
Tours are not great for children, and be prepared to walk up and down very steep stairwells. Would not recommend it if you have a medial condition. MUST wear closed toe shoes or you cannot take the tour.
The gift shop was nice but small, staff was friendly. Come early because traffic going in and out of the town was heavy (Friday afternoon).

This brewery was off the charts incredible! The history was so fun to learn. Our tour guide Vicki did an amazing job showing us around and teaching us all about the brewery and its history. To top it all off we were able to taste the beers at the end. Make sure to stop by the gift shop, they have some great deals!

Great tour of a really cool Brewery. If your into history. and beer this is a win win situation. The tour is filled with some great stories and great information about the D.G. Yuengling company, and takes you to every corner of Americas oldest brewery.
One stand out of the tour are the caves beneath the brewery used to keep the beer cold before refrigeration, and the brick wall built by the feds during prohibition. The best part of the tour are the 2 free beer samples that follow the tour (or Birch Beer if not of age or driving). Overall a great experience, and highly recommended.
One heads up bring some change for the meter parking in front of the brewery. 3 Quarters will get you through the tour, and about 45 minutes extra.

WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!
The tours are free, and you learn so many things about their rich history. The tours are best and take you below ground to where they used to keep the beer cool. The temperature literally dropped 30 degrees. We went in the middle of august so you can imagine how hot it was outside!
A free beer at the end is the icing on the cake.
Parking is a little rough on the narrow hilly roads, so just make sure you give yourself extra time for parking!

As a huge fan of history and beer, I had to tour Yuengling before I moved out of PA back in June. Seriously, who could pass up a chance to tour the oldest brewery in the US???
The tour is pretty fun since you get to walk through a cave underneath the brewery and get to learn the history of the brewery (especially during prohibition). However, the tasting is just really bad — not bad because they skimp you or make you pay, it’s bad because the beer is bad. The regular lager is actually a solid lager and very drinkable. The other beers are just downright disgusting and should not be made, ever again. Shame on you Yuengling for being around so long and not crafting a better brew!
Bottom line — go for the tour, not the beer haha.