March 31, 2017
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
24-pack cases of Yuengling's Traditional Lager are boxed on the production line at the Pottsville, PA, brewery on the first day of canning since the redesign, Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
Richard "Dick" Yuengling, the CEO of D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery, said Philadelphia "really eviscerated" his company after he gave President Donald Trump's son a tour of his Pottsville facility last fall, BillyPenn reported Friday.
Yuengling, 73, called some of the reaction he got to showing Eric Trump around "vulgar," though others did send letters of support, but overall, people who said they would stop drinking his beer didn't impact sales at "America's oldest brewery."
“I didn’t expect it would be such a big story,” Yuengling told to BillyPenn. “The boy just wanted a tour, so I said, 'Sure.' But then it got picked up by the media. They really eviscerated us in Philly.”
Yuengling participated in a panel discussion Thursday during an event called "Meeting of the Malts VI" in Bethlehem. It's unclear if Yuengling made the comments on stage or directly to BillyPenn reporter Danya Henninger.
Yuengling is, of course, referring to the incident last fall when some drinkers disavowed the beer after The Reading Eagle reported Eric Trump had toured the Pottsville brewery.
"Our guys are behind your father," Yuengling said, according to the newspaper. "We need him in there."
Thank you to Dick Yuengling for an amazing tour of the oldest brewery in the U.S! @Yuengling_Beer #PottsvillePA #MAGA pic.twitter.com/XrGVbbOiI3
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 24, 2016
Drinkers took to social media after the meeting, promising they wouldn't drink the beer again. It even generated a hashtag – #neverYuengling.
Though it's been months after the election, some say they're staying true to their word, given reactions to coverage of the brewery's recent label redesign.
Despite the controversy, the company still secured the No. 1 spot in the Brewers Association's "Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewers 2016" published earlier this month. It's the third year in a row Yuengling has held the top spot.
