A VISIT TO THE RUINS OF A YUENGLING BREWERY IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – Wynning History
I recently learned that in the wake of the Civil War, a Yuengling set up a brewery in Richmond. Historian Jake Wynn, who is also National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., visited the ruins.
Led by David G. Yuengling, Jr., the group embarked for Richmond in 1866 in an effort to bring beer to the people of the South. They founded the James River Steam Brewery at Rockettes, an industrial neighborhood southeast of downtown Richmond near the site of the Confederate Navy’s repair facilities.
By 1880, the brewery failed.
If I am ever in Richmond, the ruins would be interesting to check out, to the degree that it can be.
It’s been a long time since I drank Yuengling, but it was pretty much the go-to at all those tailgates and other get-togethers with my Penn State friends. Their lager became legendary for its family ownership, but also their limited distribution with people I know from California, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Ohio desperate to get their hands on it.
It isn’t the feel good story we thought it was though.
My Yuengling consumption ended as local and regional breweries like Port City and Devil’s Backbone became available and frankly, provided a superior product. The revelations of Yuengling’s practices (Consumerist) killed off any nostalgia I might have had as well.