Beer Review: Yuengling Traditional Lager

Yuengling’s been distributing to Ohio for nearly a year now and I’ve had it multiple times in the past year. As well as a few before that when visiting Pennsylvania. Though in none of those situations have I given this beer a tremendous amount of though. Sure it’s a decent easy drinking beer, but can “America’s oldest brewery” deliver more?

Brewery: Yeungling
Beer: Traditional Lager
Style: American Amber/Red Lager
Alcohol by volume: 4.4%
Ingredients: Caramel malts, cascade, and cluster hops, corn grits

Great brown hue with a slight amber tinge to hit. Perfect clarity with sporadic bubbles from the carbonation. All topped off by a fluffy white head, well it started that way but dropped down fast.

There isn’t much aroma to speak of at all. Maybe a wee bit of grassy hops and a hint of bready malt, or maybe I’m huffing this thing so hard trying to get any aroma I’m imaging that.

The taste is pretty weak to speak of as well. I’m not necessarily saying that in a bad way, just in that it’s not a strong taste and what is there has little presence. In that taste there is some earthy hop flavors with only slight bitterness. The malt is  grainy and sweet.

Crisp, clean, slightly oily and very light bodied mouth feel with a good bit of tingly carbonation.

Yeah… this is a good mass market beer and I greatly prefer it to it’s larger competitors but there is so little to it. I know this lack of impactful flavor is what makes it more popular, the less flavor the less for people to get upset about. Sadly, this is exactly what I dislike about it. I enjoy beer because of the great, complex, and varying flavors out there. I definitely enjoy having this in a bar or a party, but if I’m gonna sit down for a beer to enjoy at the end of the day this is far from that.

Oh, it also sucks to spell and I’m no fan of green bottles but that’s a story for another day.