David Gottlieb Yuengling (March 2, 1808 – September 27, 1877) was an American businessman and
brewer
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
, the founder and first president of America's oldest brewery,
D. G. Yuengling & Son.
Early life
He was born David Gottlob Jüngling on March 2, 1808, in
Aldingen
Aldingen is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Geography
Aldingen lies on the eastern edge of the Baar region at the foot of the Swabian Jura, and within sight of the Dreifaltigkeitsberg (Holy Trini ...
near
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
in the
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...
, where his father operated the local brewery.
[Reichardt, Eike]
"David Gottlieb Yuengling."
In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 1, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck. German Historical Institute. Last modified November 13, 2014. His older brother Jakob inherited the family brewery, leaving Yuengling with limited career prospects. He emigrated to the United States via
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
.
Career
Yuengling came to
Pottsville, Pennsylvania
Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of th ...
, the location of a thriving
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
mine, and started a brewery in 1829, calling it the Eagle Brewery.
Yuengling brewed British-style ales initially, and later introduced German-style
lager
Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...
.
His son David G. Yuengling Jr. founded the
James River Steam Brewery.
References
1808 births
1877 deaths
American brewers
American people of German descent
People from the Duchy of Württemberg
People from Pottsville, Pennsylvania
Yuengling family
19th-century American businesspeople
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