Got Beer? Help Your Local Economy With a Local Vacation

When most people want to take vacations or trips, they usually want to go to exotic places like the Caribbean or Paris. This is all fine and dandy, but did you ever think of the benefit of going somewhere right here in the good old United States? That thought had never really occurred to me until this past weekend when I went home to visit my family and also for Mother’s Day. I live in a city you may or may not have heard of, Pottsville, Penn.

What is there to do in this town, you might ask? Well, there really is only one thing to see. It’s connected to something that people do just about every day, and that college students are pretty much known for. To get to the point, in my hometown is the Yuengling Brewery, which is also known as America’s Oldest Brewery. I went on the tour this past weekend, when I went home, with my roommate and let me say, it drew quite a crowd. On the tour with us, there were about 50 to 70 people. They were from all over too; I think I even heard a guy with a British accent ask a question at one point.

If you’re wondering how this could compare to a more exotic trip, let me tell you a little bit about the tour. They take you around the entire brewery, showing exactly how the beer is made, what machines are used to make it and exactly what ingredients go into making it. If it’s a day where they are brewing, you even get to see some of the production as it’s happening — last summer when I went on the tour (on my 21st birthday), I got to see the beer being put in cans in the “bottle shop.”

Another great thing about the tour is that since this is such a historic brewery, you also get to learn a little history, and who doesn’t love learning some good old American history? My favorite fact that I learned on the tour was that during Prohibition when they weren’t allowed to make beer, they started making ice cream to survive and also made something called “near beer” which was a malt drink with no alcohol in it. What makes this story even better is that, although they weren’t allowed to make beer, the first day that prohibition ended, that morning, a trunk full of Yuengling Winner beer was on its way to the White House for the president. Keep in mind that their beer takes about 28 days to brew.

There’s one other thing this brewery has that makes it interesting — a cave underneath it. Also, I bet it’s pretty close to one you would find on some exotic island, plus, this cave has some history behind it, it was used to store beer. No matter what the temperature is, it’s a constant 50 degrees down there. This then brings me to the final part of the tour. They take you to a small bar inside the brewery where you get to try some beer for free and as the saying goes, the best things in life are free!

So now that you heard about all of this, how does a local trip or vacation not compare to a trip to the Caribbean or Paris? You get to learn some history, get to go in a cool cave and you also get to drink, all while not breaking the bank. Did I mention what else you’re doing by going to a historic brewery like the Yuengling Brewery? You’re also doing Uncle Sam a favor by keeping money right here locally and helping preserve a historic landmark. Doing all this, don’t you think you’ll sleep better at night? I know I will. You get to have fun, save money and help people and you probably didn’t even realize it.