Yuengling , Ready to Sell its Beers in Texas, Rolls Into Fort Worth With Secret Recipe, Proprietary Yeast, and Publicity Machine

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The Yuengling beer secret recipe and proprietary yeast rolled into Fort Worth Tuesday, in the back of an armored car and behind a Fort Worth Police escort, as the 192-year-old Pennsylvania brand prepared to start production for Texas distribution at the big South Fort Worth plant of partner Molson Coors.

The Yuengling “experiential” vehicle – an armored truck – actually made the three-day trip from Pottsville, Pa., on a flatbed truck, Jennifer Yuengling, vice president of operations for D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., said. At the beer plant before midday, she helped unload the recipe and yeast - contained in wooden crates – and popped the tops on cold beers with managers from Molson Coors and Andrews Distributing, which will distribute Yuengling beers to bars, restaurants and retailers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Yuengling and Molson Coors last fall announced a partnership under which Yuengling would begin distributing its beer in Texas for the first time, to be made at the Fort Worth plant. The joint venture, Yuengling Company, LLC, expects to begin selling the beers under several labels this fall. Yuengling Co. has its Fort Worth headquarters in a building on the grounds of the Molson Coors plant. General manager Pat Pikunas, a former Miller Brewing executive, heads a team that includes marketing and salespeople, Yuengling said in an interview.

The 50/50 joint venture will use the Fort Worth office as a launching pad for a westward expansion. Yuengling last week announced its lineup of Texas distributors. It’s not clear yet how fast the venture will move to sell its beer west of Texas. Yuengling distributes its beer in 22 states as far west as Louisiana, which it expanded into seven years ago.

“We have a slow methodical business model,” Yuengling, one of four sisters who make up the sixth generation of Yuenglings in the company and own it with their father, said in an interview. “We want to get it right in Texas” first.

Yuengling produces two to 2.5 million barrels of beer annually. Asked what the Texas market’s potential is compared to what the company already sells, Yuengling said, “Texas is a big beer market.”

Adam Collins, a spokesman for Molson Coors, echoed that. “Texas is a huge beer market,” he said.

Even though Yuengling isn’t yet available here, many Texas beer drinkers are likely familiar with it, he said.

“it’s a 190-year-old beer brand,” he said. “It’s available in Louisiana. For people who’ve travelled to the East Coast, for people who’ve lived out East, for people who have family out East, it’s a great beer. It’s an American icon. It’s beloved in the states you can buy it today, and smuggled everywhere else.”

Asked whether the Yuengling partnership might eventually have an employment impact at the Fort Worth plant, Collins said, “our hope is Yuengling continues to grow and expand here in Texas. It’s earned its reputation here.”