This beer tastes like watered down fizzy vegetable juice with a half shot of vodka poured in. That's not mere mean spirited hyperbole, but rather the most accurate description of the Yuengling experience this writer can offer. It's claimed that Yuengling is free of adjuncts (which are additives used in brewing, such as GMO corn or other cheap vegetables, instead of the traditional barley and hops) however the pungent odor of less than fresh vegetables which hits the nose before the beer hits the palate speaks otherwise. While some craft beers legitimately use adjuncts for certain flavors and tints, it's also clear that many low end breweries use adjuncts disingenuously, as replacements for more expensive barley and hops.
What takes Yuengling out of the category of predictably cheap swill like it's counterpart Miller Lite, and hoists it into the realm of disgraceful American embarrassments, is their marketing department's relentless efforts to propagandize people into believing that this is somehow a traditional American style lager, as if this country's founders would have allowed such sub par swill at their table while planning their independence. With independent and authentic beer breweries being one of the fastest growing American industries, it is a testament to the power of advertising that Yuengling has been one of the big success stories in the beer industry in the last twenty years. Indeed, people around the world have likely sampled this beverage, and agreed that it's lowest common denominator approach to authenticity is very American, perhaps more poetically American than their marketing team had aimed for.
For a real taste of what an affordable yet standard-meeting beer in America might have tasted like hundreds of years ago, this author suggests the Philadelphia Brewing Company's Kensinger beer, or for a few more dollars, one of the many honest beers produced by the Downingtown based Victory Brewing Company, among many other fierce competitors. The authentic beer industry is alive and well, while the sports stadium swill industry is relying almost solely on consumers' ignorance to stay in business.
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