Beer Blasphemy? No Yuengling at Wolf's Inauguration

Some are saying it’s beer blasphemy.

Guests at Tom Wolf’s inaugural party next week will enjoy “Pennsylvania-made beer,” the governor-elect’s inaugural team says -- but Yuengling will apparently not be among those offerings.

Yuengling, in Pottsville, isn’t just Pennsylvania’s oldest brewery -- it’s America’s, too.

“Turning down beer from America’s oldest brewery here in Pennsylvania is unheard of,” Rep. Michael Vereb (R-150th) told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Wolf lists a number of Pennsylvania breweries and wineries among hisInaugural Product Sponsors, including Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg; Boyd’s Cardinal Hollow Winery in Lansdale; Chaddsford Winery in Chadds Ford and Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia. The list also includes out-of-state breweries such as Anheuser-Busch.

Yuengling also offered to provide free beer to the event, the Inquirer says, but was turned down. A Wolf spokeswoman told the Inquirer, “We met our beverage needs.”

“No @Yuengling_Beer at the Inaugural? What? I’m buying a case this weekend. Who’s with me? #coalregionroots,” Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed Tweeted.

Founded in 1829, Yuengling isn’t just the country’s oldest brewery, the company says -- it’s also the largest U.S.-owned brewery.

When the Canadian ice hockey team defeated the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics, President Barack Obama sent the Canadian prime minister a case of Yuengling, NBC Philadelphia reported. NBC said at the time that Yuengling was “the President’s brew of choice.”

Yuengling was among the beer’s served at Gov. Tom Corbett’s inauguration four years ago, the Inquirer says.

However, the Inquirer says that Yuengling owner Richard Yuengling Jr., a Republican, is no friend of organized labor, and by extension, the Democratic Party.

Could that be the reason Yuengling isn’t part of the inauguration? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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