Founded by David Gottlob Jüngling in 1829 as the Eagle Brewery (and later changed into D.G. Yuengling & Son), Yuengling beer has long been the choice of locals after a hard day in the mines or during a Sunday football game (Pottsville is also known for its NFL championship football team, but that's a story for another time).

Yuengling's complex of buildings on Mahantongo Street has housed the company's headquarters since the first brewery burned down in 1831. On three corners of Mahantongo are three separate buildings all bearing the famous name. A walk up 5^th Street takes us right in the middle of these stone buildings and into the brewery for our tour.

Where Troëgs modern look sparkles, Yuengling boasts five generations of history and character in its buildings. Instead of leading you directly from one area to the next, the corridors wind around, up and down staircases and along hallways where thousands of workers have made beer for more than 180 years.

Sharon, our tour guide, walks our little group down into the belly of this fascinating place. We begin in the hand-dug caves where barrels of Yuengling beer were stored in the days before refrigeration. Naturally conditioned to 50 degrees, the caves not only stored the brew but kept workers relatively comfortable while they filled keg after keg with the golden brown treat. During Prohibition, government officials saw to it that these caves were sealed up. It wasn't until the 1980s that the walls were brought down and the caves opened to Yuengling's thriving tourist trade.

Upstairs, stainless steel brew kettles have replaced the classic copper units. As our wonderful hostess pointed out, "We don't throw away anything." Decorating the walls opposite the kettles are the gleaming lids to the old copper tanks. And gleam they did. At one time, natural light from the skylight above the