Missouri’s Getting A New Beer, Should Budweiser Be Worried?

There's a new beer coming to town, should Missouri's own Budweiser be worried? I don't think so.

Have you ever heard of Yuengling? I have. When I asked about a local beer while visiting Wilmington, North Carolina, that's what the bartender suggested. At the time I knew nothing so I just enjoyed it. Later I found out it was a beer brewed in Pennsylvania, which has always confused me. But hey, it was a beer I had never had and apparently it was the beer that sold well in that bar that wasn't any of the usual suspects.

I've come to find out that Yuengling is an east coast beer distributed in 22 states, mostly along the East coast. So that maybe explains the east coast thing.

A year ago Yuengling and Molson-Coors formed a joint venture to expand the beer's footprint. That brought the brand to Texas where it beat the most popular beer in Texas, ShinerBock in its home market in the last 13 weeks of 2021. This is according to a blog post from Molson-Coors.

The fact that Yuengling might beat Shiner Bock in sales in Texas is plausible to me. I lived in Texas, and Molson-Coors calling Shiner Bock the most popular beer in Texas just isn't true. I lived there for six years, and while it was sold in a lot of places, it wasn't like Dr. Pepper, with almost everyone drinking it.

Shiner Bock, by the way, is a dark lager, so that might keep people from trying it. The Home Brew website says the darker color or dark lagers is a stumbling block when it comes to getting people to try them because they think it's more like a stout or a porter. Not a lager, which it is. I mean that's why I didn't drink Shiner in Texas. (Although now I want to try one.)

Eat This Not That, by the way, cites Lone Star as Texas' most popular beer. While Specs, the beer, wine, and spirits store in Texas, don't even have Shiner Bock in their Top 10 Texas Beers list. So ok, Molson-Coors is trying to tell us that if Texans like it, Missourians will like it too.

Well, this Missourian is going to whip out our favorite phrase, show me!

I'll happily try Yuengling again. Maybe Mike and I should try it during one of our Friday happy hour shows after it becomes available. It won't be bad, but is it going to be so good that it will get anyone who isn't already a fan of the brew in Missouri to drink it regularly?

I don't think the King of Beers, Budweiser, and his sidekicks Bud Light, Bud Select, and Mich Ultra have anything to worry about. Especially in Missouri.

Vine Pair says the St. Louis distributor of Yuengling will have it available by February 6.