David Gottlieb Yuengling (March 2, 1808 – September 27, 1877) was an American businessman and

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

, the founder and first president of America's oldest brewery, D. G. Yuengling & Son.

Early life

He was born David Gottlob Jüngling on March 2, 1808, in Aldingen near Stuttgart in the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...

, where his father operated the local brewery.Reichardt, Eike
"David Gottlieb Yuengling."
In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 1, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck. German Historical Institute. Last modified November 13, 2014. His older brother Jakob inherited the family brewery, leaving Yuengling with limited career prospects. He emigrated to the United States via

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Career

Yuengling came to

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of t ...

, the location of a thriving

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

mine, and started a brewery in 1829, calling it the Eagle Brewery. Yuengling brewed British-style ales initially, and later introduced German-style

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "stora ...

. His son David G. Yuengling Jr. founded the James River Steam Brewery.

References

1808 births 1877 deaths American brewers American people of German descent People from the Duchy of Württemberg People from Pottsville, Pennsylvania Yuengling family 19th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1800s-stub