My friend emails me today with the subject line: OMG
Knowing this had to be something big, I open it immediately and read news that was absolutely sudsy-licous. Harris Teeter was carrying Yuengling beer. Not since the Titans arrived in Music City has there been a more significant enhancement to Nashville's American profile.
For those of you unfamiliar with america's oldest brewery, Yuengling beer is produced in Pottsville, PA, a small town roughly between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. To taste it is to re-define the American beer experience. Black and Tan, Porter, Chesterfield Ale and my personal favorite: the golden Lager.
As their official web site states:
Since 1829, D.G. Yuengling and Son of Pottsville, PA, "America's Oldest Brewery" has produced a complete line of fine brewed products to statisfy the most discerning tastes of beer connoisseurs.
OK, so the locals call it "Pottsville Piss", but back to the point...
My college roommate introduced me to this beer while at American University and I've been passionate about it ever since. I can't say why, but it means a lot to me. And I'm not alone. Ironically (see the PP reference above), Yuengling has achieved a certain designer micro-brew status over the past 10 years or so. So slowly it began to show up outside the Northeast. And when it came to Alabama, I thought Tennessee could not be far behind. But I understand politics were involved.
But here was the news that it was in a cooler near me. About to leave work early to buy out the entire supply at Harris Teeter, I decided to call first to see if it was true. I wanted to document it here to let everyone know that God's beer had arrived. And then Barbara at the Hillsboro Harris Teeter customer service desk crushed me in a quite matter of fact way. You see, the Harris Teeter emails you get from their site are produced nationally in SC. They don't have anything to do with your neighborhood store. As a database marketer by trade, that offends my sensibilities - but "Holy Shit there's no Yuengling?" I cried. "Uh, no sir." That was it.
That's a lot to handle at the end of a tough week. I wonder how I'll manage to wind down if there is no Yuengling before the Alabama border. I've never been one to settle, but in this case...