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Yuengling Beer Already A Winner In Series

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By NATALIE SHEPHERD

nshepherd@wfla.com

Published: October 24, 2008

TAMPA - Baseball. Beer. Rays. Phillies. History.

Oddly enough, there's common ground locally for all of these.

Yuengling, the beer of choice for many Phillies fans, is the country's oldest family-owned brewery. It started in Pottsville, Pa., more than 179 years ago.

But Tampa is the only other place in the country where the beer is brewed.

Ralph Maerz of Fort Myers has been a Yuengling fan almost as long as he has been a Phillies fan. He and his wife, Betty, who were heading to Game 2 in St. Petersburg on Thursday, decided to stop in Tampa for a tour of the brewery on North 30th Street.

"We decided to come here first and then go over to the World Series game. So I'll have a double winner, I hope, tonight," Maerz said.

Brewmaster John Houseman said the Tampa-Philadelphia matchup is exciting.

"I feel like I died and went to heaven because I just want to enjoy the series," Houseman said.

He says the game has caused rivalry between the Pottsville and Tampa plants.

"They're obviously all rooting for the Phillies," Houseman said. "And everyone in this plant is rooting for the Rays to win."

No matter who you're rooting for, he said, the beer is a winner.

Maerz said you don't have to be a Phillies fan to enjoy Yuengling.

"Philadelphia's willing to spread - it's the City Of Brotherly Love - and we're willing to spread our liquors," he said.

Reporter Natalie Shepherd can be reached at (813) 225-2703.

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