Gulf Shores / Orange Beach - Part 3

I'd be remiss if I didn't conclude the beer adventures of the Alabama Gulf Coast with two beers widely available at any place we went: Yuengling and Landshark lagers! 

Yuengling has a near legendary following in Baton Rouge and around the country, and I have to attribute this to nostalgia.  Or in the case of Baton Rouge, lack of availability.  As far as beers go, it's a middle of the range lager, certainly a step up from the Buds and Millers of the world but not a world-class brew.  

 

Yuengling is America's oldest brewery, originating in 1829 in Pottsville, PA, surviving prohibition, and has expanded to become one of America's largest breweries.  They now produce over 2 million barrels of beer annually among their several breweries, and maybe one day soon we'll see Yuengling in the Baton Rouge market?

Landshark Lager, a Jimmy Buffett creation, is without a doubt the flagship beer of the Alabama Gulf Coast, and with good reason.  The beer is "produced" by Margaritaville Brewing Company, which is actually just a marketing company.  The reality is that Landshark Lager is an Anheuser-Busch product cleverly marketed using the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville brand.  It's really a brilliant move, and the beer dominates the market in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.  It doesn't hurt that it's branded as a beach beer, and Jimmy Buffett and his family is closely associated with the region.

 

As for the beer itself... eh... skip it.  Nothing more than a macro lager with hints of 'cerveza' and marketed as an 'Island Lager.'  Trust me, there's nothing special about it.

 

 

And that concludes the quick beer tour of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach... some definite highs when Jay and I found some fantastic beer unavailable in Baton Rouge, but as a whole this isn't a beer nerd's dream destination.  Not that there's anything wrong with hitting the beach with a margarita in hand!