Beer drinkers divided after Yuengling owner endorses Donald Trump

Liberal lager have connoisseurs called for a boycott of the historic brew after Richard "Dick" Yuengling, Jr threw his support behind the Republican nominee

Yuengling is the oldest brewery in the US, and supposedly produces President Obama's preferred tipple (GETTY)

America’s widening political fault-lines have opened up a crack in the beer connoisseur community, after the owner of the oldest brewery in the US announced his support for the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This week, billionaire Richard "Dick" Yuengling, Jr, the fifth-generation boss of the DG Yuengling & Son brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania – est. 1829 – gave a tour of the premises to Mr Trump’s son, Eric, who called it “an amazing American success story”.

Mr Yuengling, a lifelong Republican whose business is based in a key swing state, responded with a ringing endorsement for Mr Trump. “Our guys are behind your father,” the 73-year-old said, adding: “We need him in there.”

That was too much for some Democrat-leaning Yuengling drinkers, who took to Twitter to urge a boycott of the beer. Kentucky native Todd Bird said he would no longer make the 90-mile drive to Ohio to partake of his preferred tipple, calling Mr Trump a “racist, misogynist nut-job.”

Several bars in Washington DC announced they would stop serving Yuengling, according to the Washington Post. Pennsylvania state representative Brian Sims, who is gay, wrote a post on Facebook ending his 17-year relationship with the historic lager.

Trump supporters, meanwhile, were delighted by the news.

President Obama once suggested Yuengling was his favourite beer. No word yet from the White House on the controversy.