Yuengling Denies Knowledge Of Pay-To-Play Bribes In Boston

Pennsylvania beer maker Yuengling, which returned to the Massachusetts market in force last year, did not know that one of its distributors was paying bribes to get Yuengling beer into a number of popular Boston bars, a top company executive said.

An investigation into illegal “pay-to-play” practices by Massachusetts alcohol regulators found that a beer distributor, Craft Brewers Guild, had paid $22,500 to two prominent restaurant chains, Briar Group and Lyons Group, to carry Yuengling in some of the 20 bars the two companies own.