‘Kind of surreal’: Here’s what the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest at Beaver Stadium was like

Mike Smith, the brewmaster at Boal City Brewing, didn’t exactly need his arm twisted to attend Saturday’s first-ever brewers festival at Beaver Stadium.

As a 45-year-old Nittany Lions fan, one who grew up in the area and whose family boasted the same season tickets for nearly four decades, he instantly committed to be among the 72 participating breweries at Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest. And on Saturday, as he stared up into the stands, he felt satisfied with the “easy decision” that took less than a moment to consider.

“Beaver Stadium’s a special place. I grew up coming here and sitting in those seats right there, straight ahead of us,” he said, motioning near the WGU section on the visitors sideline. “We still sit there. So of course we were going to come here. There wasn’t a thought otherwise.”

More than 3,000 people attended the first brewers festival to ever be hosted in Beaver Stadium, one of the five largest stadiums in the world. Anecdotally, most beer-sampling attendees appeared to come from Centre County, but others drove more than two hours for the unique event — and while most breweries called the Keystone State home, some traveled from as far as Delaware, Massachusetts and New York.

Rhonda Adamcik, a Penn State season ticket-holder from Mount Carmel, about 100 miles east of Happy Valley, attended the event with her husband and friends. When they first arrived, her husband sprawled out on the field, like he was making a snow angel.

They’ve been on the field before — Adamcik’s husband is a veteran who’s held the American flag before games — but Saturday provided a different perspective.

“As soon as I saw it on Facebook, I told my husband I know where we’re going May 11,” she remembered. “He said, ‘Where?’ And I showed him my phone, and he was immediately super excited. ... It’s just kind of surreal that you get to stand down here.”

Centre County hasn’t enjoyed a large beer or brewers festival since the organizers of the State College Brew Expo announced in January 2020 that they were stepping away from the annual event at Tussey Mountain. But, this past summer, Antifragile Brewing Co. co-owner John Schaffer began talking with other community members about the idea of hosting a festival at Beaver Stadium — and, in November, the plan officially moved forward.

“Something this big, you usually want at least a year or year-and-a-half of planning time to pull it off. We had about six months,” added Eric Engelbarts, executive director of Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, which helped organize the event. “But we knew it had to be right the first time ... and we want to come back again next year.”

Some 72 breweries were set up side-by-side in four lines — one line along each sideline and two lines, back-to-back, along the 50-yard line. No white hash marks remained on the field and, despite the recent rain, the field remained dry enough in the early afternoon for attendees to sit on the grass and watch the live bands, or sit up against the limestone wall to enjoy a pork sandwich from Scott’s Roasting or a cheesesteak from We Are Inn.

The fest began as a sun-soaked one, with some prepared attendees carrying clear white bags with rain gear. But the skies eventually became overcast before rain spoiled the last 90 minutes of the five-hour event.

Bill Muse, of Bellefonte, and Caleb Johnson, of Snow Shoe, prepared for the sun. The father-in-law and son-in-law wore gaudy, matching Hawaiian-inspired shirts covered in pink and purple flowers.

“My daughter wanted us to wear matching shirts so we could find each other,” Muse said with a laugh. “But the shirt she picked out wasn’t atrocious enough, so I found these and she gave me her sign of approval.”

Muse, a season ticket-holder, said there was just something surreal about walking around the field with a beer. His son-in-law, who hadn’t been to a game in 10 years, simply labeled the experience “fun.”

Others were more effusive in their praise.

“When I was younger, this is something I kind of wanted to tick off the bucket list,” State College area resident Zach Freeman said, referring to getting on the field. “It’s just incredible. And you get to know more about the vendors, the different brewers, and you get to go around and try them. It’s really nice.”

Seatless high-tops were sprinkled between the lines of the brewers, allowing attendees a place to rest or chat. The queues to the food vendors on the concourse appeared long and moved slow, but the queues for the breweries moved quickly and were much shorter.

One popular beer vendor, Pittsburgh’s Dancing Gnome Brewery, boasted about 28 people in line midway through the event. But it took fewer than 6 minutes for those customers to be served. Other breweries could serve a line of 12 in a little over 2 minutes.

Attendees were provided a 3.5-ounce glass to sample beers, in addition to a 21-ounce water bottle to stay hydrated. Designated drivers could purchase tickets for a reduced price of $20, Fullington Bus Company coordinated shuttle rides, and a free hydration station was planted near the middle of the festival.

Attendees and breweries alike complimented the organization of the event, where tickets started at $75.

“I’ve been to a lot festivals, and I feel like a lot of them average 1,200 to 1,500 people — and this one is much bigger. It’s done right,” said Rod Stahl, owner of Axemann Brewery in Spring Township. “Everything done here (in Happy Valley) seems to be just a little bit better than anywhere else.”

Some breweries attended because their founders are Penn State alumni, like Massachusetts’ Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company. Others, such as Lancaster Brewing Co., wanted the opportunity to promote their beer in an area of the state where they’re usually unable. And others simply couldn’t resist the experience, even if they didn’t have a connection to Penn State.

Saturday’s event was organized by Antifragile Brewing Co., Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, Central PA Tasting Trail and the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau. Schaffer, Engelbarts and Celesta Powell (Tasting Trail) communicated often.

Their plan is to make the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest an annual event. And the hope is that Saturday was another step toward that.

“If the university’s on board, we want to do it,” Schaffer said. “I think we can build this into something really big and really fun.”