Bellefonte’s Big Spring Spirits is bringing its craft beverages to downtown State College.
The distillery is partnering with Scholar Hotel, 205 E. Beaver Ave., to offer its full line of spirits at Social Food + Drink, the restaurant and bar inside the hotel at the historic Glennland Building.
Social Food + Drink has recently undergone an interior redesign to coincide with the launch of its new food and cocktail menu, according to Scholar Hotel. New canopies along the Beaver Avenue and Pugh Street corner of the building prominently display the Big Spring Spirits logo.
“We are excited to bring our spirits to the downtown community, and lend our expertise in craft-cocktail making to Social Food + Drink,” Kevin Lloyd, owner and production manager of Big Spring Spirits, said in a statement. “We are certain this will be a mutually beneficial relationship for both the Scholar and Big Spring, but even more so for their guests who will have the opportunity to do spirit and cocktail tastings, as well as enjoy a well-crafted cocktail in the Scholar’s newly designed space.”
The collaboration will launch on Labor Day weekend, when the lounge will begin offering Big Spring’s spirits, such as its flagship vodka and barrel-aged whiskeys, in made-to-order cocktails and craft cocktails the distillery has created specifically for Scholar.
Customers also will be able to try tastings of three or six of Big Spring’s line of 15 spirits, or order a cocktail flight from its line of bottled ready-to-drink cocktails.
The partnership continues the growth of Big Spring Spirits, which opened its flagship distillery and tasting room at Bellefonte’s Match Factory building in 2014, near the namesake Big Spring where it sources its water. In addition to the original location, Big Spring has opened a tasting room in Sewickley near Pittsburgh and has plans for a distillery and restaurant at Pittsburgh’s South Shore.
Scholar Hotel State College, which is affiliated with Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, opened in 2021 at the 91-year-old Glennland Building. Scholar Hotel Group, which is owned by Penn State alumnus Gary Brandeis, also operates State College area hotels Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn, Hyatt Place, The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center and the soon-to-reopen Nittany Lion Inn.
