STATE COLLEGE — The inaugural Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest took place on the field of Beaver Stadium on Saturday, May 11, featuring more than 70 breweries from across Pennsylvania and beyond. More than 3,000 people attended the event, enjoying a day filled with fun, live music and, of course, plenty of brews.
“Every time I walked out on that field I thought, ‘Wow, I can’t believe we’re doing this. This is amazing,’” said John Schaffer, co-owner of Antifragile Brewing Co. in State College, who helped organize the event. “It’s the size and scale of the stadium and the historical nature of it — it didn’t go past me. I thought it was a very special thing.”
Conversations about organizing a beer festival like the Hoppy Valley Brewers began in October of 2023, with planning for the event commencing around January of this year. Antifragile Brewing Co. was one of the founding partners of the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest, along with the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, The Brewers of PA, the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, the Central Pennsylvania Tasting Trail and the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau.
“My motivation in starting a brewery and doing the beer fest was to bring people together around craft beer and to bring together brewers,” Schaffer explained. “One of the unique aspects of the festival is that it was all brewers, it wasn’t distributor representatives. Distributors have a great role in Pennsylvania beer, but when you have distributor representatives pouring beer for you as opposed to actual brewery staff, it’s a little different atmosphere.”
The venue for the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest was familiar to local football enthusiasts. Beaver Stadium, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions football program, had rows of tents lining the field, creating a unique experience for attendees, as fans were able to go from sitting in the stands during football season to walking the field themselves. The stadium is the fourth-largest stadium in the world and the second-largest football stadium in the United States.
The beer festival even offered designated driver tickets at a reduced rate alongside other ticket options for those who didn’t wish to drink but were still interested in attending with their friends and families. The designated driver tickets aimed to promote responsible consumption while providing complimentary refreshments and a fun experience for a wider audience.
Other attendees of the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest had the opportunity to sample from dozens of breweries with a 3.5-ounce cup. While there were local Centre County breweries at the festival, others traveled for hours to share their brews with the community, some even coming from as far as Rhode Island and New York.
For Antifragile, the beer festival was an opportunity to show off not only a taste of what’s on their menu but also a taste of various collaborations between brewers.
“Our whole tap list at the brew fest was collaboration beer,” Schaffer said. “We did nine collaboration beers plus a collaboration can for the weekend.”
Schaffer noted that the collaborations with other brewers were part of the goal to bring breweries together, in addition to bringing people together.
Along with the roster of brews for guests to enjoy, there were also live music and food vendors at the event. The lineup for the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest included Revival Presents: Channing Wilson, Rob Snyder and Dave Kennedy, Caledonia, The Cow Poke and the Poet, Lowjack and the Skoal Brothers, making for a day with no shortage of entertainment.
With Saturday, May 11, marking the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest’s debut, organizers have labeled the event a success.
“We sold over 3,000 tickets. I think, for the first year, that was a great turnout. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. We’re going to look at things and see how we can make it better for future years,” Schaffer explained.
When considering the future of the Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest, there seems to be potential for a new annual tradition in Centre County. As Schaffer stated, “As long as the university is on board, we’re going to do it.”
