If you look around Otto’s Pub and Brewery, you’ll get a taste of Pennsylvania’s rich brewing history. Hanging from the ceiling are vintage advertisements from breweries of yesteryear, most of which faded out during Prohibition. On the walls are more artifacts of the Keystone State’s brewing past.
It’s safe to say that over the years, Otto’s has created a little brewing history of its own. In 2022, the brewpub will be celebrating 20 years of making some of central Pennsylvania’s finest beers, with special events and a special 20-year anniversary beer.
I distinctly remember when Otto’s opened at its old location, 2105 North Atherton Street, in October 2002. I had moved to the area that summer from more western locations, where the brewpub and microbrewery scene was booming.
It is hard to believe now, with central PA’s currently thriving craft beverage scene, but back then there was not one brewpub in the region. It made me feel a little homesick. I was relieved when I heard about Otto’s plans to open that fall, headed by brewer and co-founder Charlie Schnable.
Soon I found a brewpub home at Ottos’s, and have been drinking Charlie’s beer ever since. Over the years, Otto’s has grown, moved, and innovated as the brewpub and craft beverage scene in central PA has grown right along with it.
Charlie got started brewing beer, like so many other brew masters, at home. During his last few semesters at Penn State in the late 1980s, he picked up some home-brewing equipment.
“That was the beginning of the first wave of breweries and home brewing. … I brewed basically in my closet for three or four years,” says Charlie. In the meantime, a friend out in Seattle kept telling him about the bustling brewery scene in the Pacific Northwest.
“He said, ‘You have to come out here and see these brewpubs; they are really cool.’ We were kind of familiar with brewpubs, so we went out and we said this is what we want to do,” says Charlie. That is exactly what he and his friend did, opening the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport in 1996.
Eventually, Charlie was drawn back to State College, with a dream of starting a brewery downtown. That fell through because of some restrictions about breweries being located near churches.
Not looking to engage in that battle, he eventually found a spot on North Atherton, and work began on what would become the first Otto’s location.
There, the brewing area was visible to patrons on half of the dining area, letting customers see exactly where their beer was coming from. Charlie’s cat Otto, the brewery’s namesake, would sometimes greet customers in the bar area, and the pub quickly gained a following.
“It really worked out well for us there for the most part. It was great starting spot for us. We certainly developed a following pretty quickly because I think people in this area were kind of starving for that kind of thing,” says Charlie.
A former Happy Valley Brewery business that was located downtown had closed in the early 1990s, and Philadelphia-based Red Bell Brewing Company’s plans to open a State College location fell through when the company went out of business, he says.
“So, we kind of snuck in on the side of that,” he says.
While Otto’s may have benefited from good timing, the quality of Charlie’s brews kept beer lovers coming back for more. The wide variety of flavors appealed to longtime craft beer drinkers and people new to the idea, alike.
Charlie’s beers are based on some of the styles he learned to love during college, he says.
“I can’t deny that Zeno’s was a huge influence. Basically, I spent a lot of my college years down there trying beers out with Dave. That is certainly where I developed a lot of the tastes and flavors that I was really liking, and what I brewed early on,” says Charlie.
Popular beer styles have changed over the years, and he has kept right on up with those changes.
“Tastes of beer have changed immensely since 1996 to now, for sure. Then, it was heavy on lighter beers, lager and whatnot. Now, it is on the heavier end with IPAs,” says Charlie.
One thing is still true, he says: Mixing quality ingredients with a good recipe and some creativity is important.
Charlie likens the brewing process to cooking.
“I like to create things,” he says. “You know, it is kind of like a chef. There is a great deal of satisfaction in taking the raw ingredients, doing your recipe, treating it the way it should be treated, and, voila, you have this great product. That is one thing that I certainly still enjoy.”
Over the years, Otto’s has grown right along with the busy North Atherton corridor. In 2010, the brewpub moved up the street to 2235 North Atherton, the former home of Quaker Steak and Lube.
“We had grown over there to about the biggest we could get. The new location sort of fell in our lap,” with Quaker Steak and Lube closing at that location, says Charlie. While some of the coziness of the old location was lost in the move, the new spot provided a much bigger dining and brewing area, along with the opportunity for full bar service. The brewery’s production area has grown even larger ever since.
In 2015, Charlie and co-owner Roger Garthwaite opened Otto’s sister location, Barrell 21 Distillery and Dining, adding to the craft beverage scene in and around State College. Through it all, from the names of the beers on tap to the food they serve, keeping it local has been a big part of what they do.
“We have always done as much as we can locally, whether it is hamburgers or the bourbon we make across the street, because we value other local businesses,” says Charlie.
Inside the pub, regular Pub Club members are often found mingling and drinking their favorite beers out of their special mugs, while diners enjoy the atmosphere and a meal. Visitors to the region often are found sampling a variety of beers and then grabbing a six-pack or growler on the way out the door. Every Friday at 5 p.m., a special cask-condition ale is tapped in the old firkin tradition. House-made Otto’s soda – root beer, orange, grape, and ginger beer – are enjoyed by kids and kids at heart.
Charlie says the pandemic was the most challenging time since the brewpub opened, and he is grateful for the community support throughout the difficult time. Now, as Otto’s moves into its third decade, Charlie and his team keep rolling out the barrels.
Here’s to the next 20 years. Cheers!
Staff writer Vincent Corso enjoys drinking local and meeting new people at central Pennsylvania’s many interesting establishments.
