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State College Brew Expo with Mount Nittany in the background
State College Brew Expo with Mount Nittany in the background

State College Brew Expo 2014

State College Brew Expo with Mount Nittany in the background
State College Brew Expo with Mt. Nittany in the background

Happy Valley’s annual beer festival was held once again on Saturday August 16, 2014, at Tussey Mountain Ski Resort just outside of State College, Pennsylvania. State College Brew Expo has been held for 16 years now and also has a new slogan “Good Beer, Good Music, Great Cause!”. The event’s mission is “To promote great beers, educate drinkers, and help our community!” and continues to benefit the Penn State Coaches vs. Cancer cause.

The event ran from 5-9pm and attracted around 40 breweries from across Pennsylvania as well as throughout the USA. General admission was $45 and VIP tickets priced at $60 which gave access to a second area located at the top of the ski lifts featuring special picks from the breweries between 5-7pm.

Black IPA on nitro in the official tasting glass
Black IPA on nitro in the official tasting glass

This year’s event was the third for the Beer Infinity crew to attend and once again we lucked out with the weather after a mediocre summer – the sun was shining and just about the right temperature to enjoy a few hours of sampling beers.

In addition to around 2 to 5 different beers per brewery being poured there were bands playing on the music stage, food vendors serving the likes of pulled pork subs, pizza, fries, brats and wings, and even games of Giant Jenga or Bean Bag Toss to enjoy. Water stations were also dotted around the three main marquees under which the brewery booths were located.

Below are the beers that our group sampled during the event together with the beer style and ABV (Alcohol By Volume) where known as well as our rating out of five stars:

  • Appalachian Jolly Scot (5.9% – Scottish Export 80/-) – 3.5
  • Atwater Traverse City Cherry Wheat (American Wheat) – 3.0
  • Avery Ellie’s Brown (5.5% – American Brown Ale) – 4.0*
  • Berwick Belgian Gold – 3.0
  • Berwick Hondo Keller Bier – 4.0*
  • Boulder Beer Kinda Blue (5.2% – American Wheat) – 3.0
  • Bullfrog Smoked Cherry Hefe (6.0% – Weissbier) – 4.0*
  • Du Claw Funk Blueberry Citrus Wheat (5.0% – American Wheat) – 3.5
  • Du Claw Sweet Baby Jesus (6.5% – Robust Porter) – 3.0
  • Elk Creek Gambol & Gyre Golden (Belgian Golden Strong) – 4.0*
  • Elk Creek Little Village MFA – 3.0
  • Elk Creek Summer Session – 2.5
  • Gamble Mill Coffee Porter – 3.5
  • Gamble Mill Woolly Bugger (10.5% – Belgian IPA) – 3.0
  • Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster (9.1% – Imperial IPA) – 3.5
  • Green Flash Hop Head Red (8.1% – Imperial IPA) – 4.0*
  • Green Flash West Coast IPA (8.1% – Imperial IPA) – 3.0
  • Happy Valley Hopgoblin (Belgian IPA) – 3.0
  • Happy Valley Singletrack (Belgian Amber) – 3.5
  • Happy Valley Village Idiot (8.2% – Imperial Wit) – 4.0*
  • Lancaster Strawberry Wheat (4.7% – American Wheat) – 3.0
  • Marzoni’s Belgian Dubbel (7.7% – Belgian Dubbel) – 3.0
  • Neshaminy Creek Churchville Lager (4.9% – Vienna Lager) – 4.0*
  • Neshaminy Creek Croydon Cream Ale (4.2% – Cream Ale) – 3.5
  • Otto’s Black Nitro IPA (5.9% – Black IPA) – 3.5
  • Otto’s Pilsener Lager (5.2% – Bohemia Pilsener) – 3.0
  • Riepstine’s Pub Red Ale (American Amber) – 3.5
  • Riepstine’s Pub Tropical Barbie (Fruit Beer) – 3.5
  • Robin Hood King Richard Red Ale on Nitro (5.7% – American Amber) – 4.0*
  • Rooney’s Old Irish Ale (5.5% – Irish Red Ale) – 3.5
  • Rooney’s Lager (4.5% – German Pils) – 3.0
  • Rusty Rail Blue Collar Blonde (4.6% – Blonde Ale) – 0.5
  • Rusty Rail Trail’s End Pale Ale (5.4% – American Pale Ale) – 0.5
  • Rusty Rail Prankster Pumpkin IPA – 2.5
  • Sam Adams Octoberfest (5.7% – Oktoberfest) – 3.5
  • Saucony Creek Captain Pumpkin’s Maple Mistress Ale (9.5% – Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer) – 3.5
  • Sly Fox Grisette (5.6% – Saison) – 4.0*
  • Smuttynose Summer Weizen (5.4% – Weissbier) – 3.0
  • Southern Tier 2xOne (8.1%) – 3.0
  • Straub 1872 Lager (5.5% – American Classic Pilsner) – 3.0
  • Straub IPL (5.6% – India Pale Lager) – 2.0
  • Straub Pilsner (5.5% – German Pils) – 3.5
  • Troegs Dreamweaver (4.8% – American Wheat) – 4.0*
  • Union Barrel Works Double Mai Bock (Mai Bock) – 2.5
  • Union Barrel Works Double Scotch Ale (Strong Scotch Ale) – 2.0
  • Yard’s Pynk (5.5% – Fruit Beer) – 3.5
  • Yorkholo Raison Hell Pumpkin Saison (Saison) – 3.0
  • Yorkholo Pine Creek Raspberry Wit (4.7% – Witbier) – 3.5
  • Yorkholo PA Grand Canyon Vanilla Porter (6.5%) – 3.5

* denotes our favorite beers from those that were sampled.

Below are various photos taken at this great event:

Berwick Brewing's beers
Berwick Brewing’s beers
Giant Jenga entertainment
Giant Jenga entertainment
Happy Valley Brewing's booth
Happy Valley Brewing’s booth
Main marquee
Main marquee
Music stage
Music stage
GABF winning beer by Neshaminy Creek
GABF winning beer by Neshaminy Creek
Rusty Rail merchandize
Rusty Rail merchandize
Saucony Creek motorhome
Saucony Creek motorhome
Aerial shot of State College Brew Expo
Aerial shot of State College Brew Expo
Ski lift up to VIP Area
Ski lift up to VIP Area
Sunset over Happy Valley
Sunset over Happy Valley

If you attended this event and have any comments or would like to share your experience we would love to hear from you so please feel free to leave any comments below.

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