The whole operation is owned and run by Scott Smith, a native Pittsburgher. Scott grew up in the Regent Square area of town (patrons of D’s Six Pack know where that is), and his mom still lives in the house there. Scott originally got a degree in engineering and left town to work for what he describes as a “Fortune 500 company in the food sector”. First, he lived in Chicago, where he met his wife. Here he also learned to really appreciate craft beer, such as Bell’s products, in some of the landmark Chicago establishments. “I remember having Kalamazoo Stout at the Gingerman Tavern on Clark near Wrigley. Blew me away. I loved Third Coast and Two Hearted.”

From Chicago, he moved to San Francisco for five years where “you couldn’t walk down the street without finding a good place to drink good beer. I lived four blocks from Toronado.” Next, it was on to a small town in Virginia; followed by a one year stint in Berkeley, CA. At last, he moved back home to Pittsburgh, where after 14-15 years in the business, he decided to stop moving around and settle. The problem was, what exactly would allow him to do that?

“I worked for a good company. I was well compensated, and I liked the people; but I wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, and you only go around once. So I quit that company, then started with another. I quit that one, and … well, I worked on and off and quit three times in six weeks. It was time for something different.”

Scott also enjoyed homebrewing in addition to his passion for craft beers. “Like any homebrewer, I thought ’Hmmm … maybe I could do this for a living.’ I guess I was just more delusional than most homebrewers. I decided to roll the dice and give it a go.” His engineering experience in the food industry gave him some additional skills, including some IT work and inventory management.

“I didn’t have a firm plan to start. I was a mechanical engineer with manufacturing and food industry time – bottling salad dressing. I also did some IT and systems implementation for a while. Now, I bottle beer rather than salad dressing … which is nice at the end of the day. Having a couple of beers after work is an obvious benefit … you’re not likely to finish off a couple bottles of salad dressing at the end of the day.”

With all of that systems/inventory management background, I asked if he had a special system in place for his inventory. “Really, I’m only using my head. I’m very diligent with recipes and keep notes. As for other scheduling and material management, you know, I just see what I might need soon and order it. I buy grain in 12,000 pound increments.”

Scott’s operation takes up only a small part of the warehouse. The main equipment and keg storage is on the ground floor, and grain storage is located upstairs. Grain is moved six sacks at a time by a grain elevator. When asked about the rest of the warehouse, Scott tells me that the remaining space is taken up by a huge collection of coin-operated rides (like those for kids outside of grocery stores). “It’s rather spooky, actually. The building over there has a leaky roof and cobblestone floors. You walk in there, and there are all of these machines just sitting there – a bit like something out of a Stephen King book.”

He does have some help, particularly in Richard Maier who, despite his other full time job, can be found pouring beers most Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. “Richard is a great help – he moves a lot of grain. One time he moved 6000 pounds by himself! But enough of the glamorous side…” As for the rest, Scott does get volunteers and sometimes homebrewing clubs to come in with special projects, like the hand bottling and labeling of Gratitude, Ugly American, and most recently, Smokestack Porter.

Scott next walked me through the historical timeline of this budding brewing operation, and I have to say that I’m not about to start one any time soon.

In January, 2007, Scott marked two years of operation. Before brewing, Scott took an entire year to set everything up. He quit his day job – not an easy decision as the sole earner for his family – “a very patient wife (who likes beer) and two young kids at home. It was an act of faith to give up the day job, then lease this space, buy the equipment, etc.”

With his background, Scott found himself doing just about everything himself: getting in the equipment, learning how it worked, plumbing it, wiring it, testing it. With a few exceptions, all of the equipment came from the defunct Foundry Ale Works: a copper kettle that serves as hit hot liquor tank, two 7 bbl fermenters, a 15 bbl fermenter, a 20bbl fermenter, and a 10 bbl brew house. Scott recently purchased a 20 bbl bright tank, and the naming rights were put up for bid on eBay (he’s still waiting for the winners to give him the name). He also recently made room for a 40 bbl fermenter that arrived this summer. He’s not quite ready for it, but the economy of scale and future demand is there. The main problem now is storage and, like for other brewers, the whole stainless steel keg shortage issue. He recently bought 200 30-Liter tanks of European design. “Storage is going to be a problem. I have beer made but nothing to put it in. And I can’t make more beer until the tank is emptied.”

And that’s a problem! Demand for Scott’s beer continues to grow. In 2004, he sold 2 kegs of beer, and that was before he was gently reminded by a local distributor that he needed to register with the proper authorities. Oops. In 2005, Scott sold around 350 bbls and then near 450 bbls in 2006. Currently there are about 90 bars in the Pittsburgh area that run East End products, and about half of those are dedicated taps.

Starting out was tough. For the first eight months, not only was Scott brewing all that beer, but he was doing all of his own deliveries. “I’d come in on Monday to start three 12-hour brew days – there are economical reasons for back-to-back brewing days – and mid-morning I’d get a call from some bar saying ’We just kicked your keg, can you bring over a new one?’. So, after finishing up, I’d go home to have dinner and help put the kids to bed, then I’d be out for another three hours delivering kegs all over Pittsburgh. When
you deliver at 10am, you’re in and out quick. But deliver at 10pm, and everyone wants to stop and talk. It was a rough start, but at the same time I got immediate feedback from owners and customers.”

Unfortunately, self delivery wasn’t the only hassle. “At first, because they’re used to dealing with the big breweries, I’d be asked ’What are you going to do for us?’ – like they’d want t-shirts or a free smaller keg, something. Other than being slightly illegal, it’s also hard for the smaller brewer to make headway. But now, customers are driving the sales.” Scott handed me a flyer for a local establishment that was running an independent
film festival for local artists: the beer special was $2.50 pints of East End Big Hop. “I had nothing to do with this, and that’s kinda cool.”

Now, other than the yearly Pedal Pale bike ride (a keg of Pedal Pale is ridden to a bar somewhere in Pittsburgh with tons of people on bikes escorting it), Scott now has all his beer distributed by Vecenie. That’s good news for us unfortunates who live out in the sticks but are at least served by Vecenie!

Many of Scott’s beers are a bit on the hoppy side for the casual drinker, such as the Wheat Hop, the Ugly American, Snow Melt, and Pedal Pale. However, he’s tried to keep an even balance with other ’assaults of malt’ in the Kvass, Old Hickory, Black Strap, and others. Regardless, the biggest seller from the start has been East End’s flagship beer: Big Hop. No matter what else is pouring or available, Big Hop is still 60-70 percent of Scott’s
business – which says quite a bit about the changing palates in Pittsburgh nowadays.

As for the recipes and any underlying themes? “I’m making it up as I go along. I come in the morning and ask myself: What do I want? I’ll look in some books, call a few brewing colleagues, and then fly by the seat of my pants. I try to keep the lineup balanced but with a few surprises. The Wheat Hop freaked a lot of people out, since most expect an American wheat to be a step up from a lager, or the base beer for adding fruit. You never know what’s growing in Homewood, but I wouldn’t expect a fruit beer any time soon.”

And the kvass? “Brewing with Tom Baker was interesting and a lot of fun. Tom’s more into the malt and the yeast contributions to beer, rather than the hops. I learned a lot from him and got some different viewpoints. It was amazing to see what a tiny dose of Redstar bread yeast could do to all that wort. I think it was done by the time I left that day!”

Many people seem pleased with those experiments. If you come to East End on a Saturday (now from 12-5pm), most likely you’ll be waiting in a line to sample beers and buy some to take with you. I asked Scott if people abused growler hours. “Most people don’t. We’re on the edge of Homewood & Point Breeze and on a side street. I figure, if you’re going to take the time to come find us and are interested in trying something, then I’d rather you taste what you’re buying before walking away with it. Those first few batches can have some variability, as I dial in the beer, like with the Witte. The growler you bought last time may not be the same this time.”

What about Scott’s favorite styles? “When I homebrewed, I never did repeat recipes – I was more interested in process than product. Now that I’m, *ahem*, older, I really enjoy the session type ales, the kvass.”

I was curious about Scott’s opinion on beer ratings. Like many brewers, he keeps an eye on them but doesn’t let them guide what he’s doing. “I’m happy with the Gratitude ratings, for example. Oddly, I noticed that there are many more ratings for it on RateBeer than Beer Advocate. RateBeer seems to cast a much wider net, despite the fewer number of locals on the site. Perhaps more people are trading it and drinking it immediately, whereas more local people are storing it? I don’t know.” Luckily for all us locals, Scott frequently takes part in the Pittsburgh forum discussions (user EastEndBrewing). He also runs an informative brewery website and sends out a monthly email newsletter to all his rabid fans, letting us know what festivals East End will visit, and what new beers are coming out.

For more information on East End, see the website at http://www.eastendbrewing.com. Growler
hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 5-7pm, and Saturdays from 12-5pm. Because of Pennsylvania’s alcohol laws and Scott’s lack of a serving license, you can only fill an East End labeled growler. Empties are $3. Refills are $10 and up. Special bottled beers, such as the current Smokestack Heritage Porter, are $10 + $3 deposit for a 1 liter flip-top bottle. The 750-mL Gratitude, usually out at the end of the year, costs around $16.

Many thanks to Scott Smith for taking time out of his schedule (on a growler day!) to meet with me.

In March 2006, during one of my less frequent trips to Marzoni’s (I now live an hour away) I was able to sit down with Bill Kroft, the head brewer and assistant manager of the brewpub. Over a few pints, we talked about the brief history of Marzoni’s and what we can expect in the years to come. Looking at the RateBeer page, you’ll notice that not many people have had the chance to visit Marzoni’s. Well, I should say, not a lot of RateBeerians have had the chance – stop in during any weekend evening, and you’ll have at least a 30-45 minute wait for a dinner table, and the bar will standing room only. I sincerely hope that anyone reading this article will give Marzoni’s a visit when in the area, or check out their offerings at one of Pennsylvania’s many beer festivals.

The brewpub itself is located in Duncansville, a small town between Altoona and Hollidaysburg (home of the Slinky). It sits next to the corporate headquarters of the Hoss’s restaurant chain, and rightly so, since the company that owns and operates Hoss’s also owns Marzoni’s. Bill Kroft, who’s originally from DuBois, was living in York, PA and working as a Hoss’s restaurant manager at the time when Marzoni’s was being planned. Bill had been homebrewing for several years. Once he learned of the brewpub plans, he “consistently bugged” the corporate folks for a chance at running the brewing operations. You couldn’t ask for a better deal. I learned this story long after having sampled the beers there, and I must say I was surprised. I’m no Oakes or Per, but I’ve tried a few beers. I can honestly say that despite Bill’s lack of professional brewing experience before Marzoni’s, he’s far ahead of many of the micros I’ve sampled in other places.

Of course, jumping right into a 10 bbl system from 5 gallon all-grain batches is not without its challenges. Bill and his assistant brewer, Jason Walls, spent some time with consultants from Kelley Breweries out of California. Kelley helped mentor them through the first three batches at Marzoni’s and a few bumps. Since then, it’s been up to Bill, and gauging from the crowds, he’s doing pretty good. The average batch from his 10 bbl lasts anywhere between 4-12 weeks, and in 2005 Marzoni’s made between 500-600 bbl. He keeps six brews available at all times, and rotates two seasonals throughout the year. Currently, there are no plans to expand the number of taps or add a bottling line. A few local bars, such as Jean Bonnet in Bedford and The Knickerbocker in Altoona, tap his kegs. And of course, you can get growlers to go.

I asked Bill what some of the biggest challenges and surprises were for him by jumping into a brewpub and trying to promote craft beer in the Altoona area. “One of the biggest challenges in this area is making beers that appeal to the local tastes. As a predominantly traditional blue-collar area, it’s difficult to switch people from Bud and Pabst over to other styles like an IPA or a really malty beer. On the flip side, I was surprised at just how many people really do enjoy other styles – a lot more than I expected.”

On that thought, I asked if that was the reason that Marzoni’s also sold some popular macro beers like Coors Light and Michelob Ultra – to me it seemed odd to offer someone else’s product at your brewpub. “Well, it’s really about having customers enjoy their time here. If a group of ten come in and nine are wanting my beers but the tenth guy only drinks Coors Light, it only makes sense to give that guy what he’s used to rather than risk losing nine other customers because they have to go elsewhere to make everyone happy. And since we serve alcohol and wine, too, we’re not having to get an extra license just to sell Coors Light. The other point is: there’s too much work involved in making a Coors Light clone – I’d rather spend my energy making beers that I enjoy.”

Bill has the complete operation going, from milling to finish. For his ales, he uses mostly English malts; for lagers, he goes with German malts. For some of his specialty beers, like the saison, he’ll try to stick closely to the style and use Belgian malts. All his yeast comes from White Labs. I asked about scaling up from homebrewing: “Well, the biggest lesson I learned is that the grain bill scales up proportionately but hops do not!”

When asked about the role the management and corporate people played in the brewing decisions: “I’m happy with it. I’ll get some suggestions now and then, but I’m free to do what I want and I enjoy that. They’ve seen the response here and they trust my experience.” And the response to Marzoni’s must be a good one. There are now plans to build a second brewpub in the Harrisburg area. At the moment, some places in Hershey are being looked at, but no final decision has been made. Personally, I was a bit disappointed, since I keep bugging them to come to Indiana, but I don’t know if this town is ready to handle them yet. So, for all you mid-staters, keep your eyes open in the coming years for a Marzoni’s near you. Bill’s plays it close to the vest when asked if he’ll move to the new location, but I can’t say I blame him for wanting to move to a more built up area than Duncansville.

So what’s on tap at Marzoni’s? The first is “Locke Mountain Light”, a light-bodied golden lager coming in at 3.7%abv. It’s a pale golden clear beer with nice white head. Though by no means a ’big’ beer, it’s fairly hoppy and a nice session beer for those more accustomed to fizzy macros.

Next up is the “Amber Lager”, a slightly malty lager at 6.1%abv. It’s copper-red in color with a fruity nose. There’s a nice level of sweetness in this one that finishes off with a nutty bitterness.

For American wheat fans, Bill makes the “Highway 22 Wheat” (named for the road connecting Altoona and Ebensburg down to Monroeville). At 4.7%abv, it’s a cloudy pale ale with some nice citrus aroma. There’s some nice wheaty taste, lemon, and a bit of bubblegum.

The namesake of Marzoni’s address, “Patchway Pale Ale” is a decently hopped ale at 5.5%abv. Nice aromatics on this one, grapefruit and some resin. Reddish-brown in color, it starts with a nice fruity flavor before finishing with some good bitterness.

For the stout lovers, there’s the “Stone Mason Stout” at 6.1%abv. It’s a dry stout with nice creamy tan head (not under nitro, to my knowledge). A bit of sweetness and good roasted flavors with clean dry finish.

As for my personal favorite of the regular lineup, there’s the mouth puckering “Avalanche IPA”, a double IPA weighing in at 6.9%abv. Huge hoppy nose, with resin and apricots. Finely balanced maltiness with a huge bitter followup and big bitter after. A few of these and you’re in a happy place.

Bill’s made several other styles that have been rotated through at least twice now since the opening. You can see the RateBeer page for all his offerings but a few to mention are the “Anniversary Ale”, a wonderful barley wine first unveiled in 2004. I was away at the time, but got to try a year-old sample at the State College Festival in 2005. At 11.2%abv, it was warming and sweet, with a nice vanilla-oak bitter finish. The ESB and Czech Pilsener were very good and true to the style. Finally, though not my highest rating for Bill’s beers, my consistent favorite at Marzoni’s is his saison. I’ve had the fortune to sample a few saisons over the years, and quite a few of them from the home of they style. With the exception of a fine sample of Saison de Brooklyn, his is the best American-made saison I’ve had to date. Coriander, orange peels, and jasmine aromas, with a nice floral-bitter finish. I could drink this all day.

My thanks to Bill for taking the time to chat, and for making great beers in my (almost) back yard. If you get a chance, check out Marzoni’s. You’ll not regret it. Website: http://www.marzonis.com

Q. How did you get started doing what you do?
A. I kept a “beer diary,” beginning in 1986, and got in the habit of recording what I thought about beers, but more importantly, about the places and people who were making and serving them. The breweries, brewers, bars, and bar-owners/bartenders have proven to be more my forte. I wrote a sample issue of a newsletter for a local beerstore and sold it to them for $30 in 1994; three weeks later I was laid off. I sold a few more pieces to Malt Advocate and Ale Street News while on unemployment, and continued to write when I picked up a temp job. When the contract on that ran out in December 1995, I went full-time writing, and have been ever since.

Q. What’s your background? Were you always in journalism/writing or is this the result of a passion for a hobby?
A. I was a librarian, but I had a BA and an MA in History. That got me started writing, but it was really writing and writing and writing that honed my skills, as with anyone. I’m also a reader with a wide appetite; lately I’ve been reading wine and food writing, looking for ideas.

Q. Are you a native Pennsylvanian? Where did you grow up and how did that influence your decisions to become a beer writer?
A. My family’s lived in Pennsylvania since the 1740s; my sister and I were the first to leave Lancaster County, Pennsylvania since 1745.and we only made it about 50 miles east. I’m firmly rooted here. I think it did influence my decision, because stumbling across the Yuengling brewery one day while a friend and I were out driving around really fired my curiosity. If you were going to have a brewery in your backyard in the late 1970s – on the East Coast! – Yuengling was a good one. I learned a lot visiting that brewery over the years, and part of what I learned was how interested I was.

Q. Family? I can’t remember if you said you were married. Do any of your family members share your passion for beer, or are you the kook of the family, like I am?
A. I married Catherine Childs in 1989, and we have two kids, Thomas (14) and Nora (11). That was a big influence on the decision: writing lets me stay home to be there for the kids while my wife really supports the family. I’ve managed to get pretty much of my wife’s family converted to good beer, especially her three brothers, who are my best friends. My side of the family’s a different story. My sister and I love whiskey, my mother will try almost any beer I put in front of her, and my uncle Don has been a great drinking companion as noted in my books. But some of the family’s scandalized by what I do. Well, they’re scandalized that I converted to Catholicism, too, that’s just the way things go. I’m definitely not the kook of the family, though, more like The Connection.

Q. Do you homebrew?
A. I homebrewed from 1986 to 1993, with some big gaps in there when I lived in two tiny apartments and kept my stuff in storage. I finally ran out of time and patience when my daughter was born. The whole “Relax, don’t worry” part has never worked for me. I tended to be a total pain in the ass to be around when I brewed. So I quit.

Q. How is the third edition of Pennsylvania Breweries doing? How about New York Breweries and <Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware Breweries?
A. The new Pennsylvania book is selling very well, and it should – it’s a much better book than the two earlier editions were. I’ve gotten better, and the format has shaken down into something that I’m very pleased with. Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware Breweries is doing just fine, though it could use some more promotion; I hope to do something about that in the coming year. The New York book did very well the first year, then hit a wall. Not sure what happened there.

Q. Many of us enjoyed your PBS special a few years back. Anything in the works for an updated version, or one to complement the other books?
A. Nope. Looks like that might have been a one-shot.

Q. What are some of the downsides to your work?
A. Oh, God, how much room do you have? For one, I make about 1/3 of what I did as a librarian. There’s a constant concern about DUI, and that’s true of everyone in the business: brewers, wholesalers, retailers. Our business involves drinking, and those of us who are fighting to work our way up are out there working events. I don’t mean to say we’re constantly driving drunk, what I mean is that we’re constantly concerned and mindful of NOT drinking to the point where driving is dangerous to ourselves or someone else. I know a number of folks in the business who have gotten DUIs or had accidents: I haven’t, and I’ve been very careful. There are also inevitable moments when I wind up in situations – rotten two-bit bars on a bad lead, incompetent brewers with bad beer, sick and tired on a long road trip, caught in an interminable conversation with an over-earnest beer geek or lectured by an anti-alcohol raver – that just make me wonder why the hell I keep doing this. But then I think about the crap I put up with when I worked corporate and I smile and keep going.

Q. What are your thoughts on the Pennsylvania three-tier distribution system and how it affects the prosperity of small brewers?
A. The three-tier system in Pennslyvania is what saved our regional brewers as long as they did survive; we still have more than any other state with The Lion, Yuengling, Straub, and Pittsburgh. Lots of beer-lovers curse the three-tier system, but I think they’re wrong to do so. The small brewers I’ve talked to about this all hope it holds together as long as possible. Dealing with wholesalers is not always easy, but dealing with big number-driven supermarket chains, or hundreds of individual mom-and-pop stores, is going to be even harder. Access to market is the key, and three-tier going away will make that harder. It may seem counter-intuitive to the beer purchaser, but that’s the view from inside. That said, it’s going to happen. Period. So what’s going to replace it? Look at food distribution. There are big national companies – Sysco. There are regional suppliers, and there are fairly small ones. The fairly small ones are specialty providers: fresh seafood, dairy, fancy produce. That’s what’s going to wind up happening with beer. My concern is that it’s going to take too long, and we’re going to lose good breweries.

Q. Do you see Pennsylvania ever changing their system to allow the average consumer to purchase direct from brewers via mail order? How do you feel about that?
A. Yeah, I think we should be able to mail order directly, and I think that eventually a way will be worked out to allow it. I don’t think it will amount to much, though. It works for wine because wine goes for $20 or $60 a bottle; the margin the winery makes on shipping a case by mail-order makes it worthwhile. Beer generally doesn’t cost that much. Beer’s more fragile than wine. It weighs more per dollar. I believe the wine mail-order issue is hastening the end of the three-tier system, so I’m not nuts about it. I believe the beer mail-order issue is a lot of smoke and light without much heat. The volume’s just not there. I don’t want to hear about how much you and your friends want to buy; you and your friends are not even a drop in the bucket. Beer by mail is never going to be as big as wine by mail. The mechanics just aren’t there.

Q. You traveled quite a bit. Do you have a country/state/city that you would consider a favorite?
A. Tough question, particularly because there are so many top beer places I haven’t yet been to: Belgium, England, Scotland, Köln, Düsseldorf, Poland.I guess right now my favorites would include Bamberg, Pittsburgh, Munich, Madison, and Philly, not in any order. Depends on how I’m feeling. I’m on a long lager kick right now.

Q. Do you have a favorite brewer? Brand?
A. Not really. Sooner or later everyone does something to piss me off.

Q. What are your favorite styles? Do those change throughout the year? What would you consider a shining example from your most preferred styles?
A. They definitely change through the year, but not in a seasonal sense. Right now? Baltic porter, hefeweizen, American pale ale, and I’d say Okocim, Weihenstephan, and Sierra Nevada as examples. I know a lot of people think SNPA is passe these days, but I couldn’t agree less. That beer’s still got it, and if you think it’s underhopped, or boring, you need to go on a hops diet and get re-calibrated.

Q. What was your best experience as a beer writer/traveler?
A. Two I’ll have to give equal weight to. Edgefield, the McMenamin’s joint outside of Portland, was just glorious, a beer amusement park for adults. And Andechs, one of the top beer experiences of my life – Andechs doublebock – coupled with the fantastic experience of drinking in their beergarden, followed by an accidental hookup with four Berliners that was a blast.

Q. What was your worst experience as a beer writer/traveler?
A. No question: Chiefs, a Pittsburgh bar that has since closed. When I was planning the research for the second edition of the PA book, I put out an Internet request for suggestions on bars, and Chiefs came back as one. If I could find the guy who sent that one… Bad section of town, and an armed bouncer should have been a hint, but Uncle Don and I went in. It was dark, and freezing cold, and the radio played through a broken speaker. The bartender had a coat on, and didn’t speak more than absolutely necessary. Draft beer was limited to Iron City or Busch, both served in 16 oz. plastic cups. Guys were stumbling in and buying shots of rail booze with change, then drinking them with bar straws so they wouldn’t spill any. My dad was waiting outside in the van with his .357 in his hand under his jacket. This was definitely one of those moments when I looked in the mirror and thought, How have I come to this?

But you know, about that time I saw a bottle of Jim Beam Rye, and I asked the bartender for a shot. It was delicious, and a rare find these days. The bartender got interested, and I told him about rye whiskey, and bought him a shot. He turned off the radio. Don got to talking about hunting with the guy next to him. And,it wasn’t so bad after all.

Q. Now that you’ve traveled and written about several states, do you feel the brewpub/microbrew growth is soon to reach a plateau, or is there still room for long-term growth?
A. Oh, God, no, I think the picture for long-term growth is better than it has been since 1996. Things are growing, and we may be reaching a tipping point where more people than ever realize that they want something from their beer other than fizz and buzz. Does that mean more brewpubs? Yes, though it may mean more chain brewpubs. Success rate and cost of capital are going to be king, just like in restaurants. Does that mean more production microbreweries? Yes, though not many of them will make it. Access to market will be the crucial point as the three-tier system inevitably crumbles.

Q. What’s your vision of the future of brewpubs/micros in Pennsylvania?
A. Growth, fairly robust growth over the next five years or so. If that’s so, look for the majors to get interested again; A-B’s already interested. Chain brewpubs will grow, the good and well-managed ones. Micros who have a good business plan and model will grow. The market will grow at an expanding pace. Beer’s not dead. Craft beer and light beer are thriving, and ain’t that weird?

Q. What are some of the main reasons that brewpubs/micros close? Bad beer? Distribution woes? Bad food? Bad management?
A. Very few close because of bad food. I’ve seen places that make truly bad beer stay open remarkably long, over five years and even longer. The three major things that close breweries are bad management, bad location, and lack of capital, and you could easily argue that the latter two are results of bad management as well. People get into this business with no experience, just a lot of ideas and enthusiasm, and those are no substitute for experience, will, and deep pockets. You can make it work on a shoestring, but those who do are beating steep odds. It’s also very hard to make people come to you if you’re off the beaten track. I’ve seen it happen – Custom Brewcrafters in Honeoye Falls, NY comes to mind – but I’ve seen a lot more places go under trying. It’s not an easy business. It requires real capital investment, thought, innovation, and plain sweatin’ hard work. You have to be an artist, a manager, a salesperson, a plumber, and an electrician, and it doesn’t hurt to have some cooking and welding experience. There’s easier ways to make a living. It’s like writing. If you don’t feel like you just have to do it, you probably shouldn’t.

Q.Any advice to people who hope to go into the brewpub business or the beer writing arena?
A.Yeah, don’t go into beer writing! The pay sucks and I’ve got enough competition already. If you want to go into brewpubbing, get some experience first on all sides of the house, or get a partner you trust who already has the experience you lack. Decide on a firm idea for what you want your pub to be, and stick to it. Put a lot more work into your business plan than you think is necessary. Try to be prepared for disasters: no brewpub ever failed because of too much capital.

Q. Anything in particular you would like to share with the members of RateBeer?
A. Yeah. Don’t get overfocused on the beer. Sometimes I worry that we’re too busy looking for flaws or details, and the big picture – enjoyment of the beer, the surroundings, the company, the moment – gets lost. Beer’s part of life, maybe a bigger part in some lives than in others, but it’s only part of it, even for people like me who make a living at it. Step back occasionally. Breathe.

Lew can be reached at lew@lewbryson.com and he maintains up-to-date information on breweries and other places listed in his books at http://www.lewbryson.com

I lived in State College from 1998-2003, while attending graduate school at Penn State. For years, I had heard rumors of a brewpub coming to town, but there were always more rumors as to why it wasn’t. For months, there was an empty building in downtown that was rumored to be the new site of a brewpub. However, that was transformed into a local grocery store, much to my disappointment. In October 2002, my prayers were finally answered, when State College welcomed Otto’s Pub and Brewery on North Atherton Street about two miles from downtown.

Charlie is a Pennsylvania native from Williamsport, which hosts the Little League World Series, and is located about an hour northeast of State College. An avid homebrewer, he and a partner decided to go together with some interested investors and open a brewpub in Williamsport back in 1996: The Bullfrog Brewery. Through some connections with their equipment suppliers, Charlie spent some time working brewpubs in southern California for practical experience, and the rest came from “trail by fire” at the Bullfrog. Within a few short years, the Bullfrog was doing well, and Charlie decided to branch out to an as-of-yet untapped market: State College.

Q: So why did you choose State College?
A: I went to school here and wanted to move somewhere close to home. I also didn’t want to move to any big cities, and this is a really high-growth area at the moment.

Q: You opened in 2002? How was it at the start?
A: Yes, October 2002. It was kind of a tough year. The economy was going in the dumps and it was a hard year to open. I’ve talked to a lot of restaurant owners around here and they all said the same thing – 2002 was one of the worst years that State College restaurants have seen in a long time, for some reason. This year’s rebounded quite nicely, so we’re pretty happy right now.

Q: That’s quite a testament then, that you’ve done well despite opening in a slow year.
A: Yes, we’re pleased. I’m still learning a lot about brewing here. We’re just getting into wholesale now, another step we’ve been wanting to take. Again, there’s a lot of growth potential there. Right now, we’re on tap at Zeno’s (downtown) and some other places in State College, and places in Lock Haven and Huntingdon. Wholesale has been a new thing for us here. I did it at the Bullfrog as well, but there’s a lot more potential here than in Williamsport. There’s a huge void out here on the draft micro scene, because there’s a very limited amount of distributors, who are distributing a very limited selection.

Q: And PA is on the three-tier system?
A: Yes, the problem is we’re in the middle of the state with Pittsburgh and one end and Philadelphia on the other and no big distributor is willing to come here. So once beers filter out here, they’re very expensive and very limited in selection. And it’s too far out of the way for most micros to want to come and deliver it themselves. This is a good area for getting started in something like this. We’re kind of taking it slow because space is kind of limiting us right now; places for keg storage, etc.

Q: Do you hope to expand this facility in the future? Maybe a bottling line?
A: No, we don’t have plans or the room for that. The only way for us to expand would be for us to tear the equipment out and rebuild, or move to another building. Right now we lease here, but who knows? In five to ten years we might move to a bigger and better place.

Q: I’ve been fortunate to try most of your beers right here, and a few at the State College Microbrewers festival along with other RateBeerians. You were also at the Pittsburgh brewing festival at Penn Brewery last weekend. Do you try to get around to other places in PA or out of state?
A: We don’t do any out of state. I limit us to PA because beer shows take so much out of me, and I’ve really cut back over the years because they’re a lot of work for not a whole lot of return. They’re mostly a party for the brewers, really. I like going to the Pittsburgh show because it’s a good area for potential customers. I go to Stoudt’s and Harrisburg, and that’s about it. I have way too many hours in here, and going to a show kills a whole weekend. It gets harder and harder every year, but we’ll see. Maybe in a few years we’ll have the ability and more people to do stuff like that.

Q: So where do some of the names for the beers come from? Otto and Arthur?
A: Otto is the name of my cat, and Arthur is my other cat – very much a cat person. Red Mo and Black Mo are the names of local streams [Mo is short for Moshannon], as is Spring Creek. Mt. Nittany, of course, overlooking downtown.

Q: And Hellkat?
A: That’s a dedication to all the baby girls we’ve had here lately of the people who work here. My partner has two baby girls, a guy in the kitchen had a baby girl, I have a baby girl. Little hell cats, so it’s a tribute to them.

Q: So what’s your brewing capacity here?
A: We have a ten-barrel system. We can probably brew about 1200 barrels a year max. If I brew more lagers it limits us a bit. If I brewed only ales I could probably do about 1500 barrels a year. Right now, we’re running around – if I keep on track – probably about 850 barrels this year. I’d like to see it get up to 1000 barrels/year by year five, that’s my goal.

Q: Some of the beers I’ve had here over the years are maybe what I’d call atypical of the traditional beers you find in western-central PA. Big beers, with higher alcohol and big flavor; the Hellkat and Double D IPA, the Weizenbock. Do you find they’re doing well here, or are the milder traditional ales and lager better sellers?
A: That’s one of the reasons I try to have 10 or 11 beers on tap at all times; to keep the menu very varied. There are certainly fans of every style. The Double IPA is sort of the new trendy style – the big thing at the moment. Ever since the micros came into focus, the higher alcohol beers have been a selling point – fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how some people look at it. “Micros – that’s that strong beer!” is some people’s stereotype. The PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board) is on us now – we can’t put our alcohol percentages on the menu anymore because they think it’s enticement, but that’s another battle. Everyone else in the state can post theirs, but we just happen to have somebody – the local PLCB regional guy – who says we can’t, even though the brewpub right across the street from their office can. But we work with them and comply. I like the big styles and making more adventurous beers.

Q: So, to rotate 10-11 beers, how often do you brew?
A: I usually brew twice a week, so about 7-8 batches a month. The more popular styles – the helles, apricot wheat, Red Mo, Spring Creek, Double D – usually are gone in a month. We usually get about 20 kegs from one batch.

Q: And your ingredients, do you stick with certain ones, or do you mix them up to try new ones?
A : I use mainly three base malts; pale malt, Maris Otter, and pilsener malt from England. But with the skyrocketing costs of shipping and the weakening dollar, it’s harder and harder to get overseas grain. I’m considering moving to American malts. For hops, I use American, German, British – whatever the style calls for, basically. Right now I’m using all American hops for the Red Mo and the Mount Nittany, and others I switch between American and British. For yeast, I have a favorite ale strain and a favorite lager strain – one’s a British and the other’s a Czech pils-style. For more special styles, like the Roggen, I’ll use a Weihenstephan strain; or Duvel for the Hellkat.

Q. What’s the water like here?
A. That’s another big thing we’re wrestling with right now. The water here is terrible. So, I’m breaking down and getting a reverse-osmosis filter. It’s so hard to make a soft floral hoppy beer here because of the hardness. If you had to pick one style that would do really well here based on water, it would be a stout like you’d find in England or Ireland. Or other dark styles. I think that our stouts and schwarzbier we make our probably our best quality, as far as trueness to style, because of the water. On the other hand, many times I’m not pleased with the hop character in, for example, the pale ales or certain lagers. The big problem is that State College water is from many different well fields, and they switch around many times a year. So, literally, my water can change overnight. They’ll let us know when they’re going to switch, but that doesn’t alleviate the problem – so, reverse osmosis. It’s going to be a lot of work, reformulating, but the mid-range ales – helles, Double D, etc. are really going to improve in hop character. So, come back in about 6 months to a year, and you should notice a big difference in those styles.

With that, Charlie gave us a quick tour of the brewing area, enclosed in a large room at the street side of the restaurant and visible for all interested. His assistant brewers, Davo Geiser and Nikolai Mebane, were busy cleaning tanks and getting ready for a batch of root beer, another favorite at the pub (though unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to sample). Afterwards, we sat down so I could try some new offerings that I’d not previously rated, including Arthur’s Rye Ale, Spring Creek Lager, Roggen Bier, and the Hellkat.

I’ve been lucky enough to sample most of Otto’s offerings in the past two years, and this is one of my favorite brewpubs. I’d like to thank Charlie for taking the time to meet with me for this article, and offer congratulations to Charlie, Davo, Nikolai and all other members of Otto’s for making great beers (and a great place to enjoy those beers) in central Pennsylvania.