‘BeerWithAlan’ made this Penn Stater a social media star. See his top Happy Valley brews
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Beer influencer Alan Spoll spotlights five Centre County brews and local breweries
- Spoll recalls his beer journey: from in-dorm brewing to trying beers across the globe
- Spoll’s Centre County favorites include Belgian ales and Russian/American imperial stouts
Alan Spoll has attained social media stardom for his “BeerWithAlan” pages and recommendations, and the Penn State garb he often wears in the videos leads to a question: Does he have favorites in Happy Valley?
The answer is yes, as the Philadelphia native still visits the area after developing an affection for State College when he attended Penn State.
“I started as a freshman at Penn State right out of high school and I just absolutely loved the place, but I ended up leaving before my second year because my girlfriend at the time was back home in Philly, and it felt like the right thing to do — long term, you question the decisions that your younger self made,” said Spoll, who finished out his college days at Drexel University.
Since launching his social media career in 2023 at the recommendation of his daughter, who also attended Penn State, Spoll’s Instagram, TikTok and YouTube pages have amassed around 380,000 followers and millions of likes. He’s had more than with over 3,100 different beers so far (and counting) — although that number only counts the beers he started tracking in 2014.
In the videos, which are usually taken from the comfort of his own home, he recommends beers to drink for different situations, educating his followers on beers from across the world and trying new beers he’s never had.
Sometimes his videos are recorded in Happy Valley, when he visits for the occasional Nittany Lions football game.
“I loved Penn State ... and I had a lot of friends up there, so through the rest of my college years I went back up several times to visit them,” he said. “Penn State won the national championship in football my freshman year too, in the 1986 season. I was already a fan before that, but even if I hadn’t been, that [championship] hooked me forever.”
Spoll’s most recent trip to State College came in late August, when he celebrated two occasions: Penn State beating Nevada in the season opener, and his 3,100th beer, which was a Märzen-style Oktoberfest from Antifragile Brewing Company in downtown State College.
At the game, he drank a “Linebacker Brew” from Williamsport-based New Trail Brewing Company.
University Park is also home to one of Spoll’s earliest beer-related memories, having brewed his own beer there with friends in his dorm room using large plastic pickle buckets. Unlike his preferred Belgian quad or barley wine beers, that one isn’t on his all-time favorites list.
“That stuff tasted brutal,” he recalled.
Long-gone are Spoll’s days of drinking dorm-brewed beer, and since then he’s not only tried beers from across the United States, but the world too, with brews from Germany, Italy, Sweden, Peru, Japan, Mexico, Ireland and more being checked off his list.
Spoll has tried a number of beers from Centre County breweries too, and shared, in no particular order, his top five favorites.
‘Waterfall Over my Back’
Type of beer: Belgian pale ale
Brewery: Antifragile Brewing Company, 324 E. Calder Way in State College
Alcohol percentage: 4.3%
Spoll’s thoughts: “I love a good Belgian ale, and Antifragile’s ‘Waterfall Over my Back’ is just that. It’s a truly beautiful, lighter beer that shows how much care the brewers at Antifragile put into their craft. Brewing is an art, and those guys have it figured out.”
‘Phantom Birthday Party’
Type of beer: American imperial stout
Brewery: Voodoo Brewing Company, 201 Elmwood St. in College Township
Alcohol percentage: 13.7%
Spoll’s thoughts: “I know that [Phantom Birthday Party] is technically a collaboration with a couple of other breweries, but it’s a beer that really blew me away, just fantastic. It’s a barrel-aged stout, and if you watch my videos, you know I love that stuff, so that’s definitely a beer that I seek out and will return for.”
‘Apocalypse Wow’
Type of beer: Belgian strong golden ale
Brewery: Happy Valley Brewing Company, 137 Elmwood St. in College Township
Alcohol percentage: 9%
Spoll’s thoughts: “Another Belgian beer, another hit. It’s a bit stronger than ‘Waterfall Over my Back,’ but it still delivers on all fronts. I’d liken it to a Duvel or Delerium Tremens.”
‘Jolly Roger Imperial Stout’
Type of beer: Russian imperial stout
Brewery: Otto’s Pub and Brewery, 2235 N. Atherton St. in Patton Township
Alcohol percentage: 10%
Spoll’s thoughts: “When my daughter was going to school at Penn State, we’d go to Otto’s almost every time we’d visit her and I’d get a Jolly Roger. It’s one of their regular beers, and while I think that they have a barrel-aged version of it, the standard alone is a really, really good beer. ... It’s darker than the last few I mentioned, and it packs a lot of flavor.”
‘Welcome to the Darkside’
Type of beer: Russian imperial stout
Brewery: Robin Hood Brewing Co., 1796 Zion Road in Spring Township
Alcohol percentage: 12%
Spoll’s thoughts: “This one is another imperial stout, and it’s been barrel-aged. Much like the ‘Jolly Roger,’ it’s a dark beer with a lot of flavor. There’s also a vanilla version of it that’s incredibly tasty too, if you’re a vanilla-loving person. All around, it’s just a really, really well-made beer.”