What's Brewing at Otto's Pub & Brewery - State College, PA

Written by Nicholas Rys

If you haven't been inside the new location for Otto's Brewery, you might be surprised at what you find.  From the expanded parking to the gift shop as you walk in, it's clear Otto's is brewing thing's up.  As you enter the lobby the first thing that catches your eye is the artwork hanging from the wall; two colorful pieces, depicting two breweries from the 1800s from right here in Pennsylvania. Right away, it sets the ambiance for the new location.

As you walk through the spacious bar and the restaurant, you can't help but notice the old posters and logos of past Pennsylvania breweries, proudly decorating the walls or hanging from the ceiling.

"We want to celebrate the rich brewing history that existed in Pennslyvania.  This is a way we can do that," says Roger Garthwaite, co-owner. 

When choosing the artwork, Mr. Garthwaite said the picked posters based on aesthetics but also simply based on the fact that these breweries, in their time, were very successful PA breweries.  By doing all this Mr. Garthwaite hopes to communicate to the customers a bit of what Otto's is all about.  

Regarding the move, Mr. Garthwaite said that after eight years, Otto's faced two problems, they needed to brew more beer in order to meet the demand from various places across the state, and their long lines were indicating that they were in need of more seating.  Fortunately, the stars aligned and a new location became available that provided more seating and room to expand the brewery.

A lot of the confidence and motivation for the move was due to Otto's new head chef, Tim Shevlin.  In the fall of '08, Tim came on board, and by putting better quality food out in a more cost effective manner, conviced the staff at Otto's they were ready to expand. 

"His confidence helped us realize we could move to a bigger location.  And now we've doubled our seating, tripled our brewing capacity and quadrupled our parking."

Otto’s Pub and Brewery • 2235 North Atherton St • State College, PA 16803 • 814-867-OTTO (6886)

http://www.ottospubandbrewery.com • On Tap and Menu • Upcoming Events