Nittany Lions, Football, and Beer, Oh My!

With football season around the corner, you’re most likely deciding what drink to make a toast with during tailgates this fall. Luckily, there’s a new beer in town, and it has “Joe Pa” written all over it. A Pennsylvania brewing company is raising a glass to our own [late] football coach, Joe Paterno, just in time for the upcoming season!

As we all know, Joe Paterno was the head coach of the Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2011, and with 409 victories, was the winningest coach in NCAA history. He was recently nominated into the Pennsylvania Football Hall of Fame, and has been in the College Football Hall of Fame since 2007. Joe Pa’s legacy was no small feat, so it doesn’t surprise us to see a beer with his face on it.

According to TribLive, Jay and Sue Paterno (Joe’s son and wife) are working with Duquesne Brewing Company to create the first ever Paterno Legacy Series of beer. Duquesne is a brewing company based out of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which is (not so coincidentally) where Sue and Joe Paterno were married. The beer is a Vienna-style lager; reddish-brown in color with medium body and slight malt sweetness. It will be available some time in August, and will come in 12 oz. cans. Each can will feature Joe Pa’s image, as well as a list of his accomplishments.

The production of the beer is set to begin this month, with a first run of 7,000 cases. With the expected success of the line, Sue Paterno has decided that a portion of the proceeds from the sales will go to charity. The beer will be available in cases and 12-packs by the time we Penn Staters (21 years or older) start to tailgate. Looks like it’s just about time for us to sit back, relax and enjoy a good ol’ can of Joe!

Beer bottles pictured are NOT the actual product.

Editor’s note: Valley Magazine neither encourages nor condones underage or irresponsible drinking. Please consume alcoholic beverages responsibly.