Happy Valley Brewing Company is celebrating five years in business by giving customers a new way to enjoy its beer. For the first time, it will offer to-go can packages.
‘We are coming up on our fifth birthday, and I don’t think we ever stopped moving in our five years, so this is our next step,” said general manager Celesta Powell.
She said canning was something they had wanted to do, but the size of the brewery had prevented them doing it. In order to offer up their first batch of canned beers, they teamed up with New Trail Brewing Company in Williamsport, a brewery already in the canned beer game, to make Happy Trails IPA, a collaborative beverage available in cans at both locations.
“They have all the equipment up there, (and are) really great guys to work with, and we put out an IPA,” said Powell.
The “hoppy, hazy” IPA only is available in cans for a limited release. The other beers that are brewed at Happy Valley Brewing Company are available on tap and many can be taken out in growlers, but cans are much more convenient and customer-friendly. Powell said they were glad to get the cans out in time for tailgaters to enjoy this season.
The beer was first launched Sept. 28, and Powell said the four-packs are going fast, with about half of what the brewpub had in-house gone over the busy football weekend.
Powell said this is the brewery’s first step into canning, but she doesn’t expect it to be the last. She said it hopes to get another batch out and available in the next four to five months, but she is unsure what that might look like. With limited space in Happy Valley Brewery’s 200-year-old refurbished barn in Lemont, canning or bottling at the site is not an option, but it is something the brewery wants to be able to give to customers in the future.
“Cans give people the opportunity to enjoy our beer other places … you know, playing outside in the woods, on mountain bikes, paddling. Cans are just accessible,” said head brewer Josh Davies. He said it was enjoyable working with New Trail on the project and he is happy with how the beer turned out.
