Naming a beer after someone isn’t the usual way to honor their memory or accomplishments.
For brewer Mark Dudash, however, it seemed like a fitting way to recognize a man whose impact he never fully understood: Joe Paterno.
“I had an idea and a concept, although I’m not a Penn State graduate,” the Duquesne Brewing owner says. “I approached Jay Paterno and threw the idea out about honoring his father because he was second to none on what he did.”
At the time, Dudash didn’t yet realize how vast of a fan base he was tapping into when he decided to partner with the Paterno family to create the Paterno Legacy Series.
“I never experienced that Paterno fan base until starting to put this thing together and going to all these small towns and meeting with people,” he says. “They all have their stories. Even if they’re not Penn State grads, I’m finding that throughout most of Pennsylvania, there are Penn State fans and fans of everything that Joe built.”
And so the Paterno Legacy Series and its first beer, a Vienna lager, was officially born. Dudash says his brewery is working around the clock in order to make sure the beer is done in time for tailgate season. When that time comes, a Beaver Stadium parking lot filled with fans enjoying a beer with the coach’s face is imminent.
The can design was released over Arts Fest weekend, featuring two sides of JoePa that every fan came to know over the years.
“My wife designed the can. We had these two images, the serious Joe on the sideline and the happy Joe walking on campus and shaking hands with fans and all that,” Dudash says. “We couldn’t choose between the two, so we decided to put them both on the can.”
The cans feature a list of his accomplishments as the all-time winningest coach in Division I football history with 409 wins, 24 bowl victories, 79 All-Americans, and 49 Academic All-Americans.
The demand for the beer has been “mind-boggling” for Dudash, who continues to be surprised by how excited people are to have a Paterno beer.
“When I talk to Jay, we kind of laugh because our view of success is so far in the rearview mirror already with pre-sales and the demand and how much of a response this has gotten,” he says.
As a brewer, Dudash is hoping the beer eventually gets a response not just for the name on the can, but for the taste of the beer that lies within. He sampled some options with Paterno before opting for the Vienna lager, which his brewmaster worked on and sent to Dudash to taste.
“It’s great. It’s a little red with some off white head. It has very subtle hints of malt and caramel,” Dudash says. “It has a real full taste and a thick mouth and it’s real smooth with just a subtle bite from the European hops we used. It’s moderately carbonated and perfect for tailgating.”
And with just a month left before football season is here, Dudash’s brewery will be working 24/7 to get the Paterno Legacy Series brewed, canned, and shipped all over Pennsylvania.
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