When Rod Stahl began thinking about expanding Axemann Brewery, he saw a taproom almost as an afterthought. Maybe a few tables and a small counter where people could do tastings.
What he ended up with was, well, a little bigger than that.
On July 8, the brewery opened its 20,000-square-foot facility at Titan Energy Park, the site of the former Cerro Metal Products Company at 2022 Axemann Road in Bellefonte.
“It’s more than we initially planned for, but we had a lot of support from the borough, the county, and our representatives to make it happen,” Stahl says.
The site was known as the Titan Metal Company from 1925 through 1950 and, according to the Centre Daily Times, employed 1,651 people in 1945, making it the county’s largest industrial employer. After a series of ownership changes, manufacturing slowed throughout the 2000s and stopped in 2011.
The building was purchased in 2012 by Navitus LLC, an investment group composed of local companies Shaner Capital and G. M. McCrossin. Nativus renamed the site Titan Energy Park and obtained a $2.5 million grant from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP).
RCAP funds have also been used to redo the building’s roof and make other site-wide improvements. The same program funded projects including Innovation Park, the Nittany Valley Sports Centre, and the Bellefonte Waterfront Redevelopment Project, according to state records.
In 2014, Titan Energy Park was designated a Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ), which provides waivers for state and local taxes.
Those incentives, combined with support from officials across local and state governments were enough to convince Stahl to take the plunge into a larger space. Stahl says the renovations on the brewery portion of the building totaled “several million” dollars in addition to the $2.5 million in RACP funding, though he declined to give a specific dollar figure.
Betsy Lockwood, regional economic development coordinator with the SEDA Council of Governments, works with KOZ sites in central Pennsylvania. She says that businesses taking advantage of the benefits are usually manufacturing or commercial operations, not retail operations like a brewery.
“It seems like that’s something people want more and more, so maybe it will be the start of a trend,” Lockwood says.
That seems to be the case so far for Titan Energy Park. Witches’ Hollow Winery & Mad McIntosh Cidery is currently under construction in Plant 1, the same part of the complex as Axemann. It is scheduled to open later this year.
Stahl is a civil engineer by training and one of the principals at Stahl Sheaffer Engineering, which is headquartered in State College and has locations throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The firm’s team worked on the project and helped preserve some of the factory’s original industrial elements.
The downstairs bar includes parts of lockers from the factory and beams are now parts of tables spread throughout the restaurant, which spans two floors. The factory’s original windows were refurbished and now open all the way to create an indoor-outdoor atmosphere.
The building’s decor capitalizes on its industrial history, with a bit of central Pennsylvania thrown in, like a collection of taxidermied animals on the walls and in the back corner of the downstairs bar.
It took more than a year of renovations to transform the space from what Stahl describes as a very rough state. The entire facility had to be sandblasted, the windows cleaned, ceiling redone, and equipment like a large furnace cleared out of the way – all before the kitchen, bar, and brewery equipment could be built and brought in.
Several of the factory’s former employees stopped by the brewery space during its first few days in business to see the updated space and reminisce about their time working there.
The facility also serves as the new brewing headquarters for Axemann and represents a big step forward from its former brewing location in a barn on Stahl’s property in Boalsburg. He partnered with W.R. Hickey to distribute throughout Centre County and hopes to expand throughout the rest of central Pennsylvania in the coming months.
Stahl visited at least a few dozen brewpubs similar to what Axemann became and says the closest analog is Troegs Brewing in Hershey, which has an on-site brewing facility along with a taproom and restaurant that has a similar industrial-inspired ambiance.
The Blonde Bistro, formerly in downtown Bellefonte, is located inside the taproom but continues to run as a separate business.
Stahl knew he would have enough on his hands with the taproom and beer production facility and did not want to add a restaurant on top of it. Some taprooms utilize food trucks or rotating restaurant features, but Stahl turned to chef Ciara Semack to establish something more permanent.
The brewery was originally scheduled to open in April, but was delayed due to COVID-19. Marketing director Cristina Barnes says Axemann plans to add live music and games once it’s safe to do so.
The outdoor patio on the second level overlooks Logan Branch and a working railroad track. Tables have individual heaters above them, which will allow for the windows to remain open in cooler weather.
The brewery’s current beer lineup includes its flagship Blue Stripe Kölsch, Auger Vienna lager, Hazy Daisy IPA, and Black Razz raspberry wheat. Barnes says upcoming beers include the Titan stout and an Oktoberfest.
Axemann Brewery is open Wednesday-Saturday from 4-10 p.m. The Blonde Bistro is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Hours for both businesses are subject to change due to COVID-19. For more information, visit axemannbrewery.com.
Jenna Spinelle is a writer, podcaster, and journalism instructor in State College.
