College football features some of the fiercest rivalries the sports world has to offer, and Ohio State has a couple of notable ones thanks to its longstanding beef with both Michigan and Penn State. Now, some members of the Nittany Lion faithful who hopped on the craft beer bandwagon after graduating have teamed up to make a brew inspired by their hatred of the Buckeyes.
Penn State and Ohio State faced off for the first time all the way back in 1912 in a game where the guys hailing from State College walked away with a 37-0 win, but things didn’t really kick into high gear until both squads became members of the Big Ten in 1993.
Since then, the two schools have repeatedly treated the college football world to some intense showdowns, and Ohio State has the upper hand when you consider the Buckeyes boast an all-time 23-12 record in the series.
The rivals are slated to go head-to-head in Columbus on October 21st in what promises to be a competitive and high-stakes contest between an undefeated Ohio State program that’s currently ranked at No. 4—two spots above a Penn State team that also hasn’t lost a game as of this writing.
According to Breweries in PA, Nittany Lions fans who are looking to throw back some beers while watching that game might want to head to one of the dozen breweries in Pennsylvania owned by the Penn State alumni who recently teamed up to start pumping out “Buckeyes Tears,” a cold IPA that will roll out around a week before the matchup.
Excited to share our next statewide beer collab. "Buckeye Tears" will release early October at 12 Penn State alumni owned breweries across PA
The 4.09% Cold IPA is the perfect tailgating beer & #WeAre certain you'll love it
Details on where to find it -> https://t.co/oHEPJrjfxb pic.twitter.com/avULi9SREv
— Breweries In PA (@BreweriesinPA) September 27, 2023
The 4.09% ABV is a very interesting move when you consider it’s almost certainly a reference to the number of games Joe Paterno won as the head coach of the Nittany Lions before he was fired due to his role in covering up the Jerry Sandusky abuse scandal.
If you’re looking to get your hands on some, it’ll be sold at:
- Acrospire Brewing (Glenshaw)
- Antifragile Brewing (State College)
- Blondes and Brewnettes (West Grove)
- Cellar Works (Sarver)
- Grist House (Pittsburgh)
- Hidden Stories Brewing (Millerstown)
- Locust Lane Craft Brewery (Malvern)
- Mechanistic Brewing (Clarion)
- Michaux Brewing (Waynesboro)
- Moo-Duck Brewing (Elizabethtown)
- Rough Edges Brewing (Chambersburg)
- ShuBrew (Zelienople)
It does seem like those breweries are tempting fate by releasing a beer called “Buckeyes Tears” before the game is played, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.