Family, football and cider | 814 Cider Works move to Beaver Stadium is culmination of dream

Penn State entered the 2023 campaign with heightened expectations following its 11-2 record and Rose Bowl victory just a year ago.

The Nittany Lions have lived up to those expectations as they are off to a 3-0 start and ranked seventh in the nation.

The blue and white are set to play in its annual “White Out” game against No. 24 Iowa on Saturday as a sea of white will fill Beaver Stadium.

However, Penn State’s play on the gridiron isn’t the only thing that’s taken a step up in 2023.

Since arriving in Happy Valley on July 1, 2022, athletic director Pat Kraft has worked to improve the gameday environment for fans across all venues, especially in Beaver Stadium.

Penn State recently announced several new additions to improve the atmosphere on Saturdays, including a legacy plaza, a kid’s zone and a tunnel club.

The additions didn’t stop there as the program also added nine new concession offerings around the stadium, such as Chickie and Pete’s, Caliente Pizza and the We Are Inn.

However, for one local family business that is now calling Beaver Stadium home, the move marks the culmination of years of hard work for 814 Cider Works located at J.L. Farm and Cidery.

The LeClair family, Matt, Andrew, Pierre, and Jennifer, run the business and operations and have created 814 Cider Works, which offers six ciders on tap along with 15 different ciders in bottle form while having food trucks, live music and fire pits on the weekend. The LeClair family aimed to create a family-friendly, party-like atmosphere where people can unwind.

After graduating from Penn State, Andrew in 2009 and Matt in 2013, the brothers were focused on their careers while still working on the farm. In 2018, the family decided to take on the challenge of making hard cider, and it was a decision that paid off massively.

“We threw out an idea about making hard cider and just utilizing the apples on the farm and everything else,” Andrew LeClair said. “We’ve always pressed regular cider. So, what can we do to utilize such a small farm?”

Andrew noted that the family went through a crash course on how to make cider in December of 2018, and once the calendar flipped to 2019, they spent the first three months critiquing the orchard and figuring out the best way to manage it.

One thing the family enjoys doing together is coming up with the names for their ciders, and they never forget their Happy Valley roots, which have such flavors as White Out and Home Game Blues. Andrew noted it sometimes becomes difficult to name the ciders.

“That’s probably hands down, as we discussed among the siblings, that’s probably the hardest part of the job,” Andrew LeClair said. “I know for a fact during COVID, we named Gold Stache and Dry Spell. We played it like a play on words, and we kind of ran with it, and you can always look back on that time and look at the good things that came out of it.”

What helps motivate the business is the family atmosphere of the staff, and they can make connections with people in the community.

“Through our business and the community, I think we’ve created a larger family within the community,” Andrew LeClair said. “That’s how I look at the term family. It’s more than our immediate family. It’s bigger than that. That’s what we wanted to create, and that’s what’s special about the community. It’s special about State College, and I want to keep growing that.”

It’s the family-first mentality that allowed 814 Cider Works to continue to expand and eventually move into Beaver Stadium. Penn State allowed Alcohol to be sold in the stadium for the first time last season, and 814 Cider Works is the first cidery to sell its cans in Beaver Stadium.

“We’ve always wanted to grow. We’ve always wanted to distribute a little bit further, and having Penn State in our backyard essentially has been such a blessing,” Andrew LeClair said. “Being alumni of Penn State, we wanted to find a way to use what we gained from the university to give back.”

The White Out cider made its debut during the West Virginia contest on Sept. 2, and it was a major success. One of the stands sold out of cider by the second quarter, and many fans have posted about the cider on social media.

Having cider sold in Beaver Stadium has been a dream come true for the LeClair family, and they hope they can continue to grow and expand.

“I think any Penn State alum eats and breathes Penn State football.” Andrew LeClair said. “I think no matter what, it has a special place in each and every one of our hearts, and there’s such a passion wrapped around Penn State football in the community. It’s super special, and we’re just happy and humbled by the opportunity to be a part of it.”

Alex Rocco is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email alex.rocco1702@gmail.com.