From metal factory to Centre County hot spot: Brewery, cidery recognized for restoration efforts

Axemann Brewery and Titan Hollow Cidery are hot spots for local nightlife and community events, but just five years ago, the spaces in the former metal factory were just a vision.

For bringing that vision to life, Axemann Brewery owners Rod and Dorothea Stahl and Titan Hollow Cidery owner Angela Eliasz were recently honored by the Centre County Historical Society with John H. Ziegler Historic Preservation Awards for Preservation and Restoration for the reuse and rehabilitation of the Titan Metal Company.

Spring Township’s Titan Metal Co. was founded in 1925 as a family business and became a leading producer of brass rods and castings and a major employer in Centre County, according to the Centre County Historical Society.

The 173-acre site closed in 2008 and a local investment group purchased the site in 2012.

Initially, Eliasz and the Stahls each had different plans for their respective businesses before deciding to repurpose the historic site.

The Axemann Brewery began as a home-based operation at the Stahls’ barn. The two had been looking into property in more rural areas to transition to a production brewery with a small tasting room until there was an opportunity for a larger space in a bustling area with a property value that was still reasonable for them.

They initially hoped to open the brewery in April 2020; however, construction on the 22,000-square-foot space took longer than expected and COVID-19 restrictions caused delays.

The site needed a new electric and heating system and the removal of a “massive” furnace and equipment, Dorothea said. They kept the site’s original floors and beams and repurposed the original lighting fixtures to go above the bar.

“We were working with something that had been around (before) the 1930s and trying to not disrupt a lot of it, but also update it because everything was based on melting metal and doing things that had nothing to do with brewing beer,” Dorothea said.

The size of the space shifted their initial plans, inspiring them to create a taproom where people can play games and hear live music and where other businesses can be housed.

“It’s been exciting and wild starting a business, especially starting from a pandemic,” Rod said. “It’s been somewhat stressful — as pretty much the start of any business can be — but it’s also been exciting seeing new things happen and seeing things that you’ve had a vision for turn into a reality.”

As restrictions lifted and the business has grown over in the last few years, they’ve been able to add games like cornhole, foosball and shuffleboard, have local musicians perform and host events like Oktoberfest, line dancing and benefit concerts.

Forming ‘Team Titan’

Eliasz, who is from the Finger Lakes in New York, was selling cider at a Penn State tailgate when someone from Titan Energy Park asked her to consider taking her business to the site. The next day she visited the factory “and the rest was history,” she said.

Construction for Titan Hollow Cidery, which includes Alloy Kitchen, Mad McIntosh Cider, Witches’ Hollow Winery & Titan Events, began in August 2020 on the other side of the facility from Axemann. Eliasz set a goal of repurposing elements of the original building to create a Victorian, steampunk setting with a focus on “communication and experience and connection.”

“The entire environment is about paying homage to the factory through the old machine fronts ... you couldn’t even buy them (anymore),” Eliasz said. “So finding them and repurposing them as our walls was very important to me and to bring back a little bit of that history when we weren’t all tied to a computer and a phone makes life easier.”

In the future, Eliasz also hopes to host events at the cidery and invite local talent to perform, including musicians, filmmakers and stand-up comedians. Transforming the orchard into a “cozy” and “magical” outdoor space is also on her list of future plans for her business.

The staff, which Eliasz refers to as “Team Titan,” drives the business forward as they support one another, carpooling and picking up shifts for one another in emergency situations. This love for one another and the cidery is reflected in the guest experience, Eliasz said.

The team collaborates with one another, the customers and other businesses included in the Central PA Tasting Trail to generate new ideas to improve the customer experience and make Bellefonte a destination for craft beverages.

‘Keeping the history alive’

Eliasz and the Stahls accepted the John H. Ziegler Historic Preservation Awards during a ceremony held on Jan. 21 at the Pennsylvania Match Factory.

“We’re especially thankful for the Centre County Historical Society for recognizing us and the work we’ve done,” Eliasz said. “It’s becoming a museum as we’re collecting all these photos and documents. That’s a love process in itself — keeping the history alive.”

The Stahls have also learned how connected people across the commonwealth are to the site, receiving memorabilia and hearing stories that make them feel part of the community despite not being from the area.

“The whole bar is lined with the original wooden locker doors that the employees used, and we’ve had people come in looking for their locker number,” Dorothea said. “We knew people would be drawn to (the brewery), but we didn’t anticipate just how connected people are to that space because it’s been a part of this community for so long.”

Other 35th Annual John H. Ziegler Historic Preservation Award winners include:

• Paul Daniel Marriott for Education and Advocacy

• Julia Spicher Kasdorf for History and Heritage

• Julie Ruggiero Houston for Support and Volunteerism

• Ford Risley and Lee Stout for CCHS President’s Award

• James and Gay Dunne for Jacqueline J. Melander Award