Lou Romano (right) with Phi Sig brother Jeff Klein '96

And he was right. Oskar Blues has expanded to open two additional locations in Texas and North Carolina, as well as acquire two craft breweries in Michigan and Florida. Lou’s sales team alone is now made up of nearly 100 employees.

Lou got his start in the beer industry even before attending Penn State, as he had worked at a retail distributor already. He continued at Nittany Beverage while in school, working the retail store and loading delivery trucks.

“I also brought a lot of Stroh’s 36-packs back to Phi Sig,” he adds.

Not long after graduation, Lou landed a job as a sales representative at an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler. He eventually made his way to the supplier side of Yuengling, working first in sales, and then running Yuengling’s marketing department for about six years before heading to Oskar Blues.

“It’s certainly not been without challenges, but in a gratifying way,” says Lou.

Today, Lou stays in touch frequently with Jeff Klein ’96 and Jeremy Frank ’97.

“Both seem to do a much better job at keeping up with everyone else,” he says. “So I get my updates on Tim Leister ’96, Hunter Grossman ’95, Kwi Brennan ’96, Doug Graham ’95, Vince Calvanese ’95, Jason Ralph ’95, Jason Babik ’96, Pete Adams ’96, and the rest of the gang through Jeff and Jeremy, and with the help of Fantasy Football and social media.”

But time and distance have done nothing to diminish the bond Lou will always feel with his brothers.

“Phi Sig provided me with a group of lifelong friends,” he says. “Although I don’t see them all nearly as much as I’d like, I know they’d be there for me if I needed them, and that feeling is mutual.”

Oskar Blues is a sponsor of this year’s Dirt Rag Dirt Fest at Raystown Lake, which takes place May 18-21, the weekend of our Phi Sig golf outing. Although Lou won’t be able to make it to town due to a charity commitment, Jeremy Frank invites any brothers who are not golfing to meet up at the festival, and then join at the house on Saturday.

Lou says that a selection of Oskar Blues’ diverse portfolio will be available to suit everyone’s tastes, from their flagship Dale’s Pale Ale to their BEERito Mexican Amber Lager.