Get excited for Hopcat’s 100 beers on tap

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Downtown Lexington is expanding its hollow Victorian Square with the addition of Hopcat, a new restaurant and bar opening Oct. 24, which will feature 100 different beers on tap.

A franchise based in Grand Rapids, Mich., Hopcat has expanded to seven locations throughout the U.S. including Detroit, Mich., and  Madison, Wis.

Not only will the restaurant feature 100 taps, 30 of those will be Kentucky craft beers. Only people 21 years old and older can enter after 10 p.m.

The only problem bar-goers will have is choosing what they should wash their “crack fries” down with from the broad selection.

The Food Network placed Hopcat’s crack fries in its top 10 of America’s Best French Fries. The crack fries are battered in light beer and sprinkled with black pepper.

I am not sure which is more exciting, having an extensive choice of beer within walking distance of campus, or some of the best bar food in America finding its home in the Big Blue Nation.

Just to put this into perspective, Two Keys has 12 beers on tap, and Pazzo’s has 47. While it is a longer walk from campus, Hopcat will blow current Lexington bars out of the water once opened.

Not only is Hopcat’s selection worth waiting for (almost a month until opening), they are putting their success to good use. According to their website, Hopcat recycles or composts most of its waste, reducing trash that would go to landfills and incinerators by 90 percent.

Since opening in Grand Rapids in 2008, Hopcat has been serving beer with care and pride. The list of their praise goes on and on. Hopcat was listed third in Best Beer Bars in the World by Beer Advocate Magazine and second in Best Beer Bars in the U.S. by CraftBeer.com.

On Oct. 24 I will be found in line at 410 W. Short St., awaiting the experience of having 100 taps at my finger tips. The first 200 people on opening day will get a card good for a free order of their famous crack fries every week for a year.

What else could Lexingtonians ask for in a bar, other than an extensive amount of craft beer, Food Network-worthy grub and a hand in the common goal of helping our environment?

As for great bars in Lexington, consumers have a lot to choose from, but Hopcat is completely redifining the bar scene.

Jamilyn Hall is the assistant opinions editor at the Kentucky Kernel.

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