The newest craze in bar-hopping is now on tap in Grapevine.
Hoppin,’ located off Grapevine Mills Parkway, presents to patrons a pour-your-own-beer tap wall that has become increasingly popular across the country.
The bar boasts more than 40 taps from which to choose – including 34 beers, ciders and seltzers – and four cocktails, four wines and two THC seltzers. Plenty of locally-made beers are on tap, including the Civility Manners Decorum sour beer from Bedford, Miracle Wheat from Grapevine and the Fenris Park wheat beer from North Richland Hills. A few national names appear on the tap wall too, like Colorado’s Bamm Bamm Rubble Rubble sour beer and the Wild Herd beer from Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Co.
Upon arrival beer lovers receive a wrist band with an embedded electronic scanner, which acts as a tracker for the drinks you enjoy throughout the night. You’re charged by the ounce, so pour as little - or as much - as you like. When it’s time to go, Hoppin’ charges the credit card attached to the wristband.
“There’a a real seamlessness to what we do,” co-owner Blake Martin said. “The most time you’ll ever spend with an employee or a server is 30 seconds just to check in. We give you your wristband, you give us a credit card to scan, and you’re off to the races.”
Hoppin’ can seat up to 80 people inside and another 50 on the outdoor patio, which Martin said is warmed with space heaters during the winter months. A cornhole area is adjacent to the patio.
There’s also a full kitchen, but the pour-your-own beverage is the main attraction, as Hoppin’ fully embraces the new fad popping up at bars all over the country. Besides not needing to summon a server to get a drink, customers can sample small amounts of different beverages — before committing to a full glass.
There’s also the lure of getting to pour your own drink at a bar, Martin said. And with prices determined by ounces poured – most beers cost between $0.35 and $0.50 per ounce – it can make for a very affordable good time.
“We were so excited to bring this concept to Grapevine,” he said. “It was a real no-brainer. People love pouring their own drinks.”