HALEY BAAS

hbaas@butler.edu

Staff Reporter

A crowd of Broad Ripple bar-goers lines up to try out Broad Ripple’s newest bar. The new bar showcases craft beer, including 50 Indiana beers and 50 international beers.

HopCat boasts the title of Indiana’s largest beer bar with 131 beers on tap.

The new bar opened in Broad Ripple Aug. 16 on the corner of Broad Ripple Avenue and College Avenue

Senior Aaron Havlisch said HopCat had a fun atmosphere.

“It is a very attractive place to go,” he said.

The bar is decorated with different velvet paintings, each of which was commissioned specifically for the Broad Ripple location, said Chris Knape, marketing and communications director.

Each painting is a reflection of HopCat chain founder Mark Seller’s love of music and a way to amplify the bar’s multiple-age attitude, he said.

“HopCat is not your typical Broad Ripple bar,” Knape said. “We are a place where a lot of different age groups mix. We try to create a really laid-back vibe.”

The Broad Ripple HopCat is the first of the chain located outside Michigan.

Community response has been “overwhelmingly positive,” Knape said. “We could not be more gratified by the response that Indiana and Indianapolis have provided us.”

HopCat continually rotates its beer selection, as well as special events.

Knape said HopCat hopes to have off-menu meals paired with the best complemented beer.

The bar also hopes to host tap takeovers and become involved in community events.

Broad Ripple is trying to become a place that offers a wide variety of options for anyone coming to visit, said Kent Springer, a member of the Broad Ripple Village Association board of directors.

“People still view it as the art and culture district of Indianapolis,” Springer said. “The eclecticness of Broad Ripple is what people like about it. It’s easy to walk around and explore.”