I arrived right at noon as the bottles first went on sale behind a line of over 40 others. Needless to say the bottles quickly sold out, even with the 2 bottle per customer limit. Oil-rigger was also available in a handful of draft varieties for those who arrived late. I was able to sample the coffee infused Oil-Rigger on draft, and was impressed by the the strong coffee flavor. Other promotions included $3 Hopcat drafts as well as commemorative T-Shirts.

I enjoyed a Hopcat Black Russian Nitro Stout while waiting for a seat at the bar, and had a chance to chat a bit with Hopcat brewer Jeff Williams, who was waiting for a seat as well. A free order of Crack Fries was promised to every customer visiting before 5 PM, so of course, once seated I had to take advantage of this offer. I previously had only heard of these from their addictive reputation, hence the name. The fries are heavily seasoned and of the fast food variety. I can imagine Burger King or McDonalds would only love to get their hands on this recipe.

I decided to compliment the fries with a cup of the veggie chilli, which had just the right amount of spice for my taste. In fact, just right enough to wash down with a pint of the Hoppopotamus IPA.

The annual charity Crack Fry eating contest was held at 3 PM with a top prize of $500. The previous record was 6 pounds, 8 ounces. I did not stick around to see if the record was broken this year. The already busy Hopcat was quickly reaching capacity levels, and I decided that it was prime time to make my way for the door. I highly recommend the Hopcat experience to beer hounds everywhere.