Meghan Holden

mholden@jconline.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Another bar has been added to the list of spots to grab a beer before a Purdue University home football game — and patrons won't need to leave campus to find it.

This week, the university will begin piloting a makeshift pub on the ground floor of the Purdue Memorial Union in the study and dining room next to Pappy's Sweet Shop restaurant.

"It already has a traditional 'pub-ish' look with the wooden booths and pictures of former athletes," said Bob Mindrum, director of the Memorial Union.

The 1869 Tap Room will be open to those 21 and older from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and during home football games starting two hours before kickoff until the end of the third quarter. The game will be televised on two TVs.

When the taproom's closed, the space will revert back to its regular setup.

The bar will run through the last home game on Nov. 19, Mindrum said. Depending on how it fares with fans, he said, the university could keep the taproom running throughout the year.

If that's the case, Purdue will need to work with the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission and the Indiana State Excise Police to make the pub permanent, Mindrum said.

Its permit is through Purdue Dining & Catering, which added alcohol service in 1998 and became the sole provider of alcohol on campus, according to its website.

Since then, the idea for a retail bar at the Memorial Union has bounced around, Mindrum said.

He said the Memorial Union has received a lot of feedback over the years from faculty and staff as well as guests from the Union Club Hotel who've complained that there aren't many places nearby to grab a drink, aside from the student-centric bars on Chauncey Hill.

"We hope that this 1869 Tap Room can help address that need," Mindrum said.

Students who are of legal drinking age also are welcome, he said, but Purdue employees, hotel guests and alumni are the target audience.

The taproom will sell three types of People's Brewing Co. beer, wine and appetizers from Pappy's Sweet Shop.

People’s currently works with hops researchers in the College of Agriculture and fermentation specialists in the Department of Food Science, said Chris Johnson, People's co-owner. The brewery also uses some hops from local farms that are studied at Purdue.

Information about the university's role in the production and research of local hops will eventually be displayed at the pub, Mindrum said.

"We would like people to understand this is more than just having a beer," he said. "It’s part of a larger enterprise at Purdue."

Contact J&C higher education reporter Meghan Holden at mholden@jconline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @MeghanHolden.

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