In November, there will be a lot more craft beer at Polaris Fashion Place. The Brass Tap expects to open its 80 taps late that month next to Barnes & Noble in the mall's outdoor section. The bar and restaurant, a franchise concept out of Tampa, Fla., plans to reserve about 30 of its taps for products from local breweries.

In November, there will be a lot more craft beer at Polaris Fashion Place.

The Brass Tap expects to open its 80 taps late that month next to Barnes & Noble in the mall's outdoor section. The bar and restaurant, a franchise concept out of Tampa, Fla., plans to reserve about 30 of its taps for products from local breweries.

"Columbus Brewing Co. to Elevator, anything we can get our hands on that is made in Columbus," said Mic Foster, the franchisee who also owns a Brass Tap in Cincinnati.

Foster, 34, opened his first location in Cincinnati's Clifton neighborhood, near the city's hospitals and the University of Cincinnati, about a year ago. He hopes to bring some of Cincinnati's craft suds to Columbus, including MadTree and Rhinegeist.

With 80 tap handles to fill, there is room for a bit of everything. Foster said 25 to 30 beers will rotate each week, giving guests a changing lineup. Variety is what people want, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic.

Craft beer is far from the exclusive realm of sports-watching males of ages past. Craft beer appeals to upscale markets, and increasingly, to women.

"I'm not sure people are drinking more," Tristano said, "but they are drinking a lot more craft beer."

The location at Polaris fits the Brass Tap mold, Foster said. It will be both bigger than his Cincinnati location and offer deeper, more diverse food options, including full-service meals. The Brass Tap's signature dish is pretzel-crust pizza, and the Polaris location also will serve burgers and wings, Foster said.

Foster was going to expand in Cincinnati but chose Columbus for love, and because the market for craft beer in central Ohio is pretty open. Foster's girlfriend is from Columbus.

"I was splitting my time between Cincinnati and Columbus," Foster said. "The craft-beer market in Cincinnati is really dense, but in Columbus, it's very open, especially in the suburbs."

The Brass Tap also will carry 160 bottled beers and offer guests who quaff 300 brands of beers at its stores a membership in its Brew Crew, which comes with a $200 gift card and a "Beer Guru" shirt.

The Brass Tap joins World of Beer as mega-tap beer franchises expanding into the area. They won't be the last, Tristano said.

"It's hot," he said. "It's hotter than it's ever been, and it is still in its growth phase."

jmalone@dispatch.com