Todd Hayden’s love of beer runs deep. Besides brewing his own beer at home, he previously volunteered at Saint Arnold Brewing Company in Houston, when volunteering was allowed, circa 2006. Although he and his wife Corey enjoy successful careers as local veterinarians, an idea sparked to open their own brewpub after a tour at Southern Star Brewing in Conroe. After initially considering opening in The Woodlands, the Haydens eventually settled on establishing their first venture on the east side of I-45. “So I came to this side of Spring and opened a craft beer bar,” Hayden said. The Haydens struggled to come up with a name for the bar, which opened a year ago last June. They talked about it for a while until one day the answer became obvious to them. “Me and my wife are veterinarians, and it took many years of school, and we [realized], ‘We’re scholars, we should be able to figure this out. So we [decided], Oh! Hop Scholar,’” Hayden said. Hop Scholar has seen some updates since the bar opened. Todd said the bar was at first sparsely decorated, but over the year customers have watched the room develop with eclectic décor like road signs and chalkboards menus, studded on a bright orange wall. To add to the homegrown feel at Hop Scholar, Hayden handcrafted all of the furniture. “I built everything here from all of the tables, the bar, the cold box,” he said. The cold box, the size of a sauna, is located next to the bar and houses all of the Hop Scholar beers. Hayden said someday he and his wife may turn the dart board area, which is located next to the cold box, into a kitchen, something he and Corey could not afford to do when they opened Hop Scholar. “When we started this we did it on a shoestring budget and couldn’t afford a kitchen,” he said. “We used the model of letting people bring food in from anywhere.” Five nearby restaurants deliver food to customers at Hop Scholar. As for deciding on what beers to serve, Hayden said the process is simple. “[That decision is] based on what myself and the staff like as well what customers want,” he said. “They will tell you. These people know what they want.” Hop Scholar also offers cold pressed coffee from a local company in Tomball called Virtue Coffee. “[It’s] poured like a Guinness, but it’s coffee,” Hayden said. In addition to the 64-ounce growlers offered by the bar, which are glass jugs customers can fill straight from the tap, Hop Scholar will begin offering 32-ounce cans called crowlers by the end of July. The crowlers will be sealed on site and include a label of the type of beer drawn. Hop Scholar encourages guests to bring board games, and the bar hosts Way North Comedy on alternating Sundays. The show is an open mic night for comedians from Houston, which offers aspiring comedians an opportunity to perform in front of an audience and improve their craft. “It’s really well-received,” Hayden said. “It makes it an active place on Sunday night.” However, Hayden said the best way to enjoy his bar is to engage with other customers. “The best entertainment is really that people can sit down and talk so they can have real human interaction,” he said. “I built this place kind of like a coffee house with long tables so large groups can sit down and be together. There are a couple little corners where you can get away, but it’s designed to be a community space.”