Tap Handle #870: Hops Restaurant and Brewpub - Brewmaster Special

Tap size: 10"

Rarity:  10 or less seen, tap no longer produced

Mounting:  internal 3/8" nut

Following on the heels of Hops Restaurant and Brewpub's Hammerhead Red (since I bought the taps together) comes the Brewmaster Special, which features a coconut tree. There's not much to say about this one, other than it is one of the nicer palm tree taps I've seen, the coconuts are a nice touch, and it has the typical heavy weight in the round base that all the Hops taps have. It's also one of the hardest of the Hops taps to find, with only a handful ever appearing on the secondary market. Of those few that were listed, 1 had a broken palm frond and 2 were missing the base, so it has been even tougher to find one intact. The last one that sold that was in good shape was all the way back in 2019 for $125, though it had the wrong label (Red instead of Brewmaster Special).

It's unclear what beer was represented by Brewmaster Special. It could have been a seasonal, experimental, or something unique, such as their Golden Hammer/Golden Thoroughbred blend, the half-and-half mix of Lightning Bold Gold (their lager) and Hammerhead/Thoroughbred Red (their amber ale). As a result of this uncertainty, no beer will be profiled in this post.

For more about Hops Restaurant and Brewpub, see this post.