While The District PourHouse is going to retain many of the craft beers offered at World of Beer, it will also offer more affordable options like Bud Light, Natural Light and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Credit: Lantern File Photo

World of Beer at Gateway — University District has long been known for two things: beer and trivia.

The south campus bar offers a wide array of beers both on tap and bottled, but also enticed students to visit twice a week with trivia nights on Mondays and Thursdays.

So when it was announced World of Beer would be re-branded into The District PourHouse, the question on everyone’s mind was whether trivia would be returning to the new bar.

“For sure. We’re definitely not touching that,” New Tap Gateway co-owner Matt Pottschmidt said with a laugh. “That’s been wildly popular and that’s a good example of things that the kids gravitate to.”

And for Pottschmidt, that’s what the change is all about. Pottschmidt and Darren Greene, the co-owners of both World of Beer and now The District PourHouse are re-branding in an effort to bring in more students. All other World of Beer locations will remain the same, however.

Pottschmidt told The Lantern the bar will still maintain a wide array of beers on tap and in bottles, but that now there will be more affordable options that college students enjoy. He said The District PourHouse has 50 taps, with at least six being dedicated to light beers like Bud Light, Natural Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon and a few others to accompany the other craft beers available.

“It will still be a great selection there, but just making it more approachable, more affordable for the student body,” Pottschmidt said.

The menu also will change, now placing more of an emphasis on hot dogs. Pottschmidt said a hot dog stand will be open until 3 a.m. on the weekends to cater to students looking for a late-night meal.

The food and drink selection will only be part of the change, however. The most major part of the redesign will come in the form of the gaming options available. There will be a large TV where guests can televise the video games they are playing, including Mario Kart and other older Nintendo 64 games, Pottschmidt said. In addition, retro gaming like Ms. Pac Man and Frogger will be set up in the bar as well.

The reason for this change came from an idea from World of Beer general manager Brian McGlothlin. Pottschmidt said McGlothlin set up a Nintendo 64 in an underused corner of the bar, and that, before long, it became an attraction, with some patrons even bringing in their own games and consoles.

“So that got us to thinking that we should enhance and expand this,” Pottschmidt said. “So we are re-configuring the area, adding a bigger TV so that the rest of the bar can see whatever the kids who are currently playing video games can watch them as they play Mario Kart.”

The stage, which used to be the platform for the trivia host with a couple tables and chairs as well, is going to be the new home for the arcade games, Pottschmidt said.

“We’re just looking at some areas that were previously underutilized and trying to create some energy around a place by having areas that engage the students,” he said.

In addition to the gaming, Pottschmidt said there will be an “Open Vinyl Night” that allows guests to bring their own records and play them for 15-minute increments. But, like with the trivia, there’s still much that is undecided about how to implement these changes due to the lack of time between World of Beer’s closure and the reopening of The District PourHouse.

World of Beer closes Sunday night and will reopen on Aug. 16 as The District PourHouse, leaving little time to determine exact days of the week for trivia and “Open Vinyl Night.”

Pottschmidt said the rush is to make sure the new bar is open in time for the school year to begin.

“There’s probably going to be some lingering things that we’ll be incorporating between now and the end of the year that we don’t get to right away, but the majority of it will be implemented by the time we reopen as The District PourHouse on the 16th,” he said.

But rest assured, Pottschmidt said, “we’re definitely not messing with trivia night.”