Trev’s top of the hops as store hits the right note
ENJOYING a few beers whilst listening to your record collection is many people’s idea of a dream night-in.
For Trev McCabe, he’s turned this passion into a profession – he’s the owner of Pop ‘n’ Hops, a record and craft beer shop on Cardiff ’s Whitchurch Road, which stocks a colossal 500 varieties of beer.
If you’re into hoppy pale ales, mouthpuckering sour beers or boozy imperial stouts, then Pop ‘n’ Hops has one of the biggest selections in south Wales.
Trev, who’s originally from Neath, opened the shop in 2017, having relocated with his partner from London where he ran a small indie record label called Oddbox, which released around 40 albums and 100 singles.
Speaking about the music he released, Trev said: “It was mainly what I would consider indie – but not in the sense of Coldplay, more inspired by the John Peel-era like noisy guitars and unusual slightly alternative stuff. It was definitely mainly noisy guitars!
“They were small bands on their way up or small bands on their way down. We released a few bands who went on to get coverage on BBC Radio 6 Music via other labels. And we also released a new EP from an indie band that once graced Top of the Pops in the late 80s called the Darling Buds, who were from Newport.”
Trev had always wanted to open a record shop so he set about making this dream a reality when arrived in Cardiff.
“It was always an ambition of mine to open a record shop back in the day, I just didn’t have the opportunity,” said Trev.
But, Trev didn’t think a record shop could be successful enough by itself.
“The beer bit came about purely because I thought a record shop on its own is not going to work so I thought, ‘what else do I like?’ and it was simply ‘oh yeah, beer!’” said Trev.
“I looked at what Cardiff had at the time and I was used to going into London stores that had five massive fridges and a drink-in tap room. When I came to Cardiff, although there were good bottle shops here, I didn’t see anything with that sort of vibe.”
Whilst the parallels between craft beer and record collecting aren’t immediately obvious, Trev can see a clear overlap.
“What I’ve found with craft beer is that there’s a big chase for the new exciting brewery or beer and this has massive parallels with indie music – who’s the exciting young band? Who’s the exciting young brewery?” said Trev.
“I think a lot of people my age who were into chasing the latest indie band are now into chasing the latest craft beer.”
Pop ‘n’ Hops initially opened on a temporary lease in 2017 but due to the business’s success, they moved to a bigger venue next door last year.
Trev has continued to diversify by introducing drinking in, meet the brewer events, a pop-up coffee shop and cold storage.
Most impressively, he’s grown his beer range from 100 types to around 500.
“I was aiming for 300 beers when I started and we got there and it stayed pretty constant for ages. And then lockdown happened and it became really difficult to buy beer so I had to buy pallets’ worth of beer and it just meant I was buying 30 different beers instead of 10 each week and then within three months I had 500 beers,” said Trev.
“I think 500 also gives me ample opportunity to stock a wide variety of styles – the pales and the IPAs are always going to be the big sellers but I always want to make sure you can come in and get a sour, a brown ale, a red ale or something which isn’t seen as that trendy or that craft, but they’re still really well-made beers.”
As part of his range, Trev usually stocks 10 to 15 different Welsh breweries; a reflection of the makeup of the Welsh brewing scene.
“The Welsh brewing scene is very different to what I’m used to coming out of London. I think London was all hip and happening, there was Beavertown, The Kernel and a whole raft of other breweries that have come along since which are making what I consider modern craft beer,” said Trev.
“Wales has a more traditional element to its brewing, which I think is absolutely fine because I came from a history of drinking real ale. It’s just not something that I need to sell in the shop because you can get a lot of it in supermarkets or local delis.”
Early next year, Trev hopes to install draught beer taps in the shop. It’s part of Pop ‘n’ Hops’ continued move away from its original focus of selling records.
“The records have definitely taken a back seat. They were always the smaller partner in the business – beer was the bread and butter and records were a nice to have.
“Through Covid, when we weren’t really open for browsing, it was really hard to list second hand records online and sell them reliably,” said Trev.
“The plans in the future are to have fewer records, but focus on new releases and just do a curated selection of vinyl.
“Even if we move away from selling vinyl, there’ll be turntables in the shop so vinyl enthusiasts are welcome to bring their records and play them whilst they’re having a beer. I always want to keep the Pop side of our name relevant.”