GAVIN AITCHISON can’t wait for York’s newest pub to open.

THE scaffolding is down, the signs are up, and the beers are in. Are you excited yet? If not, you soon will be!

In a week or so’s time, all being well, The York Tap will be open and York’s beer scene – already the envy of countless cities – will have a dazzling new star.

Make no mistake, this place has the potential to boost York’s entire reputation. It’s not over the top to say it could well become the city’s newest tourist attraction, a destination bar for drinkers throughout England.

Manager Yan Pilkington has already set his stall out, adamant that a new breed of visitor will come to York principally to visit the Tap. It will be, he has said, one of the best bars in the world.

Not just York or Yorkshire, you understand. Nor just England, Britain or even Europe. No, he says his new bar, the fourth by Elvington-based Pivovar, is going to be one of the best in the world.

He’s clearly thought about it as well, because when asked how he can back up such a claim, he goes into overdrive.

The building, he says, is a brilliant piece of railway heritage, an old tearoom that dates back more than 100 years. The stained glass windows and skylights are stunning and it has beautiful original features that will be showcased for the first time in years.

Its setting, within York Station and a few yards from the Bar Walls, gives it fantastic prominence and a huge passing footfall.

And as for the beer range? Well, where do we start? Yan is keen not to give away all his secrets before the opening, but he’s given us a taster….

There will be, in total, 32 taps on the central, circular bar. Of those, 18 will be occupied by British cask ales. All 18 will be from the finest of fine breweries and most will be unique – either special ales made exclusively for The York Tap, or one-off variations of existing beers.

“We are talking to some of the best brewers, and getting them to produce, for us, something that they do not do for anybody else,” says Yan.

He and Pivovar’s owner Jamie Hawksworth have already teamed up with Ilkley Brewery to produce their own launch beer, Tap 3, made with three different Australian hops. Magic Rock, in Huddersfield, are doing a special version of their High Wire, but with hops from New Zealand instead of the USA.

Yan has also acquired two enticing collaboration beers from some of Britain’s most impressive modern breweries – Burton Ale by Thornbridge and Kernel, and the ultra-rare Coalition by Thornbridge and Dark Star.

Those breweries will also go on to feature heavily in their own right, as will Moorhouse’s from Burnley, Hardknott from Cumbria, Kirkstall from Leeds, and four of the best breweries in Scotland: Highland, Black Isle, Tempest and Fyne Ales.

Once you’ve worked your way past those, there will be a perry, a cider, and then 12 great keg beers from America and Europe. Flying Dog, Victory and Sierra Nevada will represent the USA, while Cantillon geuze will fly the flag for the finest of Belgian breweries.

And if, despite all of that, you remain unsatisfied – then inside the bar, in fridges, there will be 80 to 100 bottles, including some fantastic rare offerings from the USA, the Czech Republic, Japan and Australia.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be mentally licking your lips by now, counting the days until you can try this place for yourself.

I’m starting to feel like kids do in the run up to Christmas, as I wait for it to open. My girlfriend worries she’ll never see me again. I fear visiting friends and relatives may never make it out of the station. And for the first time ever, train delays at York station will be something to enjoy rather than endure.

The Sheffield Tap, 60 miles down the tracks, has already earned national acclaim. What limits then for The York Tap, run by the same company but in a bigger and better building, with a finer beer selection, and in an immeasurably nicer city? Who knows? But I bet I’m not the only one who can’t wait to find out!