New brew for S. Florida: brew pub plans up to 15 locations. (Hops Grill and Bar)

South Florida beer lovers may soon be skipping the Bud and Michelob for a frosty mug of Lightning Bold Gold, Hammerhead Red or Clearwater Light.

Those are the specialty beers at Hops Grin & Bar, a Tampa-based chain of restaurant/brew pubs that's looking to South Florida for its next wave of expansion. If all goes according to plan, the seven-year-old company will have 12 to 15 locations here by 1998.

Hops opened its first South Florida unit two months ago in Coral Springs, on University Drive south of Sample Road. A second is under construction at Congress Avenue and Old Boynton Road in Boynton Beach, and a third is scheduled to break ground next month at Federal …