Take This Idea To The Bank

So there we were at Independence Mall in Wilmington, NC, meandering through Yankee Candle with some time to kill, and a stunning sales clerk named Morgan noticed "The PubScout" on my shirt. After a brief explanation, she asked,"Have you been to the Pour Taproom yet?"

Turns out the 22-year-old Morgan has been a craft beer nut for a while, and the place she sent me to is, quite frankly, Beer Nut Heaven.

There are seven other "heavens" in the country, located in Asheville, Durham, Greenville, Knoxville, Charleston, Santa Cruz and St. Petersburg according to the Pour Taproom website.

But as we were in Wilmington, we took Morgan's advice and headed for

Pour at the Wilmington Taproom, There you can select from forty-six beers on the first floor of the place, and another twenty-four (all North Carolina) beers on the second floor. You'll enjoy a very wide range of beer by the ounce--not the pint, just as you would at a festival. A computer chip in the bracelet you get upon entering tracks what you are drinking by the ounce and gives you a running tab.

You get your choice of glassware, too. If it's pints, pilsners or snifters you want, just grab one, and you can change it for a fresh one any time you wish. We took the nine-oz. glasses upon Charley's recommendation, for two reasons. First, we were only looking for two-to-four oz. samples of various beers. Second, the bracelet fit neatly around the nine-oz. glass, which made it easier to select your beer and pour it, without having to become a contortionist with your wrist just to get the chip to react with the tap. Haley, Emily and Grace (above) did the same.

It's like being at a beer festival every day (which happens to be Pour's slogan)--where you pour your own, and you don't have to wait in line. There are even strategically-placed glass washers under the taps to insure your last beer won't affect your next one. When you've finished sampling for the day, you simply report with your bracelet to the checkout counter, and they tell you what you owe. Since it's usually linked directly to your credit card, it's a simple, quick transaction.

That little chip that monitors your tabs is programmed to turn itself off when you've reached thirty-two ounces, at which point a trained attendant comes over to check your sobriety. If the attendant gives you the ok, you get clearance to consume more. If you're face down on the floor, you're flagged.

Brian Ballard is the licensee of the Wilmington location--open just three weeks. He's a hardworking, talented guy who helped build the taproom in this former bank building, and he's convinced that his place is the largest--and likely the nicest.

It's meticulously appointed, clean, and an eclectic mix of modern, classical and rustic, with large, comfortable couches on the second floor. The men's room even carries the beer theme ( an homage to "renting a beer"), and Ballard's cooler is a mighty impressive place. He allowed that his startup was rockier than he would have liked, having had to deal with major setbacks. But he invested all his retirement money in the venture, and he was determined to make it fly. He has clearly succeeded.

The bank building he chose to renovate had been vacant in Wilmington since 1996, the very year the PubScout started writing about beer, and it needed a lot of work. But Ballard was committed, and today a large bank vault door separates the beer room from the wine room, because you can also sample various wines by the ounce inside the vault. Even Ballard's cooler looks like a bank vault.

The Pour website states: "No more ordering that pint of a new craft beer only to find out it's too hoppy for your taste. Just try a few ounces, then try something else. We give you the opportunity to find what you like most or to enjoy a good variety while you’re out with friends."

It's an excellent idea, and judging by the number of patrons in Pour at 5 PM, it's catching on big time. It turns out that Brian Ballard putting his unique taproom in a bank may have been prophetic. Part of the fun is pouring your own and watching the computer track your consumption. There's even a food menu that offers some nice variety.

I'll go so far as to declare (albeit ungrammatically) that it is the most interesting, coolest place I've ever quaffed in.

So far, anyway.

After all, I have miles to go before I sleep--God willing. But one thing is certain: If you're ever in Wilmington--or any of the other cities that host a Pour Taproom, do yourself a favor and visit.