Wilmington's Pour Taproom--Redux
I love the setting and camaraderie of a good beer festival as much as the next guy, especially if the weather's great. But we've all done this, haven't we?
Gone to a beer festival, salivated at the presence of thirty, forty, fifty or sixty beer vendors pouring 2 oz. each, having a a few really good ones quickly, then some "meh" ones, then forgetting where you got the good ones and worrying over which good ones you may have missed.
And then there's the standing in line, and not just for beer. Don't you hate it when the guy just before you at the porta-pottie comes out and says, "I'm REALLY sorry, man." Besides, after the first 25 beers, you don't know what the hell you're drinking anyway, because your tastebuds are as blitzed as you are.
It doesn't have to be that way.
When I was last in Wilmington, NC a year ago doing some house-hunting (pre-Florence) I visited what I thought was an extraordinarily neat taproom. I wrote about it here.
So it was definitely on my MUST VISIT LIST when I arrived last week. We stopped in yesterday, and we stumbled onto a a rather amazing takeover of forty taps by Ballast Point, which offered plenty of beers not normally available on the East Coast.
Actually, had it not been for Florence's unwanted visit, Pour Taproom would have been offering the beers that were only available at the brewery. The bad news is that Florence delayed the takeover, but the good news is it doesn't matter.
Pour Taproom Wilmington is still doing its unique "Beer Festival in a Bank" thing, with programmed wristbands that count how many ounces you're pouring from the 70-plus taps available. I love the concept, because you can sample lots of good beers in two-or-three ounce pours without having to order a full pint or even six ounces at a time. The wristband also tracks your consumption, and it will shut you down if you're being overly aggressive.
Which is easy to do when a brewer like Ballast Point sets the table with forty unique beers. Fortunately for this non-sour lover, eight of those beers didn't attract me. But if you're a sour lover, you'll have one foot in paradise. And I had tasted a few of the East Coast available Sculpins already, so I didn't need to sample them either.
But I did concentrate on the darker offerings, and I was not disappointed. On an employee's suggestion, I tried the Indra Kunindra Stout made with curry and other Indian spices. First sip was strange indeed, but the brew grew on me after a few more sips.
It being October, I also had to try the 6% Dead Ringer Oktoberfest, and it was both outstanding and dead-on style. Its brother, Navigator Dopplebock at 8.1% was also very, very good. The 10% Coconut Victory at Sea was incredibly well balanced with lots of neat layers unpeeling in the finish. Mocha Marlin at 6% was very tasty as well. But the High West Barrel-Aged Victory at Sea, ringing in at 12%, was knock-your-socks-off good, as was Bourbon Barrel Aged Sea Monster at 10%.
My first pumpkin beer of the season was called Pumpkin Down, registering as sessionable at just 5.8%. It's the first pumpkin beer I've had that had a buttery-smooth NOSE! Complex without being cloying, it was a very nice offering.
But the star of the show--at least for my visit yesterday-- was the Brandy Barrel Aged Belgian-Style Quad, logging in at 12.7%. Deliciously satisfying and dangerously drinkable, I'll probably return for a full snifter of that beer. My tasting notes consisted of "Wow! Just wow!"
Because I'm definitely going back before I go back to Jersey. There are others I want to sample before this tap takeover concludes, like Piper Down (5.8% Scottish Ale), Orange and Vanilla Cream Ale (5.5%), Longfin Lager (4.5%), California Kolsch (5.2%), Grunion Pale Ale (5.5%), California Amber (5.5%), Big Eye IPA (7.0%) Fathom IPA (6.0%), Manta Ray DIPA, (8.5%), Black Marlin Porter (6.0%) and the Russian Imperial Stout (8.5%).
And the nice thing is I can have a couple ounces of each beer, remember what I've had and probably have my tab come in under $25. My tab yesterday, which included nine beers for me, six samples of beer for the missus AND a wine (Pour has the same deal with wines), and our bill was about $22.
Now that Pour sells food, too, that's a nice way to spend an afternoon without standing in long lines or going for your lungs on an admission ticket.
If owner Brian Ballard keeps making moves like this one with Ballast Point, Pour will be a bona fide Wilmington Beer Destination instead of just a local secret.
Cheers!
The PubScout--since 1996
