"Boring Doesn't Happen Here..." Pour Taproom--Charlotte
Enamored as I am with the Pour Taproom concept in general--and with Pour Taproom, Wilmington, specifically--I was happy to learn that one opened in Charlotte, NC just about a month ago.
And while the concept is the same--"A beer festival every day where you pay by the ounce"-- and both places serve wine, there were some differences between the two establishments, as might be expected because different people own the places.
The very first difference at Charlotte was the pour process. In Wilmington, you get a bracelet (which most folks put on their drinking glasses), but in Charlotte you get a plastic card on a neck lanyard. The Charleston facility is the only other PT that utilizes the card system. Both are designed to keep accurate records of how many ounces you pour, and it helps you to carefully monitor how much you're drinking--and spending. If there's ever a glitch (we noticed a few, so pay attention), the staff will be happy to correct it.
The second difference was that the Charlotte facility had one hundred eighteen beers available. Wilmington had about seventy-five. Affable Charlotte Manager Isaiah Furqueron, who once worked at the Charleston, SC facility, said that the frequent changing of beers was one of the greatest appeals of the Charlotte place. "You may come in this week, and find your favorite beer, and next week it will not be available. But there will always be something you like. Boring doesn't happen here."
And in Charlotte, where business has been "pretty darned good" for the first month, one of those favorites--perhaps THE favorite-- is Reptar Juice, a NEIPA-style beer. If you press a certain part of the screen of any beer a more detailed report will appear, as below.
The PubScout liked it a lot, but he also enjoyed the Stone ParaXtranormal IPA, the NoDa Double Whirlpool IPA, the Wooden Robot Generously (Hopped) V-18, and a most unique IPA from Evil Twin called Rainbown Axe, which yielded complex flavors of grapefruit, passionfruit, mango, raspberry and blueberry. He also spent time at the "Dark" spouts with a few porters and stout samples, and even Southern Tier's Barrel Aged Pumking. That's another interesting feature about the Charlotte facility--the way they have their beer styles categorized.
There's an IPA "bar," a Dark Bar, a Highlight Bar, and around back a Seasonals, Ciders, Saisons and Blonde bar which were populated with quite a few sour offerings. Indeed, something for every beer taste.
And, as though that weren't enough, there was a WTF Bar, which Isaiah claimed was the brainchild of the owner.
PTC contacts brewers and inquires if they've made batches of beer that did not come out precisely as their tasters wanted them to, but were still eminently drinkable. One-offs, experimentals and special beers had taps reserved under the WTF banner. During my visit, one of those was a beer with gold glitter in it, and another was a Sour Wicked Weed. As yours truly is a fan of neither, he used the WTF bar for pictures only. But if you're in a WTF mood, give it a try. Liz Melanie and Isaiah (above) will be happy to assist you.
In fact, if you're in the Charlotte area, give Pour Taproom--Charlotte a try. The place is airy, nicely designed and peppered with TVs. Food trucks come to the parking lot to minister to hungry beer lovers. And while no on-site food is, as yet, available, that allows for PTC to be a dog-friendly facility. There were a number of large, friendly dogs there the day we visited, and three of them were having a blast wrestling.
Present indications point to a successful venture in Charlotte, where beer is booming, beer places are opening almost weekly and beer nuts are multiplying exponentially each day.
It's great that they have a place to go where they can sample and search their way to a favorite beer, without having to fight crowds or down a full pint of beer each time to find it.
Because with one hundred eighteen of them available, it might not be just dogs wrestling on the floor.
Cheers! The PubScout--since 1996
As always, feel free to share and steal the pics!
