POUR, a little or a lot.

The highly anticipated Pour Taproom recently opened on Haywood Rd.  Located between Odds Cafe and Asheville Sandwich Co; this new, high tech, boutique beer and wine tasting bar features 40+ beer craft beers, 8 wine selections, and NA options, like Kombucha or craft brewed root beers, a downstairs game room with taps, and an outside area with seating and, even,  good ‘ole corn hole. Food is also available for table service from Asheville Sandwich Co.

So, here’s the deal with Pour Taproom. Upon arrival you check in at the main bar with a staff member. You’ll need a debit or credit card to start a tab, as well as a valid ID per person. Your ID is swiped and then linked to your tab and personal bracelet/wristband which is used to activate your chosen tap and keep track of how many ounces of tastiness you indulge in. Per NC laws, 32 oz is the given limit for “tasting.” If you want more, just check in with staff and they can set you up as long as you do not display behaviors of over intoxication.

Now, once you get your wrist band: you choose a glass – as they have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and if you are a first timer you get a “tour” from a staff member. Um, yeah. Is this starting to sound super Involved for a pint? Well, yes; but this is a tasting venue and when you do any kind of tasting there are explanations and directions. So, when you begin to salivate and just want to Get Started: wait and simply listen to the staff member giving you directions. It helps!! Each tap has a tablet like device above it stating the beer/cider/mead with a description, the gravity, and cost per ounce. You push your Pour button on your wrist band up against the frame of the tablet device, “On the M,” and you get a green light: Literally! Each time you pull from a tap, the screen identifies you by name and tells you how much you have consumed, how many ounces you just pulled from that tap, and how many ounces of your 32 you have left. Think gaming meets bar meets high end tasting. Crazy, right?
Highlights
Staff is super helpful and overall friendly. Pour offers an interesting and vast variety of tap selections that rotate Frequently.  The place is warm, inviting, a bit high tech, and designed for standing or sitting while conversing over your selected tap pour. The downstairs Game room is super cool with shuffleboard, darts, leather couches,  Jenga, a few tap collections, and additional bathrooms. It’s low lit and industrial while still feeling warm and less hectic as upstairs can, at times, be.

Lowlights
It ain’t cheap, my friend. Expect to pay for the experience and the variety. You can Easily end up paying anywhere from $6 -7 per 12 oz glass and that’s just for the beer/cider/mead selections, as wine is more per ounce. My bill averaged a little shy of 50 cents per ounce, which did not include tip. You can do the math! Ouch! Yes, and that included a 4 oz Pour of something I could Not drink and had to dump. And, I can imagine that, at times, staff could get a little cranky with all the questions, needs, or dare say complaints from “pour-ers,” similar to airline attendants that are quippy.

Overall, West Asheville will only benefit from this new and edgy take on a bar. This is a wonderful and unique place to go to with group of friends, do a book club or meet up, bring out of town friends and family, or simply check out a few taps you haven’t yet tried. Frankly, I’m happy to see something like this break into the Asheville scene and chose West Asheville as it’s home!

*****Update: Pour now has 6-9 drafts available for $4 a Pint and tipping is included with all your ounce pours. They also run a number of specials and what they call “tap take-overs.”  Find them on their FaceBook Page or their website to stay In the Loop!!