Repour bar now open at Charlotte’s Innovation Barn

Good News Notes:

When you visit Repour for a pint, make sure you bring some recyclables with you.

The bar is the first business to open at Innovation Barn, a partnership between Envision Charlotte and the City of Charlotte designed around the idea of a “circular economy” operating with minimal resources and waste. Repour opens Friday, August 6, and will be open from 3-10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Additional businesses will finalize their spaces at the Innovation Bar ahead of a larger opening on Sept. 18, including: a showroom for Carolina Urban Lumber; an aquaponic garden; a plastics lab; a maker space; a teaching kitchen; a composting facility; and a local coffee kiosk.

And Repour, with its 16 taps, is going to bring people in to grab a beer and see how it all works.

“The reason the beer and the wine are here is that we wanted people to come here and experience zero waste,” said Amy Aussieker, executive director of Envision Charlotte. “When you come for your beer, bring your bubble wrap and air pillows. You can’t curbside recycle them. If you don’t want it to go to the landfill, bring it here.” Aussieker is no stranger to the beer industry. She opened Tank’s Taps at the 7th Street Public Market with Denise Abood in 2014. When it was time to find someone to help oversee Repour, Aussieker again reached out to Abood. Kelli Mallory is also a part owner at Repour.

“We’re excited about being part of the draw that will help teach people how to do things differently,” said Abood. “We’re honored to have this opportunity.”

BEER, SELTZER, CIDER, KOMBUCHA, WINE AND PROSECCO

At Tank’s Taps, Aussieker and Abood kept the focus on local beers, and Abood will do the same at Repour. Half of the bar’s 16 taps will be devoted to beers from local breweries, with the other half pouring hard seltzer, cider, kombucha and wine (including prosecco).

In an effort to be more eco-friendly, there will only be a few canned and bottled offerings. Similar considerations were made during the buildout of the taproom, which features a bar and tabletops that Carolina Urban Lumber fashioned from local trees that would have otherwise been sent to landfills. Donated corks will one day form a dividing wall in the taproom, though right now that wall is just getting started.

Feel free to bring in corks of your own to contribute, or even an empty bottle. “You can bring your wine bottles and put them in the pulverizer and turn them into sand, which is very satisfying,” Aussieker said.

Right now, the Innovation Barn is processing 60,000 cans from the Coca-Cola 600 race that was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway last May. The team is also  turning takeout containers into personal protection equipment….”

View the whole story here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-around-town/c5-development/article253311493.html

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