A local favorite for craft beer, live music

Located near downtown Paso Robles, The Pour House is a favorite local hangout. Even when the beer house had to close down when it lost the lease to its previous location, its patrons continued to get together at different bars, waiting for the Pour House to reopen somewhere else. In November 2012, it reopened as Paso Robles Brewing at 525 Pine St. in Paso Robles. After a year, the brewer left the company and it reverted back to The Pour House.

Tap beer, wine & music

The small bar has 21 beers on tap – the mainstays are Bear Republic Racer 5, Lagunitas IPA, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Drakes 1500, Moose Drool, Bristols Hard Cider and Trumer Pills. The other 14 taps rotate based on what’s available and what owner Shawn Copen decides to serve.
“I try to rotate my taps by style,” Copen said. “By far – hands down – we have the best draft selection and music in the north county.”
In addition to the large selection of beer, The Pour House also serves three red wines and three white wines, all hailing from the Central Coast. Patrons are invited to bring their own bottle of wine for a $10 corkage fee. Live acoustic music happens four nights a week: Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m.
“It’s kind of a local hangout,” Copen said. “Of course, you’ve got to love beer.”

Keeping it simple

While Copen is not interested in preparing his own food at The Pour House, prepackaged food from Cregors Market in Paso Robles is available for purchase; customers are invited to bring in their own food as well.
“We try to keep it really simple: music and craft beers,” Copen said. “My reputation is 50/50 – music-lovers and musicians love this place and craft beer enthusiasts love this place.”
When Copen opened The Pour House in 2009, he had never worked in a bar before – although his senior project at Cal Poly Pomona was actually based on a beer bar. Before he purchased the bar, he had been a mechanic for 12 years.
“Then this kind of happened,” Copen said. “I took over a beer bar and made it The Pour House – it kind of fell in my lap.”
This bar owner admits he is a lover of craft beer. Mostly an IPA drinker, Copen said his favorite beer changes with the season.

The Pour House, located at 525 Pine St. in Paso Robles, is open Monday through Wednesday, 2 to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 2 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 2 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. For more information, including bands scheduled to play and the beers currently on tap, go to www.pasobrewing.com or call (805) 239-1000.
–By Heather Young