CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte, North Carolina’s newest taproom and nano-brewery, Protagonist is now open in NoDa, the Arts District. Protagonist has invested in a Flux Capacitor, which was designed by Gabe Gordon at Beachwood Brewing & BBQ (inventor and fabricator), to ensure that every beer from first pint to last pint is poured with the proper amount of Co2. The Co2 levels are determined by each individual brewery. With 26 constantly rotating taps of their own beer on tap as well as the best, rarest and most unique beers from across the world, Protagonist is excited to serve every beer exactly as the brewer intended; and this is possible because of the Flux.
Protagonist brings this piece of equipment to the city, and the southeast, with only a handful of Flux’s available in the world. This equipment is extremely rare and showing up in projects like Protagonist where the beer is treated with a little more care than you’d typically see. Torst in NYC, Mikkeller Bar in SF, Stone Brewing in Shanghai and Beachwood BBQ in LA are the big names that beer fans will recognize as having the Flux.
The goal? Protagonist is trying to build a unique and community-focused beer bar in Charlotte, which will be a tall feat as the brewery scene is truly explosive. With over 30 breweries in the city and more on the way, including Protagonist, there is beer as far as the eye can see and the differentiation between brands is a must in order to 1) stand out and 2) stay open.
One of the most important pieces to achieving this difference is to provide the optimal quality of beer by serving it exactly as it is intended by the brewer – that means more effervescent for certain beers, more nitrogen for others.
From one of the partners, Ryan Owens: “Most draft systems are geared towards a standard carbonation level but some styles, particularly those that might also be bottle conditioned, benefit from being able to dial in to a specific volume. This allows our Advanced Cicerone (Christopher Westgard) to procure niche and highly sought after beers from across the world while ensuring they’re treated properly.”
“It’s pretty exciting to have a tool like this to use. Carbonation is a part of beer evaluation that often gets overlooked. The relative bubbliness of a beer can have a huge impact on the amount of volatile flavor and aroma compounds are driven toward the palate and therefore your overall impression of the product. Some styles are designed specifically with that in mind and to have that change over the life of a keg because of hardware limitations would be terribly frustrating,” said Christopher Westgard, Protagonist’s Advanced Cicerone.
On tap at Protagonist now, and poured using the Flux, is the robust list: protagonistbeer.com/location/clubhouse/#on-tap.
About Protagonist Beer
Protagonist is a brewery centered around experimentation, belonging and public spirit. Created by childhood friends Ryan McKillen, Ryan Owens and Mike Salzarulo, the brand has first come to life through a modern day Clubhouse—a taproom and nano-brewery in Charlotte, NC. Curious? So are we. Visit protagonistbeer.com and follow @protagonistbeer