Las Vegas Brewing News

What’s on Tap in September

Able Baker will be offering $5 pints in the taproom during all Raiders games (limited to beers that come in a 16 oz format). On Sept. 11 they will be releasing The Autumn Wind, an imperial porter with maple and pecan. Later in the month they’ll have Lilikoi Orange ‘ONO! ‘ONO!, a fruited sour offered in cans and in 4-packs. For Oktoberfest season they have Ententanz, fittingly named after a tune called “Der Ententanz” (The Duck Dance) that became a popular drinking song at Oktoberfest in the 1970s. Crisp, clean, and malt driven, classic ingredients like Vienna and Munich malts, Hallertau hops and German lager yeast pay tribute to its Old-World heritage. It will be available in cans and on draft and offered in a stein at a special price, with guests getting to keep the glass.

Our local roving brewer Juxta Nomad (aka Kyle Weniger) has worked with Astronomy to brew a barleywine with black cherry; and partnered with HUDL and Iya Terra Brewing (the folks that brought “Beer is Beautiful” to the Life is Beautiful festival last year) and brewed an IPA with mango, coconut and lime zest. It’ll be pouring at this year’s LIB fest Sept. 16-18, and available in cans and draft around town shortly thereafter.

More Love for Local Beer

Over the past five years I’ve reported on several local eateries partnering with local breweries to brew a house beer for them, such as Tenaya Creek’s Holsteins Special Lager at The Cosmopolitan’s Holsteins and FB Cerveza, a Mexican-style lager made for Flour & Barley at the LINQ Promenade; Yardbird’s Unforgritable Southern Pale Ale, made by Able Baker; Dwarf Piss made by Astronomy for Red Dwarf; and Juxta Nomad in recent years supplying signature house beers for Servehzah, Pub 365, 595 Craft & Kitchen, Rick’s Rollin’ Smoke, Berlin Bar, Bin702, 18Bin and Peyote. Now the newly-opened Half Bird Chicken and Beer can be added to the list, as it has contracted HUDL Brewing to make a signature beer for them: Cockfight Pilsner, an easy-drinking lager hopped with Tettnang and Saaz hops. Kudos to local eateries that realize our local breweries are the best bet to call on to brew special beers that will add to the desirability of their establishments.

August 2022

Two 8th Anniversary Celebrations on Tap

On August 9, 2022, Bad Beat Brewing and 595 Craft and Kitchen will team up to host a four-course beer dinner curated by Bad Beat Head Brewer Amanda Koeller, 595 Executive Chef Marta Kupina and 595 Director of Beer Matt Alexander. The dinner will be a celebration of the brewery’s 8th anniversary and will include five Bad Beat anniversary beers with Amanda Koeller talking about each beer pairing. The dinner will include a welcome beer: Cloudy Daze, a New England IPA; shrimp rangoon with spicy ponzu mayo paired with High Society Italian Pilsner; spicy seafood aguachile with prawn crackers matched with Surfside Shandy; bourbon & coffee-glazed pork belly paired with Long Night Bourbon Barrel Aged Milk Stout; and vanilla bean sponge cake with strawberry curd and dark chocolate crème matched with Chocolate Long Night Bourbon Barrel Aged Chocolate Milk Stout. There will be two seatings: at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. All of the beers will also be available in cans for purchase to take home. Tickets are $60 (includes tax but not tip) and are available here.

CraftHaus Brewery will commemorate its 8th anniversary with its HausFest Magic 8 Ball Anniversary party on Sept. 24 from 6-10 p.m. There will be dozens of beers pouring in the taproom and parking lot—including new releases, guest taps and barrel aged beauties—food trucks and music. Featured new anniversary beers will include Magic 8 Ball Whiskey and Maple Barrel Aged Imperial Brown Ale; STRATAcaster, a wet hop IPA; and Cake Face Red Velvet, a double oatmeal stout. General admission tickets for unlimited sampling are $40 and a VIP option is $70. For more info and to purchase tickets visit www.crafthausbrewery.com.

What’s Pouring in August

Jimmy Doyle at Neon Desert Brewing tells me his Coconilican has been promoted to a core beer, which means you can now get it every time you visit the taproom. It’s a 10% ABV bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, and as the name implies, it’s made with toasted coconut, vanilla and roasted pecans.

Ashley Navarrete was the first and only assistant brewer hired at HUDL, and she can now drop the word assistant from her job title. Along with the promotion, she is being entrusted to brew her first beer from a recipe she created. The name is TBD, but it’s an experimental hazy double IPA. The experimental part is the adding of hops during the mash (they are normally added during the boil), which will bring added bitterness. It also uses a special yeast strain that adds a ton of aromatics.

Our local roving brewer Juxta Nomad (aka Kyle Weniger) has partnered with Able Baker’s Matt Marino to selfishly brew up one of their favorite styles that tends to be pretty polarizing to the general public: Smokebeer! He says, “No gimmicks, no hype, just a classic dark lager with a hefty, yet approachable beechwood smoke character throughout, aptly named Schwarzenrauch, meaning black smoke.” Kyle tells me it was brewed in early July and the release date is for “whenever the yeast wants it to be!” This beer will be available at Able Baker and also several craft beer bars around town.

Newly released to the Las Vegas market are beers from Marble Brewery. We’ve actually been enjoying its Day Ghost, a 4.8% ABV Japanese-style rice-based lager brewed exclusively for Omega Mart in Area 15, but now Nevada Beverage is distributing more brews from the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based brewery. You can get the 4.7% ABV Pilsner, dry hopped and unfiltered and a winner of four GABF and two WBC awards; Double White, a 7% ABV hazy Belgian-inspired wheat ale with traditional spices that has earned two GABF medals; Rita, a 6.6% ABV margarita-inspired sour gose; and the 4.2% ABV Pink Lemonade Lager, which should go down easy on hot summer days.

July 2022

Beer Zombies Opens New Location in Boulder City

Chris Jacobs has expanded his beer empire to yet another city, opening Beer Zombies Boulder City, which joins three craft beer bars in Las Vegas and one in Salt Lake City. The new location is on the city’s main drag at 567 Nevada Way and is set in a standalone building that was once a gas station/garage. It’s now the largest Beer Zombies in Southern Nevada and first with an outdoor area, which features two reproduction vintage gas pumps, artificial turf, cornhole and giant Jenga games, several tables under a large shade cover and a rain water feature to help cool the area. Inside is a long bar with zombie hand tap handles, TVs tuned to sports programming, beer flowing from 14 taps and a cooler stocked with about 100 cans and bottles.

Like the other Beer Zombies craft beer bars, the Boulder City outlet serves only craft beer from breweries that are 100% independent (including several locals) and at least four contract brewed Beer Zombies beers. As for food, Queen Tacos food truck is parked onsite whenever Beer Zombies is open and you can bring in any outside food.

Current hours are Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sun. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. For the current beer menu, visit the official website.

What’s Pouring in July

Lovelady Brewing brewmaster/owner Richard Lovelady on the first of the month will have Speedee Freeze, a 6.9% ABV, 55 IBU cold IPA (uses lager yeast and ferments at lower temperatures than an ale) with Citra and Simcoe Hops; and around the middle of the month 9th Island Sunrise Sour, a 5% ABV, 5 IBU golden kettle sour with pomegranate and blood orange.

Tenaya Creek will release its S.M.A.S.H IPA on draft in the taproom and at most of the specialty craft beer bars around town. Head brewer/director of brewing operations Anthony Gibson says it’s a 6.2% ABV single malt and single hop IPA brewed with pale malt and Strata hops with 49 IBUs.

Our favorite roaming brewer Kyle Weniger, AKA Juxta Nomad, has partnered with Astronomy Aleworks to make America’s Peach, an American pale ale with peaches. It was made in support of local non-profit organization Critical Care Comics, a charity initiative whose members dress up like superheroes and visit children’s hospitals and raise funds for scholarships and various other causes. It will be released on July 4, 2022, at Astronomy’s taproom and 100% of the proceeds will be going to benefit CCC.

July Beer Events

July marks the 8th year Banger Brewing has brewed its seasonal Sandia, a 5.4% American wheat beer made with a ton of fresh watermelon puree that is the brewery’s most popular beer when they pour it from July-September. It will be released on the 4th of July weekend at its location on Fremont St. and throughout the weekend there will be some fun one-off Sandia variations, a draft watermelon cocktail and Food Junky catering will have a summer menu and watermelon themed food and snacks. There will also be growler fills, crowlers and 4-pack cans of Sandia (16 oz) available for purchase.

On July 16, the 6th annual Silver State Brewfest will be held at the Tuscany Suites and Casino in the Florentine Ballroom from 4-8 p.m. The Brewfest will feature unlimited sampling of beers from local breweries, live music and food for purchase inside the venue. General admission tickets are $50 the day of the event or presale for $45 for admission at 4 p.m. or $55 for early entry at 3 p.m. and are available here. VIP, which includes early entry at 3 p.m., access to the Legends Lounge with complimentary food and a 32 oz crowler to fill with your favorite beer from the festival to take home, are $100 and are available here. Designated Drivers enter for free but are not eligible for any tastings.

The Big Dog’s Brewing annual Summerfest will be held in the outdoor area of the Big Dog’s Draft House at Craig Rd. and Rancho in northwest Las Vegas on July 30 from 5-10 p.m., during which the Dank Dog IPA will be pouring, along with more than 40 brews from local and regional breweries. This pay-as-you-go event offers free admission, live reggae music and island-inspired BBQ. For more info and to purchase a tasting package visit here.

CraftHaus Chosen to Brew First-ever Official Beer for UNLV

CraftHaus Brewery has become the first brewery to brew an official beer for UNLV. Named Rebel Spirit, it’s an easy-drinking 5% ABV golden ale that will be brewed year round available at all games held at Thomas & Mack, in four packs of 16 oz cans and on draft at the CraftHaus brewery in the Henderson Booze District and at its taproom in the Arts District.

A portion of the proceeds are being gifted to the University and the partnership includes the brewery being available as a working lab for hospitality undergrads to have a hands-on experience in operating a brewery, as students learn about sensory analysis, operating a service industry-based business and the brewing process. It’s fitting that CraftHaus has this first-ever distinction, as co-owners Dave and Wyndee Forrest and head brewer Cameron Fisher are all UNLV alumni.

June 2022

Two Nevada Breweries Medal at World Beer Cup

Held every two years, the World Beer Cup (WBC) is kind of the Olympics of professional brewing, and unlike the GABF, which is only open to U.S. breweries, the WBC hosts breweries from all over the world. At the 2022 WBC, held in Minneapolis last month, two Nevada breweries held their own against the best in the world, both winning a gold!

Las Vegas-based Able Baker claimed its first WBC medal, in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category, which had 109 entries. The winning beer, dubbed Monique, was brewed and named in memory of Monique Lane, who worked with Able Baker Head Brewer Matt Marino for several years when he brewed at Triple 7. Matt explained: “Personally to win a World Beer Cup gold medal for any beer is a huge honor, but to win for this particular beer is an overwhelming honor that solidifies the memory and absolute love that everyone had for Monique Lane, RIP. The beer never would have happened without Monique literally pressuring me for years to brew a Belgian Quad at 777. What began as a granted wish to a persistent and incredible co-worker, has become an annual tribute to her memory in the wake of her tragic death. We all miss her amazing smile, enthusiasm and fire.”

The other gold was brought home by one of our friends from Reno, IMBĪB Custom Brews. Named Triad, it won in the Belgian-Style Sour Ale category with 97 entries. Like the other Nevada brewery winner, it was the brewery’s first WBC medal and a Belgian style. Brewer/co-owner Matt Johnson said: “Triad is an homage to the sour and wild ales of Belgium that traditionally consisted of blended one-, two- and three-year-old beers to achieve a complex, acidic, refreshing masterpiece. Winning a gold medal at the World Beer Cup is the honor of a lifetime for our brewery; to win in a competition where the best breweries in the world enter their best beer is humbling and, of course, very exciting.”

Chickie’s and Pete’s Crabhouse and Sports Bar

Several Vegas Strip resorts now have at least one beer-centric venue, and my latest discovery is Chickie’s and Pete’s Crabhouse and Sports Bar at Sahara Las Vegas. Opened in September 2021 and the chain’s first full-sized restaurant west of the Mississippi, a true sports bar feel is attained with the walls filled with signed jerseys of notable pro athletes including Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neil, Kobe Bryant and local Las Vegas Raider star Derek Carr; and the William Hill sports book situated inside the restaurant. The restaurant is known for several crab-centric menu items, including crab fries seasoned with Old Bay, crab cakes and crab pizza; and as the restaurant group originated in Philadelphia, it’s no surprise that the menu features five Philly cheesesteak variations.

As the motto is sports, beer and crab, beer is also covered, with more than 50 beers from a wide range of styles and several local brews such as Bad Beat I Love NV Amber Ale, Banger Morning Joe Coffee Kolsch, CraftHaus Dry Heat IPA, Lovelady Love Juice IPA and Tenaya Creek Bonanza Brown; and craft beer favorites like Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Cascade Vlad the Imp Aler Sout. Regarding supporting our local breweries, Sahara Las Vegas Director of Beverage Nate Hedlund said: “Chickie’s & Pete’s in Philly pride themselves on supporting their local beers and no reason the Las Vegas location wouldn’t do the same with all the quality brewers we have in town and even down the street like Able Baker and the new CraftHaus location. Sahara is a destination for a lot of conventioneers and even when I’m out of town, I like to drink something local to where I’m at!”