EVENTS
Mission Control — October 17
Mission Control, the craft beer and cocktail bar at Tenaya and Craig, will host a brewery tap takeover with beers from The Bruery and release of Lumin Noctis, their collab stout with The Bruery.
The beer is a blend of Celestial Mechanics (Mission Control’s sister company) Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with vanilla beans and The Bruery’s legendary Black Tuesday Imperial Stout. The event will begin at 3 p.m. and both The Bruery Owner Barry Holmes and Head Brewer Justin Radel will be on site. As is the common practice at these tastings, there will be giveaways of Bruery/Mission Control stuff, beer, swag, gift cards, etc.
Viva La SerVehZah Beer Festival — October 17
The Viva La SerVehZah Beer Festival will premiere at SerVehZah Bottle Shop and Taproom (1301 S Commerce in the Las Vegas Arts District) from 2 to 6 p.m.
There will be breweries from across the US pouring exclusive, limited-release beers, live music and a lively atmosphere. Tickets are $60. For more info and to purchase tickets, click here.
Big Dog’s Brewing Dogtoberfest — October 24
Big Dog’s Brewing is a Wisconsin- and dog-themed brewpub and has several beers with canine names like Tail Wagger Wheat and Black Lab Stout, but its annual Dogtoberfest takes it a step further.
Held at the Draft House outdoor area (at Rancho and Craig Rd) from 4-9 p.m., the free admission pay-as-you-go beerfest will offer more than 50 beers from independent craft breweries including 25 from Nevada breweries. There will also be a human and dog Halloween costume contest, live Classic Rock and Island Reggae Music, Wisconsin-style grilled brats and other tasty choices and raffles and giveaways.
The first Big Dog’s Dogtoberfest was held in 2010 and the brewpub/craft beer bar has hosted more beer fests than any other venue in Southern Nevada, with this year’s Dogtoberfest marking the brewpub’s 55th beer & music festival.
For more info and to purchase ticket packages (with lower prices until the day of the event), visit bigdogsbrews.com/festivals/dogtoberfest-2.
BJ’s Brewhouse — October 26
The five Southern Nevada BJ’s Brewhouse locations will host a five-course beer dinner featuring a variety of seasonal favorites.
The dinner will include welcome beer— BJ’s Pumpkin Ale, BJ’s Sweet Sin Chocolate Porter paired with Strawberry Fields Salad, BRLO Apple Cider matched with Sweet Potato Fries, palate cleanser—Duvel 6.66, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA paired with Mike’s Hot Honey Pizza, Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale matched with Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Duchesse Red paired with Triple Chocolate Pizookie.
The dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the cost is $45 in advance and $50 (plus tax and tip) the day of the event. To purchase tickets, click here.
Tenaya Creek — November 13
Mark your calendar for Nov. 13, as Tenaya Creek, one of Las Vegas’ oldest local breweries, will commemorate its 27th anniversary.
The day will coincide with Friday the 13th, which is apropos as in recent years Tenaya merged with the macabre-themed Zombie Brewing. The event will be free to attend and there will be new beer releases, a local collab or two and live music. It will also be the yearly release of God of Thunder, Tenaya Creek’s fan favorite Baltic Porter.
North 5th Closing
I’m sad to once again be the bearer of bad news. North 5th Brewing is closing its doors, with its final day being November 21st.
The family-owned and -run brewery is co-owned by siblings Amanda and Matt Payan and was the first-ever craft brewery in North Las Vegas in late 2021. It has truly been a family operation, as Head Brewer Patrick Tofte and his brother Assistant Brewer Sam Tofte showed their skills in brewing many solid and true-to-style beers.
Amanda Payan put out a statement on behalf of her and her brother Matt that in part read: “It’s hard to put into words what this little brewery has become over the years. When Matt and I started North 5th, we wanted to make good beer and create a place people wanted to be. What we got was so much more than that.
A very special thank you to Mama and Papa Payan. Thank you for believing in us, taking this crazy ride with us, and giving more to this place than anyone will ever know.
To our members—thank you for believing in this little brewery, showing up for us again and again and truly making N5th yours, too. You’ve been such a huge part of this family.
And to our incredible staff—past and present—thank you. You gave this place its personality, took care of our people, put up with our craziness, and loved N5th right alongside us. We could never have done this without you, and saying goodbye to this chapter with you is one of the hardest parts.
The doors may be closing, but the friendships, stories, questionable decisions, inside jokes and memories are coming with us. This isn’t really goodbye. It’s just last call.”
CraftHaus Serious Problem
CraftHaus Co-Owner Wyndee Forrest has announced they have “a very serious problem” at their Arts District CHAD taproom. Okay, now that we have your attention, rest easy, for the problem is not a problem at all, but rather some new additions that are sure to give patrons more reasons to visit the taproom.
Through a partnership with The Book and the Bean, the taproom has morphed into a permanent bookstore and coffee shop (as books and coffee seem to go together) and craft brewery taproom. Beginning on Oct. 9 CHAD will open daily at 8 a.m. and there will be cold brew on tap, seasonal teas and matcha drinks, pastries, a cozy place to work remotely, the aforementioned books, book clubs and meetups.
What hasn’t changed at CHAD is the pouring of the award-winning CraftHaus beer and their lunch and dinner menu.
Local Brewer Spotlight: Griff Griffith
In this monthly feature, we spotlight our local head brewers. This month we learn all about Mojave Brewing Brewer/Owner John “Griff” Griffith.
Griff was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI. It seems the 56-year-old has excelled at everything he’s attempted in life. After high school he attended the Navy Academy, got a degree in Elementary Education at the Western Michigan University Honors College, was a founding teacher who helped shape the curriculum at a very respected private school and won major homebrew competition awards.
While in college he got the brewing bug while working as the morning manager at a coffee shop called Water Street Coffee (the name was a portend of things to come, as his Mojave Brewing sits on Water Street in Henderson). The coffee shop was across the street from a brand new small brewery that was in its beginning phase before becoming one of the country’s most renowned breweries: Bell’s Brewing. Brewers from Bell’s would come in for free cups of coffee in exchange for free pours of beer for Griff. When he tasted Bell’s Porter it was his aha moment as he realized craft beer was calling his name. He came to see what quality beer tasted like and began homebrewing. His friendship with the brewers paid off, as they coached him and helped him improve his recipes. Soon he joined the local homebrew club—Kalamazoo Libation Organization of Brewers (KILO)—where he learned a lot about making cider and mead, skills that would benefit him later when he opened Mojave Brewing, which happens to be the only local brewery making ciders.
Griff came to Las Vegas in 2000 as he and his ex-wife were in search of a warmer climate. He was a stay-at-home dad for a few years before returning to teaching at Alexander Dawson as one of the founding teachers who helped devise the new school’s curriculum. Something that may surprise you is Griff is a certified yoga instructor and he taught classes at night while working as a teacher by day.
During this time, he missed homebrewing and got back into it with a passion. He entered national competitions and won a regional event with his Light American Lager that went on to compete nationally. His talents were noticed and he was asked by Kyle Weniger (at the time head brewer at Joseph James) to participate in the GABF pro-am competition. Griff submitted his Porter, which didn’t win, but did get an honorable mention and Kyle liked the beer so much he and Griff brewed it together on the Joseph James system.
At this point, Griff was ready to turn pro, and completed an internship at Joyride Brewing in Denver in the summer of 2017 where he was treated like a regular brewer. He credits Joyride’s Owner Dave Bergan for showing him the nuts and bolts about owning a brewery and Head Brewer Kyle Knudson for teaching him how to brew on a professional system.
The last piece of the puzzle was getting a business loan, which he did, and Mojave Brewing opened on Water Street in Henderson in February 2020, just six weeks before COVID hit. But they weathered on and will soon celebrate their 7th anniversary. With the help of Head Brewer Andy Kohon the brewery has won two World Beer Cup awards, which may be the toughest to win as breweries compete against those throughout the world.
The beer Griff most likes to drink is Andy’s Mexican Lager, which he says is “crisp, lighter, finishes clean and shows a balance of malt and yeast.” To brew, he is rather proud of his cask ales, and his brewery is the only one in Southern Nevada serving them. Currently pouring at Mojave is Bitter Rivalry, an ESB; next up will be an Oktoberfest named Festivus for the Rest of Us.
595 Craft and Kitchen Opening Second Location
595 Craft and Kitchen, one of our city’s top neighborhood craft beer bars, just celebrated its 9th anniversary and is expanding with a second location in Southern Highlands.
Nearly twice the square footage of the original Spring Valley location at Tropicana and Rainbow, the second iteration was initially planned as “595 Part Two” to replicate the original’s culture, craft beer selection, and fusion food, but plans are to eventually also expand into a more ambitious culinary and nonalcoholic beverage program. Owner Van Nguyen is considering serving a range of teas and tonics inspired in part by his first trip to Vietnam last December.
The Southern Highlands opening is targeted for late October/early November. There’s plenty more info on the FoodAndLoathing.Vegas website (which happens to be where my weekly Las Vegas Dining and Entertainment News column appears). To listen to an interview with Van and GM Matt Alexander on a recent Food and Loathing podcast with Al Mancini and Gemini Stevens recorded at 595, click here, for a recap of the interview click here and to read all about 595’s new weekend brunch click here. I promise to provide an update after the new location opens.
Local Brewery Champion of the Month: North Bar
In this recurring feature we spotlight establishments that appreciate our local breweries enough to devote a large portion of their beer selection to beer made in Nevada.
The Palms Casino Resort recently opened a new bar that is giving some love to our local breweries. Called the North Bar, it’s located within the resort’s new non-smoking gaming area. Local breweries occupy 100 of the taps with beer being poured when I checked recently including CraftHaus Silver State Blonde Ale, Lovelady Hopatomic Double West Coast IPA, Mojave Punk Lemonade Dry Cider and Mojave Sunrise Blood Orange Wheat Ale, Neon Desert Heaven in Helles Munich Style Lager and Neon Haze New England Hazy IPA, Revision Disco Ninja Northeast Hazy IPA and Sin City Amber American Red Ale.
To view the complete current beverage menu, click here. The Palms is located about a mile west of the Vegas Strip on Flamingo at Arville just past the I-15 Freeway.
What’s Pouring
Big Dog’s Head Brewer/Director of Brewing Operations Dave Pascual tells me they’re releasing Violent Violet Blueberry Hazy IPA, an 8% collaboration brew with their friends at Public Coast Brewing in Cannon Beach, OR. They helped supply more than 400 lbs of blueberries that were grown on their Public Coast Farm in Banks, OR and in addition, several adjuncts were used including oats, rye, imported grains to give it a silky mouthfeel and the primary hop Mosaic. Also pouring later this month will be the 2025 GABF gold medal-winning Just Friends, a 9.5% complex, easy-drinking Belgian-style Strong Specialty Ale.
Lovelady Brewing Owner/Brewer Richard Lovelady has three special beers coming out this month: the 5% Bloody Good Alibi Blood Orange Cream Ale (draft only), 5% Transfusion Sour Ale with grape, ginger and lime (cans and draft) and 6% Ryeting on the wall, a Red Rye Lager (draft only).
Beer Zombies Owner Chris Jacobs shared with me that Christmas is coming early this year. Due to Beer Zombies being in so many states and countries they are dropping their Christmas beers by the end of this month. They include Zombie Slaycation, a 5.6% heavily fruited sour ale with blackberry, cinnamon and vanilla that brings a tart and smooth finish; and Happy Horror Double Haze, an 8.5% Double Dry Hopped Double Hazy IPA brewed with a collection of tropical hops that impart flavors of ripe mango, passion fruit, pineapple, peach, tropical candy and dank resin.
Evolve Brewing Head Brewer Josh Kunzli is pouring his 7.4% Bar Down Hazy IPA loaded with Citra, HBC 630 & HBC 630 Cryo for big waves of citrus, tropical fruit and soft stone-fruit vibes.
As always, great beer happens in Vegas!
- Hero image © Adobe Stock AI – licensed for editorial use and edited by A.D. Cook
- Griff Brewer Spotlight pic by Bob Barnes
- North 5th owners and brewers pic by Dave Canela
- All other photos and graphics are the copyright of their respective owners
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
- More info
Bob Barnes began his food and beverage writing career in 1998 as Regional Correspondent for Celebrator Beer News and wrote the Nevada Beer Nuggets column from 1998 to 2019. He was Editorial Director of The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional from 2012-2021 and has covered Las Vegas for Gayot since 2010. He now writes the weekly Las Vegas Dining and Entertainment News column for FoodAndLoathing.Vegas, a monthly dining news column for The Vegas Voice, continues to contribute to Gayot, writing the Gayot Las Vegas Restaurant News and beer and spirit reviews. In addition to posting on ADCook.com, the Las Vegas Brewing News also posts on San Diego Beer News (sandiegobeer.news) and porchdrinking.com.
