Events
Mission Control Hops & Heart Red, White, Brewed Edition Bottle Share — July 5
Mission Control will host a special edition bottle share from 3 p.m. till the beer stops flowing. During the bottle share the craft beer bar at Tenaya and Craig Rd will offer $5 drafts, backyard BBQ and live music.
Red, White & Brews Spirits & Beer Bash — July 5
Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House (6485 South Rainbow) will present the Red, White & Brews Spirits & Beer Bash from 1-4:30 p.m. at AREA15 in The Portal. Full details on this event appeared in my June column, which can be accessed by clicking here.
Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House Silver Reef Beer Dinner — July 10
Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House will host a seafood beer pairing dinner featuring four courses of food and five beers from Silver Reef Brewing.
The dinner will include Famous Annapolis Crab Dip over Bavarian Pretzel Bites, Grilled Shrimp Caesar Salad, Fish ‘N Chips—Amber Beer-Battered Cod with house made Boardwalk fries and Homemade New York Style Cheesecake with special tropical drizzle.
Silver Reef beers will include Planet Utah IPA, Mas Fuego Smoked Lager, Silver Reef Hefeweizen, Little Foot Amber Red Ale and Guavalu Wheat Ale.
The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. A two-for-one deal is being offered for $65 (plus $8.04 fee). To purchase tickets, click here.
BJ’s Brewhouse — July 14
The five Southern Nevada BJ’s Brewhouse locations will host a five-course German-style beer dinner featuring German beers and BJ’s and König Brewery’s collaboration beer.
The dinner will include welcome beer of Benediktiner Hell, König Pilsener paired with fried couscous mac & cheese balls, Benediktiner Weissbier matched with big twist pretzel, palate cleanser of BJ’s Harvest Hefeweizen, König Grapefruit Radler paired with house salad and balsamic dressing, BJ’s & König Collab Co-Hoperate Pils matched with chicken alfredo and Köstritzer Schwarzbier paired with chocolate chunk 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.
Silver State Summer Brewfest — July 19
Tuscany Suites & Casino and Pub 365 will host the 8th annual Silver State Summer Brewfest from 3-7 p.m. in the Florentine Ballroom. Full details on this event appeared in my June column, which can be accessed by clicking here.
Local Brewer Spotlight: Joe Cuozzo
In this monthly feature, we spotlight one of our local head brewers. This month we learn all about Joe Cuozzo, Head Brewer at HUDL Brewing Company.
Joe grew up in San Diego and while attending Humboldt State in Arcata, CA in 1996 got hooked on craft beer after discovering Humboldt Brewing’s Red Nectar Ale. He returned to San Diego after one semester and was attending Grossmont College taking classes in biochemistry when he began homebrewing and took on an apprenticeship at Hops Bistro & Brewery in La Jolla. Soon after, he attended the American Brewers Guild, which he chose to attend because the lead instructor was Steve Parkes, who brewed the Red Nectar Ale at Humboldt Brewing. Joe earned the six-month degree at the young age of 20, the youngest ever to graduate from the brewing school.
His first paid professional brewing job was at Coppertank Brewing in Dallas, where he served as assistant brewer for a year before taking the leap to Head Brewer at Skagway Brewing in Alaska.
After returning to San Diego, in the early 2000s he worked at some of San Diego’s most iconic brewing businesses, including Pizza Port, Hops Bistro and Brewery, Green Flash, Ballast Point and Homebrew Mart. While head brewer at Sports City Café & Brewery in 2002, he also ran the San Diego Brewers Guild and won his first Great American Beer Festival (GABF) medal, which he brewed at the young age of 21. He moved on to Coronado Brewing in 2005 to redo all their recipes and beers, after which he took a job with Rock Bottom, but at the time was not great with the corporate atmosphere.
Joe got divorced in late 2005 and decided to move to Las Vegas and left beer for 9 years. Fortunately for us, he met HUDL Co-Owner Skip Norfolk in 2019. They hit it off, both being from San Diego and knowing a few of the same people, and Joe was hired as HUDL’s first head brewer and the brewery opened Oct. 24, 2020.
During Joe’s illustrious career he also got a beer brand going in Chicago called Around the Bend Beer Co., which is still operating, and has amassed five GABF medals, three World Beer Cup awards and a Festival of Barrel Aged Beer Awards honor.
As for his favorite beer styles to drink and make, they are the same: West Coast IPA, American style Barleywine and Helles. Regarding Helles he says, “It’s the hardest to brew and I like the challenge.” In fact, Joe has made three trips to Germany to get the recipe dialed in, and during one of the trips spent a day brewing at Weyermann in Bamburg. He shared that Augustiner Helles (from Munich) is the best beer he’s ever had and became obsessed with trying to make it. He thinks he had his Eureka moment, and that his latest attempt accomplishes that goal. It’s named Glen Helles and is brewed with 96% Barke Pils and 4% Weyermann CARAFOAM malts, hopped with Hallertau Mittelfrüh and fermented with White Labs Munich Lager Yeast (which is the same strain as the Augustiner yeast). It’s currently pouring at HUDL, so hurry over to enjoy this magnificent creation.
Local Brewery Champion of the Month: Holsteins Shakes and Buns
In this recurring feature we spotlight establishments that appreciate our local breweries enough to devote the majority of their beer lists to beer made in Nevada.
Burgers is a great companion to beer and thankfully, after closing its location at The Cosmo last year after a 14-year run, Holsteins Shakes & Buns has relocated and reopened in the Arts District at 1216 S Main. It definitely qualifies to be my local brewery champion of the month as its opening beer list has 100% local drafts (Able Baker Atomic Duck IPA and Calutron Girl Mango Hefe and Las Vegas Brewing Vegas Light Lager and Hat Trick Hefe) and nearly all of its additional canned selection devoted to locals with Big Dog’s Red Hydrant, CraftHaus Belgard Coffee Stout, HUDL Vanilla Oak Cream Ale, Lovelady Paleo Porter, Sin City Amber Ale and Tenaya Creek Bonanza Brown and Gypsy Fade. While you’re there you’ll want to pair your beer with one of their over-the-top burger creations like the Billionaire Burger with a foie gras & Prime beef blend, provolone, mushrooms, onion marmalade, port reduction, crispy onions and truffle pate; and finish with one of the Bam-Boozled Shakes such as the Drunken Monkey with Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, malt, banana, Banana Laffy Taffy and Reese’s Pieces garnishing the side of the glass.
Nevada Legislature Passes AB404
The Nevada Craft Brewers Association (NCBA, a non-profit entity which promotes the development of the craft beer culture throughout the State of Nevada) is proud to announce the successful passage of Assembly Bill 404 (AB404), a milestone piece of legislation aimed at modernizing and supporting Nevada’s independent craft beer industry. The bill passed without opposition—an extraordinary accomplishment made possible through meaningful compromises and constructive collaboration with Nevada’s distributors and Teamsters.
AB404 marks a new chapter for Nevada’s craft beer producers by allowing in-state breweries and distilleries to ship beer directly to consumers outside of Nevada, a privilege that wineries and breweries were granted in 2020, however was rescinded specifically to breweries in 2021. The legislation also provides clear authorization for breweries to operate up to two taproom locations where beer is not brewed on site as well as serve other alcohol, creating much-needed flexibility and a greater ability to grow within local communities. Breweries with more than two taprooms will be grandfathered in.
This is a great win, but it appears there is still much more work to be done, as despite Clark County ranking among the top three counties in the nation for alcohol consumption per capita, only 2% of all beer sold in Nevada is actually made in the state. That means 98% of the beer consumed in Nevada comes from outside our borders, and in fact, Nevada ranks 48th in the nation for beer production per capita, while the eleven surrounding states average 4.7 times more beer production than Nevada.
Kudos to NCBA President Wyndee Forrest and NCBA Legislative Chair Linda Lovelady for their successful efforts in getting this bill passed. I join with the NCBA in celebrating this legislative win for Nevada breweries!
Tom Harwood Returns to Triple 7
Tom Harwood, a very skilled longtime local brewer is returning to Triple 7 Brewery at Main Street Station, where he brewed before leaving for stints at Bad Beat and Nevada Brew Works. Speaking of what he plans to brew at the downtown brewery, Tom says, “You will definitely see the return of Carlsbad IPA, more lagers, hazy IPAs and even the occasional sour in the mix. We are planning to resume distribution to other Boyd properties and maybe making limited quantities of beer available to other bars for special events. Distribution means additional help so maybe (the hiring of) a cellar person is in our future.”
Ellis Island Still Brewing Beer (but in St. George)
Ellis Island Brewery was one of Southern Nevada’s first brewpubs, having opened in 1998. After outgrowing its space, in 2019 it relocated to St. George where a new 15,000 bbl brewhouse was constructed and was renamed Silver Reef Brewing Company. In addition to beer, they also distill bourbon, rum, vodka and gin and the company has the Ellis Island Estate Vineyard in Leeds, Utah.
A new development at Ellis Island in Las Vegas is a rooftop project underway with plans to open in the fall. The bar situated above the casino will have an unobstructed view of the Strip, as well as an optimal spot for viewing the F1 race.
Silver Reef’s newest release is its Summer Kolsch (AKA The Crusher). It’s 5% ABV, made with Pilsner malt and wheat and hopped with Magnum and German Select hops. It’s described as a crisp and refreshing golden ale with subtle fruity characteristics. Head over to Ellis Island to check it out. During the rooftop construction several discounts are being offered.
- Hero image © Adobe Stock – licensed for editorial and edited by A.D. Cook
- Holsteins ForagerBurger photo by ChrisWessling.com
- HUDL Head Brewer Joe Cuozzo pic supplied by Joe Cuozzo
- All other pics supplied by their respective venues. Used by permission.
- 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 1998-2019. He was Editorial Director of The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional from 2012-2021 and has covered Las Vegas for Gayot since 2010. He continues to contribute to Gayot, writing the Gayot Las Vegas Restaurant News, features on new restaurants, and beer and spirit reviews. He also writes regularly for Off The Strip, The Vegas Voice, Neon Feast, and Las Vegas Magazine.
