BEER EVENTS
Silver State Summer Brewfest — July 11
Tuscany Suites & Casino and Pub 365 will host the 9th annual Silver State Summer Brewfest from 3-7 p.m. in the Florentine Ballroom.
There will be unlimited tasting of more than 100 craft beers including Nevada breweries Able Baker, Beer Zombies, Big Dog’s, CraftHaus, Revision and the SNAFU homebrew club; and guest breweries such as Dogfish Head, Firestone Walker, Lagunitas, New Belgium, North Coast and Westmalle Trappist. During the festivities there will be live music by Bling, a #1 Top 40 cover band specializing in music from the 90s. Tickets are only $30.75 (including fee and tax). For the full list of participating breweries and to purchase tickets, click here.
BJ’s Brewhouse — July 13
The five Southern Nevada BJ’s Brewhouse locations will host a five-course beer dinner celebrating BJ’s 30 years of brewing and featuring the new seasonal beer Grass Attack Cold IPA and limited-time only Stars & Stripes Pizookie dessert.
The dinner will include welcome beer—BJ’s Lightswitch Lager, BJ’s Prickly Pear Hard Lemonade paired with Crispy Calamari, BJ’s Hopstorm IPA matched with Santa Fe Salad, BJ’s Grass Attack Cold IPA paired with BJ’s supreme-style Deep Dish Pizza, palate cleanser—BJ’s Piranha Pale Ale, BJ’s Jeremiah Red matched with EnLIGHTened Cherry Chipotle Glazed Salmon and BJ’s Tatonka Stout paired with Stars & Stripes 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.
Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House Silver Reef Beer Dinner — July 23
The Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House will host a four-course seafood beer pairing dinner featuring five beers from Silver Reef Brewing.
The seafood dishes will include Famous Annapolis Crab Dip over Bavarian Pretzel Bites (a special off-menu smokey version), Seafood Gumbo with special beer-infused sausage, Fish ‘N Chips & Fried Shrimp duo plate with Amber Beer Battered Cod with House Made Boardwalk Fries and Homemade Triple Chocolate Cake infused with Blackhill Shwarzbier. Silver Reef beers being poured will include Blackhill Shwarzbier, Pie and Beer Day Cherry Sour Ale, Mas Fuego Smoked Lager, Cold Hearted Woman IPA and Little Foot Amber Red Ale.
The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and the early bird half off ticket cost is $35 per person (plus tax, fee and tip). Don’t delay on getting your tickets as a limited amount of these tickets are available. To purchase tickets, click here. Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House is located at 6485 S Rainbow just north of the 215 Freeway.
The Silver Stamp — July 23
As it does each year, The Silver Stamp will celebrate Smokebeer Preservation Day. The date of July 23 is significant, as on this date in 1635 the first smoke free malt drying machine that allowed malt to be dried without smoke touching the grain was patented, and as a consequence smoke-free beer became dominant all over the world and turned the original smokebeer (now called Rauchbier) into a rare, almost extinct specialty.
Only in Bamberg was the traditional fire kiln continuously preserved and the holiday champions the historic preservation of traditional, open-fire kilned beers. Beginning at 1 p.m. (when it opens) The Silver Stamp will be pouring both Schlenkerla and Spezial on draft, which are the only two breweries left in the world that have preserved Bamberg’s historic Rauchbier tradition by malting and brewing Rauchbier the traditional way continuously. There will also be more Rauchbiers in bottle and can offerings and a food component. The Silver Stamp is located on the outskirts of the Arts District at 222 E Imperial Ave a few blocks east of Main Street.
Able Baker Bomb Shelter Now Open
For months now in this column, I’ve been reporting on the upcoming opening of the Able Baker Bomb Shelter, the Arts District brewery’s first expansion to a second location. Now it is fully open, giving fans of Able Baker living in the northwest a much shorter drive to enjoy the popular brewery’s beers.
Located at 6371 Centennial Center Blvd, the name and branding fits the theme of the brewery named for the code names of the first two blasts at the Nevada Test Site, “Able” and “Baker.” At the entrance is a holdover from the previous Montana Meat Company space that fortuitously is in the shape of a nuclear silo.
What’s different from the Arts District location is an abundance of free parking and three spacious family-friendly patios with artificial turf and games including ping pong, cornhole, and connect four. Inside there is a bright and cheerful ambience thanks to ample windows, a separate bar area, kid-friendly dining room, rustic red brick walls, several TVs, and artwork and artifacts on loan from the Atomic Museum displayed throughout.
A mostly scratch kitchen helmed by Executive Chef Zeb Nuzzo-Todd and Assistant Executive Chef Carlos Ruiz offers a range of appetizers, salads, traditional and non-traditional pizzas, sandwiches and desserts.
26 taps pour mainly Able Baker Head Brewer Matt Marino’s brews, four of which are exclusive to this location, such as the New to the Neighborhood Imperial Stout and Bunker Barleywine (two beer styles dear to my taste buds!).
Bomb Shelter is open Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight. To view the complete food menu and beer tap list, visit ablebakerbrewing.com/bombshelter.
Local Brewery Champion of the Month: Parry’s Pizzeria and Taphouse
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.
Parry’s Pizzeria and Taphouse at the Waldorf Astoria next to ARIA is a bit of a hidden gem. Not only does it have one of the most expansive beer selections on the Vegas Strip, but also some of the best prices.
There are 120 taps covering all major beer styles. Even better yet is the fact that 12 are beers brewed in Nevada making this a one-stop-shop for perusing what our local breweries have to offer. Pouring during my recent visit were Able Baker Atomic Duck IPA; Big Dog’s Black Lab Stout, Las Vegas Lager and What the Puck IPA; CraftHaus Resinate IPA; HUDL High Hatter Hefe on Pineapple; Las Vegas Brewing Chantilly Vanilla Cream Ale (on nitro), Electric Blonde and Penny O’Reilly Red Ale; Lovelady 9th Island Pineapple Sour; Revision Vegas as Fuck IPA; and Tenaya Creek Gypsy Fade IPA. As for the prices, there is a rotating list of four local beers for $5 (currently Las Vegas Brewing Electric Blonde, Chantilly Vanilla Cream Ale and Penny O’Reilly Red Ale; and Big Dog’s Las Vegas Lager) and you can get one of the $5 beers and slice of pizza for $10. These are unbelievable prices for the high rent district of the Vegas Strip, or anywhere in town for that matter.
Commenting on why they support local beer, Operating Partner Kenelynn Ngirakamerang said, “We have 12 local beers, and it’s cool with our location on the Strip as we get a lot of tourists from different areas and cities. We’re able to provide a taste of Nevada to people who maybe have never been here.”
Of course nothing goes better with beer than pizza, and you are more than covered here, with an ample selection of NY-style pies, which can be ordered by the slice or whole pie, such as the one I enjoyed: The Pearl white pie with blend of oils, ricotta, Italian sausage, tomatoes, minced garlic, fresh basil and Parry’s Parmesan mix. Not into pizza? No problem, as the eatery shares space with Whataburger, the iconic fast food burger chain’s first location on the Strip.
Some bonuses are enjoying your food and drink with fresh air and views of Las Vegas Blvd, as the restaurants are situated on prime real estate facing one of the busiest sections of the Vegas Strip; and if you’re local, you can enjoy three hours of free parking at the ARIA’s self-parking garage (it’s an easy two minute walk over).
To view the complete food and beer menus, visit parryspizza.com/locations/las-vegas-strip/food-menu.
Local Brewer Spotlight: Big Dog’s Head Brewer Dave Pascual
Any brewer would be thrilled to win just one coveted medal at one of the world’s two most respected professional brewing competitions: the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and World Beer Cup (WBC). One of our local brewers, Dave Pascual, who I dub the “Michael Phelps of Nevada brewers,” has the distinction of having garnered more major medal wins than any other brewer in the history of Nevada, with 15 GABF and 4 WBC awards.
The 47-year-old is entering his 22nd year of brewing. Dave got the brewing bug while attending UNLV in the 1990s taking an elective class on beer taught by Michael Ferguson, Barley’s Brewing Brewmaster at the time. Dave went on to apprentice under Ferguson before landing a brewing job at Chicago Brewing, where he would brew for 10 years and rack up several brewing competition medals before taking his current Head Brewer position at Big Dog’s Brewing nearly 11 years ago.
When asked how he comes up with his recipes Dave said, “Trial and error and being honest with myself when something doesn’t work and learning from mistakes. I also get ideas by trying other beers brewed by respected brewers.”
Dave added that his favorite beers to drink and brew are lagers. He recently brewed a Mexican Lager, El Perro Grande, that will be released at the start of July. It’ll be followed by a Japanese Rice Lager, Dogzilla, releasing in early August.
The Mob Museum Launches “The Untapped Story: a Beer Tasting Experience”
For nearly eight years, The Mob Museum has been brewing beer on a nano-system located in its basement adjacent to The Undergrown speakeasy. Now the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement is expanding the education of its guests with a summer program blending history, storytelling and beer tasting.
Led by Museum educators, the tour begins with a sample of locally-brewed Big Dog’s Red Hydrant Ale, which participants sip on while learning about the underappreciated history of beer during Prohibition. Halfway through the tour another local beer is poured—Able Baker Atomic Duck IPA—and your beer education continues with storytelling and viewing of artifacts detailing how Prohibition fueled the early rise of organized crime, how beer helped influence the Mob’s power in America and connections between the Mob and Las Vegas.
The experience concludes in The Underground’s brewery/distillery with a final beer—Big Al’s Ale (currently a Kolsch) brewed on the museum’s small brewing system—and a trivia contest with questions on beer history and beer songs. All guests leave with a parting gift: a Mob Museum logo-ed pint glass.
The 60-minute tours are limited to 24 guests and are offered Monday-Friday evenings at 7 p.m. through the end of August. Tickets, which also include general admission to the museum beginning at 5 p.m., are $69 per person or $49 for Museum Members. To purchase tickets, click here or for group bookings, call 702-724-8622.
The Mob Museum is located in Downtown Las Vegas at 300 Stewart Ave, two blocks north of the Fremont Street Experience.
As always, great beer happens in Vegas!
- Hero image © Adobe Stock AI – licensed for editorial and edited by A.D. Cook
- Parry’s tap handles pic by David Canela
- Parry’s bar pic by David Canela
- Bomb Shelter Outside pic by David Canela
- Bomb Shelter Dining Room pic by David Canela
- Bomb Shelter bar pic by David Canela
- All other pics and graphics are the copyright of their respective owners. Used by permission.
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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.
