BEER EVENTS
Mission Control — June 6
Mission Control will host a North 5th Brewing partial tap takeover with Head Brewer Patrick Tofte beginning at 6 p.m. Also on tap will be the re-release of the first Celestial Mechanics beer (the brand owned by Mission Control’s owners), Beer Is Beautiful. Its most popular beer to date, this WCIPA with mango, coconut and lime zest was originally released at the 2021 Life Is Beautiful festival and ran through 2024 (after which the festival was paused). Throughout the day there will be giveaways of North 5th and Mission Control swag and North 5th and Celestial Mechanics beer (no purchase required to win).
Brian Wolfe Celebration of Life — June 14
If you made your way to the original Tenaya Creek location through its evolution to Beer Zombies and had a beer over the past two plus decades, chances are Brian Wolfe poured it for you with a smile on his face. Tragically, the Las Vegas beer community lost a beloved member, as Brian lost his battle to cancer last month.
If there was a Hall of Fame for beertenders he would certainly top the list, so if Brian ever put a smile on your face, made you laugh or shared a beer with you, try to make it out to celebrate his life. He will be celebrated with all the things he loved: Beer, Live Music and Friends with a gathering taking place at Big Dog’s Brewing from 4 to 8 p.m.
Sip and Sweat Social at Beer Zombies Brewing — June 27
If you want to pair yoga with beer you can check out Beer Zombies Brewing’s monthly all-levels yoga sessions held the last Saturday of each month.
The Detox to Retox by Sip and Sweat Social begins at 10 a.m. and is a 60-minute vinyasa-style yoga flow accompanied by live DJ beats and followed by a 20-minute sound bath meditation finish. Tickets are $35 (plus fee) in advance or $40 at the door and include one beverage of your choice. A food truck will be available after class. For details on purchasing tickets, follow Beer Zombies or Sip and Sweat Social on Instagram.
Beer Zombies is also showing horror movies at the brewery the last Saturday of each month. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the movies start at 9 p.m. It’s free to attend and there are vendors and an audio-visual DJ.
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. Early Bird tickets are only $24.97 (including fee and tax) if you buy your ticket by June 14 ($30.75 after). For the full list of participating breweries and to purchase tickets, click here.
Local Brewery Champion of the Month: Pizza Rock at Green Valley Ranch
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.
Pizza Rock has been a staple at the locals Green Valley Ranch Casino since it opened in 2015 and continues to satisfy fans of pizza, beer and Italian delights.
Located just off the casino, once inside you can’t miss the full-size 1964 Peterbilt long-haul truck extending from the dining room to the patio filled with retro beer boxes, some dating to the 1950s. The pizza magic here is the handiwork of 13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani, an icon in the pizza world. His talents are evident through a menu featuring pretty much every pizza style: Napoletana, Romana, New York/New Haven, Cracker Thin/Tavern, California, Detroit, Classic Italian, Classic American, Grandma, Sicilian and Gluten-Free.
As everyone knows, pizza goes great with beer, and an extensive craft beer selection complements the world-class pizza with more than 80 brews to choose from. Ten of them are from local breweries, with the lineup during my recent visit including Able Baker Atomic Duck, Bad Beat Dreamy Life Japanese Rice Lager, Beer Zombies Duck Hunter IPA, Big Dog’s Las Vegas Lager, CraftHaus Rebel Spirit Golden Ale, Las Vegas Brewing Chantilly Vanilla Cream Ale, Lovelady Golden Nites Pilsner and 9th Island Pineapple Sour, Revision Vegas AF IPA and Tenaya Creek Valley of Fire Hefe. Bar Manager Jesse Hannah rotates the beers frequently and is a huge supporter of local beer. He said, “We get lots of locals in here, and they love supporting local. The beers sell themselves, as there are so many good ones now. Beer Zombies pioneered its own path and created its own unique style. The local beers are also well known now, and tourists ask for them too. IPAs do well here and Able Baker Atomic Duck is our best seller.”
In addition to this location, there’s one in Downtown Las Vegas at Ogden and 3rd and in Allegiant Stadium.
For more info and to view the complete menu, visit pizzarockgvr.com.
Local Brewer Spotlight: JP Chavarria
In this monthly feature, we spotlight our local head brewers. This month we learn all about Chicago Brewing Company Head Brewer JP Chavarria.
42-year-old JP Chavarria was born and raised in South Bay/San Jose. As he was pretty much raised by his grandmother, when she moved to Las Vegas in 2002 (shortly after he had turned 18) he and his father and brothers followed her. He already had an interest in craft beer, having enjoyed it socially, and it intensified when he was working as a prep cook at Triple 7 Brewpub at Main Street Station and a cellarman position opened up in the brewery under Tom Harwood. JP was hired and got his boots wet and eventually learned how to brew over the course of his 4-plus years in the position. After COVID shut the operations down in 2020, he began working with Matt Marino at Able Baker for a few years. When a head brewer position at Scenic Brewing was opening, Matt recommended JP for the job, which he would hold for about a year until the brewery closed. At that same time Chicago Brewing’s Head Brewer Erik Nielsen was leaving to move out of state and JP was again recommended for a head brewing job, this time by Erik.
JP’s craft beer aha moment came when he tried Tom Harwood’s Carlsbad IPA at Triple 7, so not surprisingly he says his favorite beer style to brew are IPAs because, “I like how much is going on, there’s hop aroma and floral, bitterness and citrus notes from the hops.” He also likes to brew Pilsners as it’s a style he’s always trying to perfect. To drink he also prefers IPAs, as well as Pilsners as they are light, easy drinking and clean.
In the coming weeks JP will be brewing Chica, a Mexican lager with flaked corn and Munich and Pilsner Malt; a Smoked Helles Lager with Weyermann Smoked Beechwood Barley; and Italian Stallion, an Italian Pilsner with a little bit of flaked corn that’s very dry hopped.
What’s Pouring
We can always count on Beer Zombies and Owner Chris Jacobs to bring us some beers with uber-creative frightening logos. This month they’ll have the Hazes of Death III, an 8% Double Hazy IPA starring a bevy of hops including Nectaron, Nectaron Quantom Brite, Mosaic Hyperboost, Comet CGX and Comet Comet Salvo; and just in time for the hot days of summer another HWhip-style Fruited Sour Ale—the 4.3% Peach Watermelon Lemonade.
CraftHaus Brewery is returning a fan favorite but with a new name and look. Formerly known as Bubbly Hedgehog, this Vanilla Coffee Cream Ale has been rebranded as Vanilla Luxe and will be available on tap and in 16-oz 4-packs beginning June 5. You can expect notes of rich vanilla, roasted coffee and a silky-smooth finish that drinks like a coffeehouse treat.
Las Vegas Brewing Company is continuing its program of creating and naming beers for the Nevada State Parks Foundation. The latest rendition is for Big Bend of the Colorado State Park (located near Laughlin at the southern tip of Nevada). Called Big Juicy Bender, it’s a 5.5% Fruited Wheat with peach and guava that’s light, tropical, fruity and refreshing which should be a good fit for summertime. It has a fun label depicting an individual riding a jet ski with a peach head. 5% of the proceeds will be donated to the Nevada State Parks Foundation. Look for it in the Laughlin area in mid-June and beyond.
Able Baker will be giving away a pair of branded coasters to the first 50 dads that come in on Father’s Day. While there, you can check out their 6.3% Duck Norris West Coast IPA (draft and 4-packs) and El Pato Loco Summer Citrus Edition Mexican Lager w/Lime Peel and Sea Salt 8% (draft only).
From June 1-Sept 30 Evolve Brewing and Aces & Ales are offering all Evolve drafts for $6. Also, happy hour is now offered all day long on Mondays with $2 off all Evolve pints, crowlers and wine; $10 specialty cocktails; 50% off all pizzas; and $2 off all appetizers. In addition, the Aces & Ales Nellis location, which has been temporarily closed for renovations, will reopen on June 3 for the Las Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup opener.
As always, great beer happens in Vegas!
- Hero image © Adobe Stock – licensed for editorial and edited by A.D. Cook
- Chicago Head Brewer JP Chavarria – pic by David Canela
- Pizza Rock Bar Manager Jesse Hannah – pic by Bob Barnes
- All other images are copyrighted © 2026 by their respective owners.
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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.
