Beer Events
Beer Zombies — March 7, 13, 21, 27 and 28
Beer Zombies has several special happenings during the month of March.
On March 7 the brewery will host the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (Southern California Chapter) meeting and technical presentations from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and later that same day, they’ll be rolling right into a car show with the Zombie Car Club; March 13 will be their well-known Friday the 13th party with collab beer releases, food, music and entertainment; March 21 they’ve got a wrestling event at the brewery featuring WGW out of Las Vegas; March 27 will be the launch of MLB season with the official Dodgers Watch Party alongside the Sin City Dodgers; and on March 28 at 10 a.m. the Detox to Retox yoga event will take place inside the brewery.
Mission Control — March 14
Mission Control, the craft beer and cocktail bar at Tenaya and Craig, will host a Beer Zombies tap takeover beginning at 3 p.m. with giveaways throughout the day.
Beer Zombies Owner Chris Jacobs and Brewer Weston Barkley will be present and there will be a special surprise brewery exclusive (not available elsewhere) chosen by Chris tapped at 6 p.m.
Brew’s Best Craft Beer Festival — March 21
The 17th annual Brew’s Best Craft Beer Festival, in partnership with Nevada Beverage Company, will again be held at The Lawn at Downtown Summerlinfrom 2-6 p.m. Attendees can expect unlimited sampling of more than 80 beers from local and breweries from across the US. During the event there will also be TV screens throughout streaming live March Madness basketball games.
General admission tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door and VIP tickets (with early admission at 1 p.m. and access to exclusive additional liquid libations) are $60 in advance and $70 at the door. Proceeds will directly benefit New Vista, Nevada’s leading non-profit supporting individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities providing services, training and housing to people living with IDD in Southern Nevada. To purchase tickets, click here.
Great Vegas Festival of Beer — March 28
The Great Vegas Festival of Beer is celebrating its 14th installment as it returns to its earlier roots, moving to its former home, the downtown 200,000 square feet block at 6th and Carson with entrance at 601 E Fremont Street.
General admission runs from 3-7 p.m. and early entry and VIP ticket holders get in at 2. Your ticket will get you unlimited sampling of 300 craft brews from more than 60 breweries including several of our local breweries and numerous regional breweries; cider and other liquid treats; karaoke; silent disco; and food for purchase from several of the city’s most popular food trucks.
In addition to early entry, VIP includes admittance to the Get Motley VIP Lounge inside of the Fremont Country Club. The Lounge will offer a large hangout with private bathrooms, rare beers and food from chefs Lili Barajas (Tacotarian), Stephen Hopcraft (STK), Alex Reznik (Hayworth and SMKD BBQ), Heather Karban (Sin City Wise Guys) and John Smollen (Crab Corner Maryland Seafood House).
Prices go up as the date draws nearer, so don’t delay in heading over to greatvegasbeer.com for more info and to purchase tickets.
Boulder City Beerfest — March 28
If you’re looking for a smaller mid-sized fest, you can head out to the 12th annual Boulder City Beerfest, held at Wilbur Square Park from 1-6 p.m. in the heart of the historic city. The only beerfest currently held in Boulder City, there will be 30 brewery tents, live music, food for purchase from 10 food trucks and 20 beer-centric specialty vendors.
The event is open to the public to visit the vendor tents and food trucks, but you’ll need the official wristband and glass to enjoy unlimited sampling of the beers. VIP tickets are $60 in advance for early entry at 1 p.m., and general admission is $45 in advance for entry at 2 p.m. For more info and to purchase tickets, click here.
Lee’s Beer & Tequila Experience — May 2
Lee’s 18th annual Beer & Tequila Experience will be held at Lee’s Family Forum from 4-8 p.m.
The event will offer unlimited sampling of 500+ beers, tequilas and spirits from top brands and an opportunity to connect with brand experts. During the event all of the Forum’s concession stands will be open offering food for purchase. Tickets are $49.54 (includes fee) with a 15% discount for two tickets purchased. 100% of net proceeds benefit Lee’s Helping Hand, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting local children’s charities, families and communities. To purchase tickets, click here.
Local Brewery Champion of the Month: Rustic House
In this recurring feature we spotlight establishments that appreciate our local breweries enough to devote the majority of their beer selection to beer made in Nevada.
Rustic House describes itself as a non-smoking, family-friendly gaming bar and restaurant with epic projectors and TVs both inside and outdoors, that’s not so much a bar with poker machines as a restaurant with poker machines. There are three locations: Boca Park (8820 W Charleston, suite 105), Summerlin South (9775 W Sunset Rd, suite 106) and Silverado Ranch (9821 S Eastern Ave, unit B).
During my recent visit to the Silverado Ranch location, I found 10 local beers pouring: Able Baker Atomic Duck IPA; Bad Beat Bluffing Isn’t Weisse; Big Dog’s Dirty Dog IPA, Las Vegas Lager and Red Hydrant Ale; CraftHaus BrickHaus Amber Ale and Evocation Saison; Lovelady 9th Island Pineapple Sour; and Tenaya Creek Trailhead Canyon Pilsner.
Mariah Ward, General Manager of the Silverado Ranch location, explaining why they carry so many local beers said, “Our biggest slogan is ‘We love locals!’ For us that means providing our clientele with the very best food and beverage specials, guest loyalty program, and quality of product. We see our guests really gravitate to our local beer selection. Our citrusy, hop forward Able Baker Atomic Duck IPA, and our crisp, refreshing Tenaya Creek Pilsner are our top sellers, and personal favorites!
We feel our local beers complement everything else we do in regard to making guests feel like a cherished, Las Vegas local.”
The food and beverage specials Mariah refers to include specials for every day of the week: nightly happy hour with 50% off all drinks from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., daily happy hour from 4-6 p.m. and midnight to 6 a.m. with all local beers for $5 and 50% off several appetizers, Monday & Thursday $30 Steak and 9 oz King Crab, Wednesday & Saturday $25 Steak & Lobster, Thursday 50% off select wine bottles, Friday St. Louis Style Ribs $18 for half rack or $28 for full rack and Sundays 50% all steaks. For more info and to view the complete menu, visit rustichouselv.com.
Local Brewer Spotlight: Tom Harwood
In this monthly feature, we spotlight one of our local head brewers. This month we learn all about Tom Harwood, Brewmaster at Triple 7 Brewpub.
Tom Harwood was born and raised in Hemet, California, a city near Riverside about an hour and a half from San Diego. Friends got him to try craft beers, with his first taste of Sam Adams Boston Lager giving him an aha moment as he realized beer could be flavorful. After trying Deschutes Inversion IPA he learned to like bigger, bolder beers. In the late 2000s he was considering trying homebrewing and got a Mr. Beer kit for a Christmas gift. He admits his first attempts were not good, but it made him curious about how to make it better and he went to a homebrew supply shop and got a real beer making kit, which led to him thinking about brewing professionally.
You might say love brought Tom to Las Vegas, as he moved here in 2007 to be with his girlfriend Dustin, who is now his wife of 16 years. A bit later, in 2013, he found out about a brewery assistant opening at Big Dog’s, applied and got the job doing grunt work like cleaning and sanitizing kegs and brew tanks. Over the next few years, Dave Otto, Big Dog’s Head of Brewing Operations at that time, taught him how to brew on their system and he became more involved in the brewing operations. In 2015 an opportunity arose when Triple 7’s Brewmaster left and Tom got his first Head Brewer job. After COVID led to the brewpub closing in 2020, he went to work as Head Brewer at Hop Nuts, and returned to Triple 7 when it reopened in 2021. He moved on from Triple 7 for a second time to brew at Bad Beat and then Nevada Brew Works, and last summer returned to Triple 7 for a third time.
Tom’s favorite beers to drink are SoCal IPAs like those made by Pizza Port and Stone that are less malty, crispy and drier than West Coast IPAs. Like most brewers, he also likes Pilsner and Kolsch because after a hard day’s work they are easy drinking and crushable. To brew, Tom likes the same styles and also seasonals and one offs and Triple 7’s year-round beers “because it’s satisfying to consistently make the same quality.”
In the coming weeks Tom will have some seasonals worth checking out: a New Zealand Pilsner with all pilsner malt and New Zealand Wakatu and Wai-iti hops, which impart tropical and earthy notes. He’ll also likely be brewing a Bavarian-style Hefeweizen with mango fruit flavor.
What’s Pouring
CraftHaus Brewery has its fan favorite 6.4% Sugoi! Green Melon Mochi Milkshake IPA pouring at both its Henderson Booze District brewery location and Las Vegas Arts District taproom. It’s made with puffed rice and pure green melon puree and hopped with Mosaic, Hull Melon and Motueka that will make you want to exclaim “Sugoi!” at your first sip.
Beer Zombies has several releases this month including its annual Star Wars-themed beers:
- Zombie Wars—a brand new Triple Hazy IPA
- Zombie hWhip: Zombie Milk—blue raspberry + ice cream sour
- Then He’s Still Here—16% Imperial Pastry Stout collab with Windmills Craft Works (Friday the 13th release)
- Zombie hWhip: Orange Doll Whip Lemonade—sour release
- Apocalypse Road Trip—DDH Double Hazy IPA collab with El Segundo Brewing Company
- The Strangers—Hazy IPA collab with HAAS + Lallemand, featuring all HAAS hops and Lallemand’s modern hybrid IPA yeast
Able Baker is pouring the 12.4% Double Barrel Honey Dip Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (draft and 375 ml bottles) and 7% DUCK YOU…and the HAZE you rode in on No Coast IPA (draft and 4-packs).
As always, Great Beer Happens in Vegas!
- Hero image © Adobe Stock – licensed for editorial and edited by A.D. Cook
- Rustic House CraftHaus Saison pic by Bill Bokelmann
- Rustic House tap handles pic by Bill Bokelmann
- Great Vegas Festival of Beer credit Fred Morledge
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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; and continues to contribute to Gayot, writing the Gayot Las Vegas Restaurant News and beer and spirit reviews.
