World Beer Cup Winners
The World Beer Cup (WBC), the world’s largest and most prestigious international brewing competition often referred to as “The Olympics of Beer Competitions,” took place last month in Philadelphia. Unlike the Great American Beer Festival, open only to US breweries, the WBC is open to breweries from any country and this year a total of 255 judges assessed 8,166 entries from 1,644 breweries and cideries from 50 countries submitted in 118 style categories.
Needless to say, winning a WBC honor is quite an accomplishment, and a Southern Nevada brewery/cidery and a brewery/distillery with Southern Nevada ties brought home awards.
St. George, Utah’s Silver Reef won a gold for its Ay Dios Mio in the Chili Beer category. The brewery/distillery has a strong Southern Nevada connection, as it brews the beer for Ellis Island, which was where the brewery was located for more than 20 years before outgrowing the space and moving to a production facility just across the state line in Utah. This is the second time Silver Reef has medaled in a major competition with this beer—it recently won a silver medal at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival. Director of Brewery and Distillery Operations Mike Key commented, “We are very happy with the Gold Award for Ay Dios Mio. The combination of smokiness from the beer and the added habanero kick make it such a unique beer. Adding habanero peppers to our Mas Fuego came to Eddie (Head Brewer Eddie Leal) in a dream and that we won Gold for it. He told me about it the next day and we got excited. Dreams come true. It has become one of our most popular and asked for beers for flight tastings at the brewery.”
Mojave Brewing earned a bronze for its Barrel Aged Cider in the Experimental, Barrel-Aged or Specialty Cider category, which is the same category and cider recipe (but different cider aging process) they won a silver with at last year’s WBC. Commenting on the two-time win, Owner/Brewer John “Griff” Griffith said, “We at Mojave Brewing Company are honored to be recognized as one of the world’s best cider producers. We are also grateful for the opportunity to represent Southern Nevada breweries on the world stage.”
One other Nevada brewery earned a WBC medallion: Reno’s Parlay 6 Brewing took gold for its Coconut Mafia in the Dessert or Pastry category.
Beer Events
Pub 365 — May 8
Pub 365 at the Tuscany Suites and Casino will host a four-course beer dinner featuring Revision Brewing Company.
Courses are:
- French Onion Stuffed Mushroom with red wine caramelized onions, Jarlsberg Swiss cheese and baby portobello paired with Revision IPA
- Frito Misto with tiger prawns, baby calamari, zucchini, cauliflower, red onion, pickled Fresnos and remoulade matched with Revision Blonde
- Hot Honey Fried Chicken Lollipop & Sweet Potato Biscuit with broccoli slaw paired with Revision El Repaso Mexican Lager
- Hefeweizen Orange Cake made with Hefeweizen beer, orange zest, clove and Grand Marnier vanilla frosting matched with Revision Disco Ninja Hazy IPA.
The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and the cost is $55 per person (plus tax and tip). To purchase tickets, click here.
595 Craft and Kitchen 3 Floyds Tapping — May 16
We can always count on 595 Craft and Kitchen to treat us to special tappings, and this one is a big one.
3 Floyds Brewing out of Munster, Indiana built a cult-like following with the annual release of its coveted ultra-limited Dark Lord Imperial Stout, one of the highest rated and sought after beers since its initial release in 2004. Now you won’t even have to leave town to experience it, as 595 Owner Van-Allen Nguyen and GM Matt Alexander have procured a keg of a variant of this beer that was aged in rum, cognac and Sauterne barrels. They’ll also have a handful of other 3 Floyds beers and the tapping is taking place on the same day as the official one in Indiana. The special beers will be pouring from the opening of business and throughout the day until they’re gone.
Tonopah Jim Butler Days — May 18-26
Up north in Tonopah, the 55th annual Jim Butler Days is a major event for the city situated halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. During the Nevada State Mining Championships on May 23, Tonopah Brewing will be hosting beer tastings from 2-4 p.m. For more info and schedule of event visit jimbutlerdays.com.
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 Brewer Spotlight: Becca Halpin and Jeff Tewes
In this monthly feature, we spotlight our local head brewers. This month we learn all about Las Vegas Brewing Company Director of Brewing Operations Becca Halpin and Head Brewer Jeff Tewes.
31-year-old Becca Halpin is a native Las Vegan and a graduate of Centennial High School. She got into craft beer when she was younger and found craft beer to be more interesting than mass-produced brews. Becca’s craft beer aha moment came when she tried Joseph James Citra Rye and realized that beer can taste good. After becoming curious about how beer is made, she tried homebrewing to save money, but instead found it to be too costly and time consuming. A friend in the brewing industry, Marshall Lytle, in September 2020 told her Bad Beat was hiring. She applied for the assistant brewer position but was not hired, however, six months later was offered a job as a beertender in the taproom. Becca was told accepting the job could get her foot in the door, and it turned out to be true, as she soon branched out to split time helping out in the brewery with canning, packaging and eventually all aspects of brewing. During the year and a half Becca was there she brewed full-time and picked up tricks of the trade while working alongside some of our city’s most talented and accomplished brewers: Weston Barkley, Tom Harwood and Amanda Koeller. In 2023 she joined Amanda at Las Vegas Brewing and in 2025 moved into the Director of Brewing Operations position when Amanda headed north to Montana.
Her favorite beer styles to drink are pilsners and WCIPAs, and to brew she likes Stouts because, “They make the brewery smell real good, roasty like coffee in the morning and the black, dark brown and light brown colors of the grain look pretty when they swirl (in the brew kettle).”
50-year-old Jeff Tewes hails from Flagstaff, Arizona. He had his first aha craft beer moment when he tasted the Nut Brown Ale made by Oak Creek Brewing just down the road from Flagstaff in Sedona. When working as a bartender at Rock Bottom in Glendale (Phoenix area) he became friends with the brewer and got even more into craft beer. After working there for eight years, in 2006 he moved to Las Vegas and got a job as a bartender at the original Tenaya Creek Brewing location on Tenaya just south of Cheyenne (where LV Brewing is now). Jeff would work for Tenaya for 19 years, first at the Tenaya Rd location and later at the Bonanza Rd larger brewhouse, which later became Beer Zombies. He moved up to warehouse manager and eventually learned to brew under (then Director of Brewing Operations) Anthony Gibson. Jeff moved into the Head Brewer job in 2023 and took over running the brewery after Anthony left in 2025. Just recently he returned to the location where his brewing career began, to accept the Head Brewer position at Las Vegas Brewing.
Jeff’s favorite beers to drink and brew are: “big beers with high ABV, ones you can catch a little buzz from, Belgian styles like Tripel, barrel aged, and I also gravitate towards Porters, Stouts and Browns; and I really enjoy the hazies (IPAs) that have been coming out, because they’re not as bitter and I like the tropical hops and creamy mouthfeel.”
Beers Becca and Jeff plan to brew in the coming weeks and months include a Japanese Rice Lager, Belgian White with orange peel and coriander, Black IPA, and branching out this fall with a higher strength 8% version of the brewery’s flagship Chantilly Vanilla Cream Ale (normally 5%).
Local Brewery Champion of the Month: Beer Park
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.
Beer Park at Paris Hotel & Casino not only has one of the best views on the Vegas Strip, but one of the largest craft beer selections with more than 40 taps and 40+ in bottles and cans. The beer line-up includes 10 Nevada-brewed beers: Able Baker Atomic Duck, CraftHaus Evocation Saison and Rebel Spirit Golden Ale, Lead Dog Peanut Butter Stout, Lovelady 9th Island Pineapple Sour and Love Juice IPA, Neon Desert Beer Park Hefe, North 5th/Juxta Nomad Beer Park Blonde and Revision Blonde and Disco Ninja Hazy IPA. The local beers are easy to spot on the beer menu, as they all have a Nevada shaped logo next to their names. A good way to try a handful of the beers is to order a beer flight of four 6 oz pours. Beer Park is also serious enough about the beer to have a Level 1 Cicerone behind the bar, Adam Lopez. General Manager JP Panis talked about why they support local beer, saying, “Customers see our list on Untappd and ask for the local beers and they love them. I’m also a UNLV alumnus and want to give back, so we have the CraftHaus Rebel Spirit (the Official Beer of UNLV), which is trending and filling a niche. Our bartenders are passionate about supporting local and the beers are so good that they are contenders on the market.”
Beer Park is well named, as it’s quite parklike, with artificial turf, outdoor games and for the most part is situated outdoors. The best seats are on the ledge overlooking the Vegas Strip and the Bellagio Fountains across the street. While there, check out the food menu with the likes of Fried Pickles, Cheesesteak Sandwich with Australian wagyu on a hoagie roll baked locally by 1228 Main and Brisket Sliders containing beef smoked on Beer Park’s smoker.
Able Baker Bomb Shelter Sets Opening Date
Able Baker’s new taproom in Centennial in northwest Las Vegas has passed its main health inspection and is set to open this month. Dubbed the Bomb Shelter and situated at 6371 Centennial Center Blvd is in the space formerly occupied by Montana Meat Co., the soft opening date is slated for May 16, followed by a grand opening on May 22 (details of which are tbd).
The Bomb Shelter will be Able Baker Brewing’s first satellite location, and will feature 24 taps pouring Able Baker beers, a full bar, 17 TVs and a full kitchen focused on handcrafted pizza. The name is in keeping with Able Baker’s theme and backstory as the brewery is named for the first two atomic tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s: “Able” and “Baker.”
For updates, head over to ablebakerbrewing.com/bombshelter and instagram.com/ablebakerbombshelter.
Great Vegas Festival of Beer Sold
For the past 15 years, Motley Brews has been hosting beerfests in Southern Nevada. What began as a fairly small gathering of beer fans grew to be the largest beer festival in Southern Nevada and the largest in the entire state (in terms of amount of beers offered).
Now Motley Brews Las Vegas Founder Brian Chapin has announced the sale of the portfolio to Brothers Molloy Events, which produces successful beer, wine, and culinary festivals across the country and for the past couple years has already been running things alongside Brian and his team. As part of this transition, the Downtown Beer Festival (which had been held in the fall) will be merged into the Great Vegas Festival of Beer to create one flagship event.
Brian Chapin is stepping back from festival operations to focus on his other company, Production Theory. Best wishes to Brian and a big thank you goes out to him for showing Southern Nevada what a well-organized high quality beer festival looks like. Best wishes to Brian and to Lucas Molloy, Founder/Owner of Brothers Molloy Events. To read Brian’s farewell statement, visit greatvegasbeer.com/notice-of-sale.
ameriCAN Now Open
ameriCAN was a popular craft beer bar within the Linq Promenade which closed last fall, but now it’s been resurrected at Treasure Island. Located off the casino, and only open for about four weeks, it’s worth a visit just to pose sitting at an exact replica of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. As the name implies, all things American are celebrated, and the space is decked out with wallpaper depicting US presidents, a podium with the Presidential Seal, replica of the Lincoln Memorial chair and a replica of a flag from 1864 (the year Nevada became a state). As for the beer, the list is expanding to eventually represent all 50 states, but for now includes beers from about 20 states including Abita Purple Haze (Louisiana), Alaskan Amber (Alaska), Big Dog’s Las Vegas Craft Lager (Nevada), Maui Coconut Hiwa Porter (Hawaii), College Street V. Beauregarde Blueberry Berliner Weisse Sour (Arizona), Deschutes Fresh squeezed IPA (Oregon), Elysian Space Dust IPA (Washington), Pizza Port Chronic Amber Ale (California) and Victory Golden Monkey Belgian-style Tripel (Pennsylvania).
For entertainment, there are dart boards, a pool table featuring a custom “In Beer We Trust” presidential seal, beer pong, karaoke and live entertainment nightly by local artists.
Prices are especially good for the Vegas Strip, with pours ranging from $8-$10, and Treasure Island remains one of the few places left on the Strip offering free self-parking. Hours are Sun-Thu 2 p.m.-midnight and Fri-Sat 2 p.m.-1 a.m. To view the complete menu, visit americanbeerbar.com.
What’s Pouring
CraftHaus Brewery will be tapping Mañana, a 5.8% Mexican Lager and from May 1-5 will be pouring “Fiesta Flights” at both of its taprooms. The flights include Mañana Mexican Lager, Michelada Tradicional-red michelada, Michelada Verde-green michelada with roasted Hatch chilis and tomatillo and Mangonada with mango nectar and chamoy with a tajin rim and tamarind candy straw.
Tonopah Brewing recently released its Kolsch and Amber Export lagers, as well as Patio Annihilation, a summer citrus lager brewed with orange and lime peel. Later this month they’ll also have Dry Creek Honey Amber Ale and a true-to-style Hefeweizen.
Las Vegas Brewing launched its latest Set List Sour “Flying in a Blue Dream,” a Blue Dream terpene sour (with hops that mimic the popular Blue Dream cannabis strain without THC or CBD) presenting dank aromas with a sweet blueberry and tart raspberry flavors. Cans have been stocked in all of the Lee’s Liquor locations, as well as in both of their taprooms.
It’s Zombie hWhiP season at Beer Zombies, and with the temps rising, it’s a perfect time to partake in these fruited sour refreshers. This month they’ll have Orange Dole Whip Lemonade and Banana White Chocolate Pina Colada. And to keep the hopheads happy, there’s also Let Zombies Lie, an 8.3% Double Dry Hopped West Coast IPA hopped with Trident, Eureka Salvo, Idaho 7CGX, Vista CGX and Citra Abstrax. A cool tidbit is Beer Zombies’ Sticke Altbeir—The Secret Of Collabs is now the 3rd highest ranked Sticke in the WORLD on Untappd.
As always, great beer happens in Vegas!
- Hero image © Adobe Stock – licensed for editorial and edited by A.D. Cook
- Mojave Brewing Head Brewer Andy Kohon and Owner Griff Griffith – pic courtesy of Andy Kohon
- Las Vegas Brewing Company Head Brewer Jeff Tewes and Director of Brewing Operations Becca Halpin – pic by Chris-Summers
- Beer Park tap handles pic by David Canela
- Beer Park GM JP Panis and Bob Barnes pic by David Canela
- ameriCAN resolute desk replica pic by David Canela
- ameriCAN GM Jeremy Yoza at resolute desk replica pic by David Canela
- ameriCAN bar pic by David Canela
- All other images and graphics are © of 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.
