While in Colorado, we had the pleasure of taking a trip up to Fort Collins to visit the New Belgium Brewery. If you ever visit Colorado, you have to make it up to New Belgium! Being the third largest craft brewery in the country, the brewery has more of a museum look to it, with bits of history spread throughout; like the original brew house that Jeff Lebesch started with! (more…)

We are very excited to have another craft brewery joining the Las Vegas community! Below is a press release for CraftHaus Brewery, and their impending Kickstarter launch. Be sure to catch them pouring their beers at Big Dog’s Peace Love, and Hoppy-ness on April 13th, and the Great Vegas Festival
Of Beer on April 27th! (more…)

I went to high school in a small town named Poulsbo. Over the past 9 years since I’ve left the state, there seems to have been a dozen small breweries that have opened up. I was able to visit a few of them and taste some of their unique beers.
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It’s amusing to me how we often times covet the beers that we don’t get in our state. Case in point, I am currently on vacation in my home state of Washington, we walked into an Albertson’s and see cans of 21st Amendment and Oskar Blues sitting on the shelf. Typically, we jump at the opportunity to drink these beers, since they are not available in Vegas. But here, in the little town of Silverdale, they sit in the beer fridge along with countless great Pacific Northwest beers. Being an advocate for our local breweries in Las Vegas, it seemed only right to buy some local Washington beers, as opposed to the familiar names. I’ll likely be posting several other posts this week about non-Nevada beers and breweries. While Nevada local beers are a huge focus for us, many of our readers are from other states and have different beers distributed than what we get in Nevada. So whether you make it up to Washington, or are within the distribution of the breweries, here are some tasting notes of a few beers we had our first night in Washington.

Elysian The Immortal IPA
I’ve not had very many Elysian beers, so this was a new one to me. Solid IPA. Floral aroma, piney, resinous buttering hops, with a sweet, juicy malt finish. Like biting into a piney orange. The bottle conditioning gave the beer a soft carbonation and a refreshing finish.

Iron Horse Quilter’s Irish Death
Everytime I make it back to Washington, I make it a point to have Irish Death. This is one of the best stout/porter/American Strong Ale/whatever hybrid style beer this is. Dark as a stout, sweet as a porter, and boasting nearly 8% alcohol, this is the perfect balance of flavors. So incredibly drinkable, with a dry finish.

Silver City Ridgetop Red
A great example of a red ale that isn’t too sweet, with a good mix of earthy, piney hops to balance out the maltiness. A very drinkable session ale.

Just released from the Brewers Association. Full press release here.

While Lauren Salazar was in Las Vegas for several of the New Belgium events in town, I was given a chance to sit down with her and discuss New Belgium’s creative process and some of their upcoming projects.

La Folie has become one of my favorite beers and being able to sit down and talk with the blender who makes La Folie was awesome. I’m really looking forward to all of the new beers that we discussed, as well as New Belgium’s expansion.

Hooked on Hops: You’re known for being the wood cellar manager at New Belgium and blending sour beers, like La Folie. What are some non-sour beers that you enjoy drinking?

Lauren Salazar: I’m a crazy stout fan! Anything dark, malty, huge; that’s my thing. Old Rasputin, Big Bad Baptist, I love anything huge and big. (more…)

The wait is finally over!

Two weeks from now, there are a few awesome New Belgium events coming to Las Vegas, courtesy of our local Beer Ranger, Karl Herrera. New Belgium’s Sensory Specialist/Blender/Organoleptic Educator, Lauren Salazar will be in town bringing some special beers to all of these events.
(All tap lists below subject to change)

First, a tap takeover at Khoury’s on Wednesday, March 13th at 6pm, featuring the following beers on draft: (more…)

A year ago when it was first announced that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada were partnering up with Spiegelau to create glassware specifically made for the IPA, the excitement was huge. And now that it’s finally available, everyone is calling it marketing gimmickry. (more…)

Epic makes some absolutely fantastic beers, and this is extremely great news! Be sure to check out as many of the above events as possible.