April 21, 2012 marked the second annual Great Las Vegas Festival of Beer, held once again at Tivoli Village.  Last year’s festival was a bit underwhelming.  There was little room, and a strong lack of organization.  I’m pleased to say that this year, they seemed to alleviate both of those issues.  The space given to the event was three times larger, and the overall professionalism of the event was greatly improved. While I could do without loud bands playing throughout the event, I’m sure that many people enjoy the live music atmosphere.  Now…on to the beer!

My wife and I decided to be fancy and go with the VIP tickets this year.  This allowed us to enter an hour early, and to enter a “Brewer’s Lounge” with food and special beers.  The special beers were simply bottled Ommegang beers, which are available at most liquor stores, and Tailwagger Wheat, and Rebel Red from local Big Dog’s Brewery.  While these are all solid beers, there is nothing really special about them.  With that being said, the VIP tickets were worth the extra $10 for the early entry.  By the time Tivoli Village started filling up, we had already made one lap around the area.

I was very happy to find some nice surprises amongst the beer selections this year.  Noble Ale Works was in attendance, sampling their IPA, Pale Ale, and phenomenal Alpha Red.  Hopefully we will see these on Las Vegas shelves sooner than later!   (UPDATE: Khourey’s Fine Wine is currently carrying Noble Ale Works) Dogfish Head were pouring both their refreshing Aprihop, as well as their coveted 120 Minute IPA in the “Hop Tent.”   Stevens Point and Three Monkeys, both new to the Vegas market, were also in attendance.  I quite enjoyed the Brown Barrel Ale from the latter, and their Tres Vasqueros Amber Ale is about as fine of an amber ale as you will find!  I was only able to try the Cascade Pale Ale by Stevens Point, but it was a nice, if unspectacular pale ale.  Other breweries in attendance, included Wasatch, Squatters, Crispin Ciders, Unibroue, Green Flash, New Belgium, Left Coast, Uinta, Firestone Walker and Ballast Point.

Not to be outdone, Las Vegas’ locals had a fantastic showing of their own!  On hand were breweries, Tenaya Creek, Joseph James, Big Dog’s, and local craft beer bar Aces and Ales.  Aces and Ales were pouring two fantastic Rogue selections in XS Imperial IPA and Brutal IPA.  Tenaya Creek had a fine selection of their own local brews, including Calico Brown and their Hop Ride IPA, which made it to the Elite 8 in the National IPA Championships!  Thankfully, if you missed out on either of these brews, you can always visit the brewery year round!    Big Dog’s really managed to surprise me with their Alpha Dog double red imperial ale.  Big Dog’s has always been hit or miss for me, but this hoppy concoction won me over at first sip!  Last, but not least, is Joseph James.  Joseph James had their stellar Hop Box and Tahoe Blue on hand, but what really blew me away was their “experimental” crafts.  The first beer they unveiled was a Cherry Pie Blonde Ale.  In my opinion, this was a splendidly refreshing beer with nice subtle notes of cherries.  The second new brew that they unleashed, was appropriatley  titled Baby J’s German Chocolate Cake Stout.  All in all, this may have ended up being my favorite beer of the event!  Just as the name implies, this was German chocolate cake in a glass!  Big, chocolate and coffee stout flavors, with a perfectly balanced coconut flavor throughout.   I really hope this one ends up in a bottle someday soon!

Overall, I would highly recommend that any lover of craft beer does not miss this event next year!  Las Vegas craft beer needs your support, and the prices ($27 for regular, $37 for VIP) are very reasonable when you consider the amount of beer you will be experiencing!

Last week, the Whole Foods at Town Square held a beer pairing dinner with Sierra Nevada and Bit & Spur Restaurant in Springdale, Utah. The food and the beer was amazing, so I’m just going to cut to the chase and show you some pictures.

Gazpacho soup with roasted green chiles, tomato, cucumber, and garnished with a hard boiled egg and croutons.
Paired with Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
Kellerweis is a wheat beer, and a perfect companion to lightly spicy, flavorful soup. The soft textured, sweet beer cleanses the palate between each bite.

Smoked baby back riblets with red chile ketchup BBQ sauce with & citrus ginger cole slaw with fennel, apples, and pomegranate seed, ginger yogurt, lime dressing.
Paired with Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
If you read my Ruthless Chicken article, you know that I love rye beers with barbecue. These ribs were no exception. The sweet smokey taste compliments the harsh, rustic IPA.

Picadillo empanada garnished with queso fresco & pico de gallo
Paired with Ovila Quad
Quad is probably the first Ovila beer that I’ve really liked. The malty sweetness was a good choice for the ground beef inside this empanada.

Warm brownie with espresso creme anglaise & raspberry coulis
Paired with Sierra Nevada Porter
You can never go wrong having a porter with desert.

As a bonus, we also got a taster of Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. Holy hell is that a bitter beer! Probably one of the most bitter beers I’ve had in a while. A must try for the hop heads!

The above photos were either taken by me or by Whole Foods. See the rest of Whole Foods’ photos here.

The Great Vegas Festival of Beer is back again this year at Tivoli Village on April 21st!

This was one of the better Las Vegas beer fests I attended last year. A lot of great beers from some great breweries.

The things I didn’t like about last year was the length of time it took to get into the festival, and how small and crowded the festival area was. It looks like Motley Brews learned from last year by adding an express lane for online ticket holders and three times more space than last year! Also exciting are some of the breweries that will be present this year that are new to the festival: Brewery Ommegang, Ballast Point, Uinta, and Green Flash, to name a few. Expect to see the local breweries on hand as well: Tenaya Creek, Joseph James, Chicago Brewing Company, and Big Dog’s Brewing Company.

More details, and pictures, can be found at Motley Brew’s website.

In keeping with the recent Joseph James articles, here’s another review.

When Joseph James had their brand relaunch at Khoury’s earlier this month, I was able to snag a bottle of their Roasted Coconut Pumpkin Porter. This is part of their “Rough Draft” series. These beers are in progress and are not available for sale.

This beer had an incredible smell. Neither the coconut or pumpkin overwhelmed the other. This was also evident in the taste as well. The two main ingredients went together incredibly well. This was more of a brown porter style, so the sweetness in the malts also brought out the sweetness in the pumpkin flavors.

The aspects that were lacking in this beer were body and carbonation. It was a bit thin and flat for a porter. It is important to remember that this is a rough draft beer, and as such is a work in progress. These are very easy issues to fix and the fact that these are the only issues in an in-progress beer is nothing to hold against it.

I really hope they make this beer again and release it as a seasonal. This would be a great fall/winter beer to drink by the fire. Or even better, as an ice cream float!

Joseph James Brewing Company has always made decent beer. However, I generally thought that their beers were missing something.
Recently, Joseph James altered their recipes and completely blew my expectations out of the water!
Hop Box went from being an average, bitter IPA to a “go out of your way for” beer! The hoppiness hits you right away and lingers on well after your last sip! Pair this beer with a cheese plate from Whole Foods Market, and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!

Local Las Vegas brewery, Joseph James, has not only a gluten-free beer, but the first gluten free beer to be canned!

Also notable, this is one of the few gluten free beers that doesn’t use sorghum, the typical barley replacement. Instead, Joseph James says it uses “organic rices and nectars.” The taste of this pale ale is very light, dry, and crisp. This light flavor profile, along with the low alcohol content, hides the fact that there is no barley in this beer. The American hops give Fox Tail a light grapefruit citrus taste.

The beer paired well with the sausage, mushroom, onion pizza I was eating. The lightness in the beer allowed the vegetables on the pizza to still be present with each bite. This is an ideal beer for any sort of meal involving primarily vegetables with little seasoning.

Since Joseph James is a local brewery, you can find their beers at  nearly every beer retailer in town.

The above image greets you when you visit Public House’s website. There are billboards in town with a business suit dressed chimpanzee holding an American flag. While the concept of a gastropub is traditionally English, Public House is quintessentially American.

The interior resembles a library. Dark wood covers the floors with bookshelves holding various old books, ornaments and antiques. The decorations typically have an American theme. Pen drawings of American Flags or founding fathers are displayed.

Where to start? Public House is home to the only Certified Cicerone in the state of Nevada, and as such, has an impressive beer list. There are roughly 200 beers to choose from, primarily in bottles, ranging from German lagers to Belgian abbey ales, and from French farmhouse ales to American IPAs and even a few sours and barrel aged beers. They also regularly keep a beer available on cask. During my visit the cask beer was Deschutes Black Butte Porter.  The cask version gave this beer a very soft and smooth texture. It retained it’s dark chocolatey taste while feeling very light texture-wise. I also tasted Stillwater’s Existent, a dark farmhouse ale. A lot of plum aromas paired with grape flavors. Despite the dark, fruity flavors, the beer was still refreshingly light.

Both beers paired perfectly with the hearty, rich food that Public House has to offer. Appetizer was the Welsh Rarebit. “Cheddar-Beer Sauce on Toast” as the menu described. The cheese sauce tasted like it was comprised of a dark malty beer with a little mustard, possibly even Worcestershire sauce? The bread was perfectly crusty to contrast the creamy cheese sauce on top.

I opted to try the Pub Burger for the main course. Maybe it was the bacon marmalade, the Guinness aioli, or the gruyére cheese,  but this was one of the best burgers I’ve had in Las Vegas. The grass-fed beef was juicy and the toppings complimented it with rich cheese and sweet bacon. Despite the flavorful ingredients, the burger was perfectly balanced with no one aspect dominating the others. This is a difficult burger to eat in one sitting, but it’s even more difficult to stop eating it!

 Other items on the menu include fried quail served with waffles, roasted bone marrow served with bacon, and various steaks, and shellfish. There is also grilled octopus, duck confit, and a foie gras parfait.

Public House is located in the Venetian resort on the strip. They use the best quality ingredients and have a renowned chef. As such, the prices reflect this. The quality of food definitely matches the price and this restaurant is worth every penny. That said, the beer prices are also higher than most places in Las Vegas. Bottles start at $7 for 12oz and drafts start at $8. You are likely to end up paying about $10 a beer if you want to drink the less common stuff. Yes, the beers are priced high, but you are likely not going to find most of these beers anywhere else in town. Even still, this place is completely worth it for the food alone.

UPDATE: Joseph James commented on Twitter regarding how to find the new recipes:

Red Fox 4-packs, Lager cans, Gluten Free (Fox Tail) cans, and Weize Guy bottles that do not have the word ‘light,’ are new. As for Tahoe and Hop Box, look for Tahoe 22oz and Hop Box 4-pack bottles. In about a month all beer in the market should be the new recipes regardless of package. These recipes have been evolving over a year so there are newer versions on the shelf.

This past Wednesday, Joseph James re-launched their brand at Khoury’s Fine Wine.

Earlier this year, the brewery hired Alex Graham as the new head brewer. They then began the process of seeking honest feedback about their beers and rewriting all the recipes to match what they wanted to represent their brand. From what I understand, every recipe of theirs was changed. Some beers were completely rewritten from scratch, others were slightly modified.

At Khoury’s, the brewery staff was on hand giving free samples of all of their beers. I didn’t try all of them, but here’s a recap of what I did try:

Tahoe Blue Pale Ale: I had never tried this beer before, so I can’t compare it to the old recipe. I can say though that this is a very solid pale ale. Very crisp, bright and refreshing. On the hoppier side for a pale ale, so it’s got a nice bitterness up front before the dry, citrusy finish.

Hop Box Imperial IPA: Previously, I always had mixed results with this beer. I’ve always thought it was a decent beer, but it was never bitter enough, or had enough hop aroma. The new recipe takes care of all of that. Very strong upfront bitterness with a wave of grapefruit aroma. Less sweet malts are used to keep the focus on the hops. Overall, this is a great IPA.

Red Fox Imperial Stout: The old version was a good stout, but had a bit of thin mouthfeel. This new version feels like a stout should. It has a dark roasted espresso taste and it’s also a bit smokier too, with an almost ashy, vanilla finish.

Joseph James is also experimenting with new beers as well. The first 48 customers at Khoury’s had received one of Joseph James’ “rough draft” beers. I was able to snag a bottle of Toasted Coconut Pumpkin Porter. The other rough draft beer available was S’mores Porter.

I picked up all of their beers so I’ll get to try the rest that I didn’t try that night and write about them here.

Thank you to everyone who came by Tenaya Creek this past Tuesday for the stout and cake event. We all had a blast drinking awesome beer and eating Goran’s amazing cake! Hopefully in the future we can plan more of these types of events!

Thanks to Justin Massongill for the photos