The new Aces & Ales location lives up to, and even exceeds, the expectations it set with its original location. This new location is incredible!

Granted, it’s hard to argue with 50 craft beers available on tap, or a soon to open dog-friendly patio! There will even be a private lounge for special events, and they will feature the same made from scratch, fresh food menu that Aces has been known for. While there are still a few odds and ends to tie up, this bar still stands as one of the best Las Vegas craft beer bars, despite only being open for just over 48 hours!

Be sure to check this place out, and if you happen to see Ryan or Kerri in there, congratulate them on a job well done!

Address: 2801 North Tenaya Way, Las Vegas Nevada 89128

Tomorrow marks a great occasion for local lovers of all things craft beer. Aces & Ales will be opening their west side location for business! It is no secret that we ruffians here at Hooked on Hops are huge fans of Aces & Ales. So, without further ado, here is why we’re stoked about the new location: (more…)

If you haven’t heard, Aces & Ales will be opening a second location on the west side of town. One thing that they are considering, to make it stand out from the original location, and most bars in Las Vegas, is to not serve any macro beers. They wouldn’t be the first bar to do this, Tenaya Creek comes to mind as bar that only serves craft beer, but I doubt there’s any others, outside of local breweries.

Looking through comments online, some people feel that this is outright beer snobbery at its finest, or that this is a poor business decision. Some things that I think about with this: (more…)

Taco Tuesday is one of Hooked on Hops’ favorite days of the week; tacos being a favorite dish amongst all of us. And of course we prefer to enjoy a craft beer with our tacos. So what better way to celebrate Taco Tuesday, then with a craft beer cocktail, appropriately named, ‘Taco Tuesday?’ The base beer for this drink is The Bruery’s Black Tuesday. An imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels, with a 19% alcohol content, that the brewery only releases once a year. This is not an easy beer to get your hands on, and it is surely worth the effort if you can get it!

As for the rest of the ingredients for the ‘Taco Tuesday,’ well… just take a look at this video for the details: (more…)

This past week, May 13th-19th, marked American Craft Beer Week. American Craft Beer Week is basically a week to celebrate the small and independent breweries and the fine work that they do.

For the first time that I can remember, local brewery Tenaya Creek went all out to ensure that craft beer fans got a chance to whet their palates with some rare offerings. Each day, Tenaya Creek released a new beer (sometimes more), and all are worth talking about. (more…)

Crafthaus currently has $13,540 pledged of their goal of $20,000, or about 68% to goal. There is only 9 days left to raise another $6,460.

We are fans of all the great local businesses here in Las Vegas, especially those that promote craft beer, whether they be bars or retailers. In the case of breweries, we get exceptionally excited.

I’ve agreed to host an “All About Beer” class at the brewery once they open. For a donation of only $30, I’ll take you on a tour of Crafthaus’ brewery and discuss how beer is brewed. We’ll sample the beers and discuss sensory evaluation and food pairing.

Of course, there are plenty of other awesome gifts for other donation amounts, like entry into the Propagation Program.

For more information, read my interview with founders Dave and Wyndee Forrest here, and visit their Kickstarter campaign here.

I wrote an article for Serious Eats on using a French press to infuse flavors into a beer, similar to a Dogfish Head Randall. I’ve never used the Randall Jr, but I’ll go ahead and assume that a French press works just as well, if not better.

Read it here.

As much fun as it is to see new Las Vegas breweries on the horizon, it is equally great to see new names pop up in familiar breweries. Roughly a week ago, Tenaya Creek unleashed their new Easy Rider Pale Ale, the first release from assistant brewer Marcos.

What this pale ale does really well, is blend the crispness of a west coast pale ale with a solid, but drinkable body. You are met right away with a big, citrusy aroma, followed by slight malt sweetness, and finished off with a piny, grapefruit bitterness that is surprisingly refreshing. This is the kind of beer that you want to sit on your porch and sip on a mild spring day, and at a respectable 5.8% ABV, you certainly can!

Personally, I’m quite looking forward to what Marcos dreams up next!

Once again, Aces & Ales is holding their annual Stone Domination tap takeover. As always, Stone co-founder and CEO Greg Koch will be in attendance, probably signing bottles, probably preaching, probably stage diving off of the bar…

See below for the incredible tap list: (more…)

This past Friday, Dave and Wyndee Forrest launched a Kickstarter campaign to open CraftHaus Brewery. While I met with them to discuss their plans, a donor had just pledged $400, putting CraftHaus over the $5,000 mark, or about 26% to their goal of $20,000, in only four days. (more…)