Vegas, Baby
Our wives gave us a free afternoon on a family trip to Vegas. We didn’t have much time to prepare or fully plot out our trip, so we spent about 30 minutes poolside looking on Untappd for highly rated breweries and bottle shops.
While there were several breweries around us on the strip, it didn’t seem that they were producing quality beer aimed at beer enthusiasts. Trendy type tap houses and taco bars that brewed their own beer to check boxes appeared to be attracting many of the people that couldn’t tell you much more about beer than they like to drink it ice cold.
We caught an Uber to the Arts District of Las Vegas, which is located a few miles north, right between the strip and Old Vegas. If you’re planning a day or evening on Fremont Street in Old Vegas, stopping in the Arts District is an absolute must.
Beer District Brewing was out first stop and it did not disappoint. The Vegas Golden Knights happened to be in the playoffs and the Beer District had a special of their version of a black and tan, a mixture of their imperial coconut stout CocoNillaCan and their lager. This was very tasty and a cool play on the Golden Knights black and tan jerseys. I also had a pour of Captain Haze a NEIPA with Mosaic, Sabro, Citra and Galaxy which was exceptional. The owner/brewer was very welcoming, let us try several of their beers, and got pointed in the right direction to the next tap house and brewery to stop at.
Our next stop was at Silver Stamp which was a Belgian focused bottle shop. This place had an insane tap list and their owners happened to pour us tastes of Monkish and Russian River that they picked up that weekend. This place was superb and would be my first beer stop on any future Vegas trip.
All within a short walking distance, our final stop was at Able Baker Brewing Company. To my style preference, this place had about 8-10 delicious boozy stouts. While drinking these on a 90 degree Vegas afternoon isn’t ideal, I knew that this was our last stop before a night out on Fremont Street, so I indulged. The stouts here were top notch, and though we didn’t eat, they had a spectacular looking food menu.
We got an Uber to Old Vegas from here and finished out our trip drinking Miller Lites, Truly’s and whatever else was easy drinking by the pool. Our final stop of the entire trip was at a place near our hotel called Ellis Island Casino, Hotel and Brewery. Don’t let their 3.19 Untappd rating fool you, this was a sneaky good place for great beer, $5 blackjack and craps tables and a delicious restaurant. A true gem of our trip, they offered all beers for $2, and free if you were playing cards or table games. If you’re looking for an inexpensive night and a brewery type atmosphere, I’d recommend this to anyone going to Vegas that may be licking their wounds after a tough night at one of the bigger casinos.
Where we missed: multiple people raved about Servehzah and if we had more time, we would have been there. It’ll be a top priority on our next trip to Vegas, baby.
