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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:32 pm
by sofakingdrunk
Going to Vegas in a few days for a wedding. Stag party apparently includes dinner and all you can drink at this place>>>>http://www.gordonbiersch.com/

Anyone have any insight into it? Also any other recomendations for bars/pubs for decent beer. Or stores to buy some good stuff. We'll be staying a the Vdara....i've never been to Vegas before so really don't know where anything is.

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:45 am
by Derek
It's a chain, and I've been to the one that's sorta walking distance to the Hofbräuhaus. It opens out to a nice patio, so it's nice and open, which was a pleasant change from some of the smoky places with no windows.

Beer is good, even some craft lagers, but it leans toward joe average rather than the beer geek.

Huh, I actually reviewed it earlier in this thread...
Derek wrote: I decided to make the shorter walk up to Gordon Biersch on Paradise. It has a really nice patio and large garage-like doors that really open up the bar, which was great at this time of year. The fresh air was ha welcome change from all the cigarette smoking. The Maibock was really good considering they use domestic malts (unfortunately the Hofbrau house didn't tap their Maibock until the day after I left).

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:56 am
by sofakingdrunk
Thanks for the info Derek. Seems like it will be an ok start to the evening. Any suggestions on where to buy decent bottles to bring home?

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:54 am
by cfrancis
You should be able to get a good selection of Bruery, Firestone Walker, Deschutes there.

One of the best spots for bottles is the Whole Foods in Town Square, unfortunately it's a small cab ride south of Mandalay Bay. There are really no bottle shops on the strip. You can go to the Walgreens by the Venetian which will have bombers of Sierra Nevada, Stone and Lagunitas but nothing really "special".

Apparently there is St. Tropez Market by the Hofbrauhaus although I've never been there.
4501 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, Nevada United States 89169

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 10:20 pm
by Derek
It has been 3 years, so things may have changed a bit, but that whole foods is probably your best bet for fresh stuff.

If you've got wheels, I'd definitely head up to:
http://www.totalwine.com/eng/storeLocat ... onId=17796

Like I said earlier, I was Totally blown away. Definitely worth trekking out to it over the lees discount places.

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:27 am
by spinrsx
there's a walgreens in the planet hollywood across from vdara. They have a walk in cooler with a fair amount of craft. Various 6-packs and about 20 different bombers - including some local stuff like Tenaya Creek.

Also check out Todd English Pub in Aria which is next to vdara, they have a lot of craft on tap and some decent happy hour specials.

.pdf of beer menu is here:

http://www.toddenglishpub.com/uploads/3 ... h_2014.pdf

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 4:20 pm
by rejtable
Just got back from 3 nights in Vegas. Bottle wise the strip is pretty much the pharmacies and some of the small liquor shops. Nothing crazy special, but it's very cool to grab a New Belgium Ranger or a bottle of grapefruit sculpin and walk around! There is a giant new CVS opening soon next to Treasure Island that seems to have a huge beer cooler in the back. Stay tuned.

In terms of places, here are some of my highlights for Bars/pubs:...

Outside:
- Aces & Ales: great spot. Tons of cool taps, server was an awesome guy, food was great (Fried Oreos!!). The inside, especially the bar side was bizarre, nearly pitch dark. Even the more open side was not that appealing, so we sat outside by ourselves for a late lunch on their great patio. It's a huge hike to get out there, but worth it given how few really great beer spots there are in LV.

Strip:
- Todd Urban P.U.B: in the Crystal shops at the entrance to Aria. Solid beer selection for the strip, service was ok and disastrous in my two stops. Big problem with this place is that they have like a dozen standard taps, and then a dozen or so rotations by breweries, but the beer menu doesn't list the rotations by beer name, just by brewery. So, if you wan to know what the "Firestone" feature is, you ask. Server one night was on top of things and could nail them all. Second night dude had no idea what was on at all. Anyway, they had three cask options when I was there. Food was ok.
- Public House: basement of Venetia in the restaurant row. Upscale restaurant spot, but the bar area is fun. Solid tap list, although I had that stupid iPad app thing they had. Food was ok, very pricey. Pretty fun place, I would have liked to try and go back.
- Tom's Urban: in New York New York. Solid tap list and fun spot.
- Sin City: bunch of locations on the strip. Beer was just ok, made by Gordan Biersh folks. Usually small tasting rooms with 5 or so taps. Make sure to ask as they had some extra taps that weren't listed.

Most of the casino bars had at least a few interesting taps. One of them inside Aria had a Stillwater beer made just for them.

Freemont:
- Bier Garten: neat little oasis at one end of the Freemont circus. Maybe a dozen or so taps. Grab a sculpin in a plastic cup and check out the fat guy wearing a pink thong and a tutu!
- Banger Brewing: another spot to sit and and watch the freakshow outside. Beers were just ok. Had a wheat beer run through a habanero randal and my asshole was not happy with me the next day.

Atomic bar was also recommended to me on Freemont by the server at Aces and Ales, but when we got there my stupid wife forgot to bring her ID and they wouldn't let her in. Grr. I can walk around with a bottle of Lukcy Bastard in my hand, but my wife can't go into a bar!?!? A bit of a treck from the Freemont mess, which is both good and bad I guess!

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 4:24 pm
by rejtable
Bottles:
- Whole Foods Tenaya: just down the street from Aces & Ales. Just ok by WF standards. Not worth trekking out there for, but if you are at A&A worth stopping in.
- WF Town Square: Pretty standard WF selection, which isn't a knock at all.
- Total Wine: a big treck out of the city, but worth it. I've been into some bigger TW, but this one is pretty good.
- St. Tropez: Sucked. It had maybe one small rack of beer. Every CVS or 7-11 in town had better beer selection.

Re: Las Vegas

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:00 am
by Tapsucker
There is a decent Yard house in the newish Quad development on the strip now. it's been there for at least two years and I have been a few time. Solid food and beer.

A few more places

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:41 pm
by screw2000
A few more places from recent visits to LV:

1. Aces & Ales has a second location in the northwest. It's really far (like, $50 cab ride far) but arguably worth a trip if you have a DD. 50 craft taps, lots of variety, and about 200+ bottles including some rarities. Oh, and it's open 24 hours a day (seriously, when was the last time you ever saw a sign that said "20% off growler fills midnight to 8am"?). 2801 N Tenaya Way

2. Tenaya Creek Brewery. They used to be down the street from A&A 2 (I think another brewery is taking that space over), but have moved to a larger space west of downtown. It's in a bit of a no-mans land (industrial park), and the walk from downtown is kinda dodgy (under the freeway and past vacant lots and a homeless mission), so take a cab out there. Highly recommended spot. They had 11 of their own beers and about 15 guest taps. Super-friendly staff. 831 W Bonanza Rd

3a and 3b. Chicago Brewing Co (in 4 Queens on Fremont) and Triple 7 Brewery (in Main Street Station downtown). Both fall in the same category of inoffensive middle-of-the-road beers. Decent places for a pint, and worthwhile to combine on a downtown crawl with Bier Garten and Banger.

4. Hop Nuts Brewing. This is in the up-and-coming 'Arts District' (think a Vegas equivalent of West Queen West). As befits the name, their beers tilt towards the APA/IPA/DIPA side. About 10-15 of their beers and another 10-15 guest taps. 1120 S Main St

5. Umami Burger and Beer Garden. This is in the new SLS Las Vegas hotel (massive reno of the old Sahara, far north end of the Strip). There in an indoor bar facing the casino, a sit down restaurant, some confy couches in the sportsbook area, and a bar and picnic tables outside on the patio. Decent tap selection (about 10 craft and 5 mainstream beers), they had a tap feature of 5 beers from Almanac when I was there. Also an interestingly curated selection of about 20 bottles.

I did not try the newly-opened Beer Park in Paris, mainly because the idea of 100 AB InBev taps didn't sound appealing. You're going to go there for the view I guess.

Re: Las Vegas

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 5:38 pm
by screw2000
Few more quick notes from a recent trip:


1. Beerhaus -- in the new Park development by the T-Mobile Arena.

Solid selection of ~20 taps and ~30 bottles. Good representation of local craft as well.

Prices were in line with other places on the Strip.

Didn't try the food -- it's order at the counter.

As seems to be the trend for Strip beer bars, you can get Jenga for your table. Also had shuffleboard, ping pong and foosball.



2. Beer Park -- on the roof of Paris.

Yes, this is the infamous "Budweiser Beer Park". And yes, the majority of the selection is AB InBev - owned brands.

That being said, there were a few indie craft brands on offer. And the overall selection is decent (~35 taps, ~40 bottles).

No small glasses for stronger beers -- everything on tap is available in 16oz, 23oz or pitcher.

Anything in a bottle is available in a bucket (although not sure who is crazy enough to order a $97 bucket of Founders KBS).

Prices for the good stuff are pretty high, the generic macros are pretty cheap. Warning: they add a 4% "concession fee" to the bill.

Bring a hat and sunglasses -- the shade is pretty minimal, and the afternoon sun is relentless until the sun goes behind the Bellagio. They do have patio misters.

Also has table games (Jenga, Connect 4).

Outdoor big-screen TVs for the game. And a great view of the Bellagio fountain.


3. Miller's Ale House -- in Town Square (same outdoor mall as the Yard House).

Vegas outpost of the Florida chain. Tap selection was just macros and the "big" craft brands.


4. Todd English P.U.B. in Crystals

As others have mentioned, it took some effort to find out what specific beer was on tap for each of the "featured" breweries.

Also pricey even by Strip standards. $14 for a 12 oz Sierra Nevada Beer Camp is getting up there. Food was tasty.


5. There is a Goose Island bar opening in the Hard Rock sometime this summer.

Re: Las Vegas

Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 7:45 pm
by spinrsx
Theres a new total wine next to the whole foods not far from the strip.

Re: Las Vegas

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:18 pm
by seangm
Well, just got back from Vegas and things really have changed since my last visit (2017). There's an entire brewery row/area in the Arts District now, whereas last time I recall options were limited. Managed to hit up Able Baker and HUDL. I'd say both were solid; not necessarily impressive compared to where Ontario is now, but definitely a refreshing change from the strip. SoulBelly BBQ (between HUDL and Nevada Brew Works) was really good as well.

SerVehZah is a solid bottle shop/taproom in the Arts District too. Not a huge selection, but some interesting cans from breweries like Great Notion, Stillwater and others. You'll pay a fair bit but it's a nice way to try some breweries that don't show up over here.

Personally I'm not a Vegas guy so I didn't spend a lot of time on the strip (was there for work) but Beer Park was a good spot to watch the Jays game; great patio, view of the Bellagio fountain if that's your thing. As previously mentioned in this thread it's largely AB InBev owned "craft" but they have some solid offerings nonetheless.

I've noticed craft beer is easier to find than ever, even at the tony steakhouse we visited they keep a local tap and had a couple decent IPAs (Green Flash, FW Union Jack). Fine dining is one of the last holdouts for craft beer appreciation, so it was nice to see.

Re: Las Vegas

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:38 pm
by S. St. Jeb
seangm wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:18 pm Fine dining is one of the last holdouts for craft beer appreciation.
Interesting comment, because if you could go back to the 'beginning' of craft beer, you might have predicted this is where it would take off first.

Re: Las Vegas

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:01 am
by seangm
S. St. Jeb wrote: Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:38 pm
seangm wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:18 pm Fine dining is one of the last holdouts for craft beer appreciation.
Interesting comment, because if you could go back to the 'beginning' of craft beer, you might have predicted this is where it would take off first.
Certainly seems logical with regards to it being a premium product, seems wine has just managed to keep its stranglehold on the fine dining experience. Granted I don't do a whole lot of fine dining, typically only when work is paying lol