Bristlecone Brewing Company

this place is newish in the former imbib location, which to me is big shoes to fill, i was so impressed the imbib stuff, especially the funky fermentation forward ones, really first rate stuff, but these guys are already doing an admirable job, primarily lagers when i was in, a great range of intelligent and well crafted beers, and i think they are off to a heck of a start! the space doesnt look or feel a whole lot different, the bar is the center of it, with the large brewing space visible behind it, still some big wood vessels center stage, i hope they put them to use, a minimalist decor, clean to me, a less is more approach, modern and somewhat industrial, but comfortable too, its about the beer, comfortable a place as it is to sit and drink one, this isnt one of those instagram breweries, the liquid is the draw, as it should be. i was stoked on the list, ten or so beers on, lager heavy, but clever, a neat french pils with underutilized french hops, quite interesting, a solid wet hopped west coast pils, a citrus zest table beer, and then more classic selections that i took home, a real high quality helles and a well refined czech pils as well, beers for drinking made by folks who appear to get it, the quality was great and i like the diversity in this style range here, real well done. the service was great, one of the main dudes, happy to chat beer, good to have brewer people at the bar, adds something for the customer, so bravo for that. they are still pretty new, but i came away really impressed, and glad they are canning some stuff already, and think they will do great if they keep it up at this level. the world can always use more high headed lagers, looking forward to seeing whats next, but definitely add bristlecone to your list when in reno!