Beers to seek out in LV at bottle shops?

I'd just go to whatever is closer, one of the umpteen Lee's locations or Khoury's. Neither one is worth going out of the way for imho, so just hit up whatever is closer.

I guess I'd recommend checking out Uinta Barleywine or Wyld (extra pale ale) . . .

 

I disagree with the above, khourys is way better! A lot less beer but better selection. You can open any bottle in the store and drink it there and plus they have 11 taps to choose from as well. Every Wednesday there is also a bottle share and food truck available.

 

Word is that Khoury's is very good for locals, they don't put out the rare bottles, saves 'em for them, so I fully understand why the locals are more partial to them. And the service is better. I didn't bother with any tap beer while I was there, nothing particularly interesting. A Wednesday bottle share and food truck is probably of no interest to a visitor, but I can see why the place would be the #1 choice if you're local.

But for someone just visiting, I'd say just go to whatever is closer. Khoury's and Lee's will have the same Deschutes stuff (98% of what Khoury's puts on shelf will be at Lee's, and 98% of the good stuff at Lee's will be at Khoury's). Apparently, you can drink any bottle outside of Lee's on Flamingo. There was like, plenty of vagrant types there drinking out of paper bags.

If you go out of the way for a place in Vegas, go to Aces & Ales. Fresh Sculpin on tap, rare bottles/taps (Sierra Nevada Snowed In Imperial Stout for instance), great sound acoustics (maybe you'll get lucky and see a bunch of butt rockers playing like I did!).

 

I'd rather drink outside of the Lee's on Flamingo instead of anywhere in Reno =)

I really wouldn't recommend Lee's to anyone though. It used to be the only game in town but they went through a pretty rough patch. They are slowly rebounding a bit, but a better comparison for them would be Total Wine. Unfortunately Total at least has slightly more educated staff, better prices, and have similar size stores.

Whole Foods in Town Square and the Lee's on E Flamingo are the 2 most accessible places from the strip, but Khoury's isn't considerably harder to get to if you have transportation. Add in the better service plus some great draft handles, I'd definitely recommend Khoury's over anyone else. Khoury's does get a lot more of the good seasonal and limited releases than Lee's...even though some do sell out very quickly since the place is the #1 choice for locals. There isn't a secret handshake or stuff hidden just for regulars.

We've had a lot of positive response from out of towners stopping by our Wednesday meetup. They end up getting to try a lot of the stuff we have available, plus whatever rarities we might crack, and they get to meet other beer lovers.

(Aces and Khourys are 1A/1B for beer in Las Vegas - just depends on what you're looking for at the moment)

 

As for specific beers that might be worth checking out that we've gotten recently...

Upright 4, 5, 6, 7, Gose, and Pure Wit
Firestone Wookey Jack
Stillwater Table Beer
Hansenns Oude Kriek and Oude Gueuze
New Belgium Tart Lychee
Deschutes/HOTD Collage
Green Flash/Founders Linch Pin

Seasonals/year round stuff from Firestone, Green Flash, Deschutes, The Bruery, New Belgium and Anchorage.

*Not sure what all makes it in your area

 

I'm in about 99.9% agreement with you! You should see this Mid-town is city life revival b.s. Reno is trying to get going. Midtown is crackheads, dirtballs and hipsters. Ugh.

Way cooler tailgating in Reno than in Vegas though (does that even happen?). . . that's the only exception.

 

Beats me. I avoid the UNLV spots even more than I do Reno!

 

Hit up either of the Total Wines. They have good selection, though the limited stuff is, well , limited, to a bottle of two per person. But they have strangth in lots of Deschutes, Lagunitas, Firestone Walker, etc .etc.

For on tap the Freakin' Frog right across from UNLV is pretty happening. And they have a whiskey tasting room upstairs. Big Dogs is relatively solid and there's a few of those around as well.

 

Chuck Barris just banged a gong somewhere...
(in reference to above).

 

Freakin frogs tap list is less than stellar. And if you enjoy paying 20 dollars for a bottle, then by all means have fun. Aces and Ales and khourys have the best tap list. Khoury only has 8 taps, but they are good. Also, buy a bottle of beer there and you can drink it.

 

I do agree that Khoury's has the best tap. Offering alternatives to those who choose to stay closer to the strip.

Gooooooooooooonnnnngggg.

 

Khoury's has 11 taps, though 1 is being used for the Joseph James Root Beer at the moment.

 

^^ yes yes. Sorry. 11 taps!