Vegas Strip Craft Beer Help

Vegas? That place seemed like a beer wasteland last time I was there a couple years ago. I felt lucky if I could find a Sam Adams on tap, or a liquor store that carried SNPA. I suppose I could've driven all over town looking for decent beer, but that wasn't really what I was there for. And you shouldn't have to. Unless things have changed markedly, they are way behind the curve.

 

The wasteland talk is such an exaggeration.

I'm sorry if you couldn't find beer in the airport, the back seat of your cab ride, or during check-in at your hotel. You have to look at least a little harder than that.

The Freakin Frog is less than 3 miles from the strip and has had hundreds of beers available in their cooler for at least 15 years. The Pub at Monte Carlo, Burger Bar, and plenty of other places have been open for years with good craft options. We've had tons of Sierra Nevada, Deschutes, Firestone, New Belgium, Stone, Rogue and plenty of other craft beer on liquor store shelves for a long time. Not to mention Big Dogs has been open for 20 some years, Tenaya/Chicago/Barleys/777 (10+?), Joseph James 5 or 6, etc.

The last few years we've seen a bigger growth in craft beer in stores (Bruery, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Upright, Noble, etc), and the Strip/restaurants have more craft and local offerings on draft. You can go into any Albertsons and find dedicated craft sections. Most gas stations now have at the minimum basic SNPA or Stone beers and local offerings.

Are we San Diego? No...but I've been to plenty of places that are worse off.

 

OK, maybe wasteland is a little strong. But you're still way behind the curve. Let me put it this way: I don't travel that much, but since I was last in Vegas I've been in Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Denver, to name a few, and it's much easier to find decent beer in any of those smaller cities. Hell, Sacramento blows Vegas away. You don't have to go to small liquor stores or pubs only the locals know. You can find at least a couple decent crafts in pretty much every liquor store and bar. I would say Vegas is 5-10 years behind those places, which is kind of sad, considering it's a party destination for so many people, supposedly a world class entertainment center etc.

 

I used to live in Vegas back in 2008. Maybe it has changed. I always went to the one on south LV Blvd. It was great then.

 

Over the past 8 years I've spent an avg of 25-30 days per year in both Vegas and Reno for work. I don't gamble, and I'm usually solo, so I go out of my way to seek out the beer spots when I travel. Compared to pretty much every other major city (and many, many not so major cities) Vegas is way behind the curve when it comes to the beer scene. That's not to say there aren't some options, and that it hasn't been improving (the whole country has been improving). I don't find the freakin' frog or ales and aces to be that pleasant. In part because I'm not a cig smoker and not a fan of smoke filled bars. I will say the freakin' frog has a rather impressive 'cellar', but the prices they charge are insulting (and I'm talking insulting by bar standards). I much prefer aces and ales to freakin' frog, but I'll go have a pint or 2 at khoury's and chat with the owner over any other place in town. Staff at aces and ales has always been very nice and generous. One of the owners offered to share some 3 Floyds with me that he had recently brought back from a trip, and he didn't know me from any other stranger. Super nice staff at aces and ales.

And Reno's beer scene is undoubtedly superior to vegas.

I've been to this one a few times, but will scope it out again. The Whole Foods, not too far from the Lees, has a decent selection too.

 

I like Pour 24 at New York New York. Nothing amazing on tap but you can enjoy a great beer while people watching.

 

There is a Yard House at Red Rock if that helps, I know its off the strip but biz took me to Vegas in November and my client is in that area so thats where I stayed, got my IPA/DIPA fix after a long day.

Cheers....

 

That gets a second from me as well. Sit and play video poker for a few hands and get a couple true pints comped from them. Pizza is pretty tasty too.