Nevada Beer Nuggets - December '09 / January '10
By Bob Barnes
Nevada Mines Silver at GABF
The Silver State mined some precious metal at the 2009 GABF. Big Dog’s Brewing Company from Las Vegas earned a silver medal for its Belgian White in the Belgian-Style Wit Beer category. The lone winner from Nevada, Big Dog’s Brewmaster Dave Otto said, “I have been brewing witbier since before it was popular to brew them. I brew it with pale malt, unmalted wheat, and oats with Curacao bitter orange peel and coriander, and it is fermented with an authentic Belgian witbier yeast strain.” Just after his GABF win, Dave brewed his 500th batch. The commemorative brew is a big 9.2% American-style Imperial IPA aptly named Hop Dog 500, and features Summit, Warrior, Simcoe and Centennial hops. It’s definitely a hophead’s dream.
Reno Beer Scene
The inaugural CANFEST was held in Reno on October 23, at the beautiful Grand Sierra Resort & Casino. Sponsored by Buckbean Brewing Company, only canned beers were allowed, and the turnout of nearly 1,000 beer fans didn’t seem to mind the beers’ packaging. Nearly a hundred different beers were poured, with a wide range of beer styles represented, such as Orange Blossom Ale (Buckbean Brewing), Coconut Porter (Maui Brewing), Belgian White Ale (Mudshark Brewing), Imperial Stout (Oskar Blues) and IPA (21st Amendment). All of the beers were judged, with the Best of Show honor going to Oskar Blues Brewery for its Gordon, an 8.7% double-red ale.
The fest was an excellent excuse for me to head up to the northern region of my state and check out the Reno beer scene, which I don’t write about nearly as much as it deserves to be. My first stop was the Brew Brothers Brewpub in the Eldorado Casino, Reno’s only casino brewery. Brewmaster Greg Hinge was a Biology major at UNR before signing on at Brew Brothers, and then received formal training at the American Brewer’s Guild at UC Davis. Greg always has at least eight beers covering a variety of styles, with a kolsch, Bavarian wheat, amber ale, pale ale, IPA and stout. All are extremely clean and flavorful, and it’s not surprising that the brewpub was voted Best Brew Pub in America by the Nightclub & Bar Magazine. The Eldorado is on North Virginia St., the main drag in downtown Reno. There’s also a Brew Brothers pub at the Reno Airport serving three of its ales.
Great Basin Brewing Company in Sparks is Nevada’s most award-winning brewery, with 12 GABF and WBC medals. With 12-14 beers on tap at all times, Brewers Tom Young, Jazz Aldrich and Ryan Quinlan are keeping busy, brewing three to four batches a week. They’re not afraid to brew out of the box, with lots of creativity and the freedom to experiment with different beer styles. While there, I enjoyed their Smoke Creek Rauchbock-smoked with local alder and cherry wood; the Bitchin Berry-a blend of real fruit, namely raspberry, boysenberry and marionberry; the Mission Style Tripel-a 7.8% big brew that’s both hoppy and sweet; and the popular Icky IPA, which can be found on several tap handles around northern Nevada. I encountered a group of four beer lovers who are cycling all the way from Brooklyn to the West Coast, stopping at brewpubs along the way and had selected Great Basin as their chosen Reno brewpub (for more info. visit www.bikeandbrewtour.com). Great Basin is in Sparks, which is just a few miles from Reno, on Victorian Ave. just off of the I-80 freeway.
Brewmaster Scott Manning at the Reno BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse produced 15,000 barrels last year and is currently supplying the brewpub chain’s locations in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Washington and Oregon. He and his four assistants brew seven days a week on their monstrous 50 barrel system. While all of the standard BJ brews are available, some very yummy seasonals I enjoyed were the Bourbon Barrel-the Tatonka Imperial Stout aged for six months in a Heaven Hill Distillery bourbon barrel; cask conditioned Pirannha pale ale-stuffed with three pounds of fresh Cascade hops harvested from Scott’s own back yard; and Tiger Tail Amber-with a hoppy bite compliments of noble Tetnang and Perle hops. BJ’s is in the Summit Sierra Shopping Center on S. Virginia just off of the 395 freeway.
The largest selection of craft beer in Reno would appear to be a toss up between St. James Infirmary and Chapel Tavern. St. James Infirmary pours from 21 taps and over 100 bottles are served, with many hard to find gems like the Nogne-o-Sahti, an 11% farmhouse ale from Norway, and the Pannepot Old Fisherman’s Ale, a 10% Belgian Quad. The pub has a retro early 60’s feel to it, with several ‘Old Reno’ neon fixtures and even has a working photo booth. Owner Art Farley is very approachable and it’s quite evident that he is passionate about the beers on his list. The pub is located in downtown Reno on California Ave., about five blocks west of S. Virginia.
Chapel Tavern was voted the Best Bar in Reno by the readers of the Reno News & Review. An upscale neighborhood bar, it has a comfy and relaxed feel, aided by walls of red brick, couches and a pool table that sees lots of action. Owner Duncan Mitchell carries over 90 beers and 75 whiskeys. He’s seeking out quality and unheard of beers, such as the Black Flag Imperial Stout and Leafer Madness from the Beer Valley Brewery in Oregon, both of which have over 100 IBU’s. Other crowd pleasers are Delirium Tremens (on tap), Blanche de Brussels and Ommegang Grand Cru. Chapel Tavern is on S. Virginia between Mt. Rose and Pueblo.
The newly opened Xtreme at the Grand Sierra Resort has the most extensive list of any casino bar, serving 90 beers, 19 of which are on draft. A next generation sports bar, it’s a tribute to extreme sports, with 40 TV’s showing extreme sports videos and ESPN. Grand Sierra is on E. 2nd St. near Mill and the 395 freeway, a few miles north of the Reno airport.
The allotted space for my column is not large enough to do justice to a roundup of northern Nevada’s most worthy hop spots. Look for part two in the next issue, as I continue with descriptions of Reno’s Silver Peaks Brewpub, Buckbean Brewing Company, Sierra Tap House and the Fifty Fifty Brewpub in nearby Truckee, California.
Brew Brothers Brewpub@ the Eldorado Reno Hotel Casino
345 N. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89501
775-348-9249
Great Basin Brewing Company
846 Victorian Ave.
Sparks, NV 89431
775-355-7711
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse
13999 S. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89511
775-853-7575
St. James Infirmary
445 California Ave.
Reno, NV 89509
775-657-8484
Chapel Tavern
1495 S. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89502
775-324-2244
Xtreme Sports Bar Lounge@ the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
2500 E. 2nd St.
Reno, NV 89595
775-789-2000
Bob Barnes is a native Las Vegan and is celebrating his 10th anniversary as a regional correspondent for the Celebrator Beer News. He welcomes your inquiries and is standing by to assist you in your Vegas beer quest. He can be reached via e-mail at LVBobB@juno.com.
*This article is published in the Celebrator Beer News - December / January ‘10 Issue
What’s Brewing
By Bob Barnes So many times we see the same selection of a handful of brews that nearly every pub seems to have decided are the chosen ones to represent craft beer. Aces & Alescontinues to lead the way in providing a beer menu that stands out from the rest of the pack, with some hard to find brews as well as those not available anywhere else in southern Nevada. Two beers currently being poured exclusively at Aces & Ales are Stone Brewing’s Oaked Arrogant Bastard and Deschutes Brewing’s Abyss. The Oaked Arrogant Bastard is a version of the Arrogant Bastard that has been fermented in oak chips. The Abyss is an American double Imperial Stout at 11% alcohol that is aged in French oak and oak bourbon barrels. Aces & Ales sponsors weekly and sometimes bi-weekly special beer events. On tap during December are the unveiling of the 11% Deschutes Double Black Butte Porter on Dec. 4; a tapping of Joseph James Brewery’s beers on Dec. 17; and a Christmas beer event on Dec. 22-24 with kegs of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. For weekly email notification of these and other beer related events in southern Nevada, sign up at <www.meetup.com/Vegas-Beer-Lovers>. Aces & Ales is on Nellis near Sam’s Town, south of Flamingo. Beer from the brand new Backyard Brewing Company was unveiled at Aces & Ales at a release party last month that drew over 200 people. Owner/brewer Russ Gardner is doing all of the brewing and kegging of his beers at the brewing facilities of Joseph James Brewery in Henderson. Russ’s flagship beer is his Workday Wit, a 5.1% Belgian wheat ale that features flavors of fresh orange and coriander. Next month he is planning the release of the Rock’n Chair Red, a 9% Imperial Amber with all simcoe hops and lots of them. Look for some other interesting beer styles to follow. In the near future Russ is planning to offer a sour pale ale aged in oak. On November 10, Simon at Palms Place was the setting for yet another outstanding pairing of fine dining and fine beer. The featured brewery was the Van Steenberge Brewery from Ghent, Belgium, a brewery I had toured in the summer of 2004. I was reunited with 7th generation owner Jef Versele, who had traveled across the world to speak about his brewery, which was founded in 1784. He even brought along acclaimed Belgian beer chef Achim Vandenbussche. Achim has his own restaurant in Belgium and has gained a reputation for excelling at cooking with beer. He has appeared on Belgian television, written a children’s cookbook, worked as ghost writer for several other cookbooks and teaches several cooking courses. Achim worked alongside the chefs of Simon to orchestrate the five-course beer pairing dinner.
Jef spoke before each course describing each beer as we enjoyed its myriad flavors. He related that the brewery only produces high gravity beer (high in alcohol strength) and is currently producing 65,000-75,000 barrels a year.
First up was the Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Red Ale, a malty and slightly sour blend of young and old beer that is fermented for three years in oak. This ale was paired with an appetizer array of cheese fondue with warm pretzel, market apples, Genoa salami, cucumber soup, smoked salmon wrap and a beer cake that was prepared with the beer.
Moules frites: black mussels, garlic herb butter with crispy semolina fries were enhanced by Augustijn -an amber abbey ale fermented with three wild yeasts and made from an old recipe that dates back to 1295. The big and bold 10.5% Piraat is so strong it uses wine yeast. This spicy golden triple was backed up with a hearty buttermilk-marinated pork tenderloin with sautéed Brussels sprouts and a potato-apple-celery puree.
The main course was an ale braised lamb shank, roasted root vegetables and farro risotto that was paired with Bornem Double- an authentic Trappist ale with velvety malt & hop flavors.
The Gulden Draak was so rich and sultry that it could have stood alone as the dessert. This 10.5% dark barley wine with notes of chocolate and toffee, is named after the dragon that rests atop the belfry of the cathedral in Ghent. Fittingly, it was matched with a Belgian waffle topped with banana, nutella and whipped cream. All of the Van Steenberge beers are distributed by BMC Fine Spirits and can be found atKhoury’s, Whole Foods and the Yard House. As always, great beer happens in Vegas!
Bob Barnes is a native Las Vegan and associate editor of Fork & Pour-Food & Beverage Magazine of Las Vegas. He welcomes your inquiries and can be reached via e-mail at LVBobB@juno.com.
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