By Bob Barnes
Las Vegas Beer News: Beer Events
In my July column I gave a brief rundown of Big Dog’s Brewing commemorating its 30th anniversary with several events spanning September 13 to 19, which have now been mostly finalized.
A highlight of the nearly weeklong celebration will be the Magnum Anniversary beer release party on Sept. 13 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Priced at $45 and held in the new Big Dog’s Tap Room, it will be hosted by the Vegas Golden Knights television broadcast team of Dave Goucher and Shane Hnidy, who will lead a panel discussion about the 30th anniversary celebration, the Vegas Golden Knights season preview, Big Dog’s contribution to this year’s Life is Beautiful and the brewery’s upcoming “Comic Book” brew series debuting this fall.
Your ticket includes a Grilled Korean Pork Skewers appetizer by Chef Sergio Meza paired with a 10-ounce glass of Magnum (a classic Strong Ale that has been aging in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels for the better part of a year).
You’ll also receive a commemorative glass; one additional taproom brew of your choice; a $5 ticket for a raffle with a grand prize of a one-of-a-kind Yeti Cooler decorated by renown local artist Pretty Done (AKA Adam Rellah, who also did the artwork in the Tap Room) stuffed with Big Dog’s swag, beers and gift cards valued at more than $1,000; a coupon for 30% off for food, packaged brews and swag; and first crack at purchasing one of the limited number of bottles of Magnum and Olde-E But A Good-E Barleywine (a World Beer Cup medal winner).
Also, when purchasing a ticket to this event you can buy one of the 100 bottles of Magnum available.
Throughout the rest of the following six days there will be special tappings of more than 45 Big Dog’s beers (including several one-off keg selections), live music each night, special BBQ food and throughout the week all 50+ taps will be devoted to Big Dog’s beers.
There will also be a Big Dog’s tap takeover at Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits on Sept. 14 with Magnum and several other Big Dog’s special release beers, a special one-off cask beer tapping along with Magnum and other special release beers on draft at The Silver Stamp on Sept. 18 and a tap takeover combined with a taco Tuesday party at Servehzah on Sept. 19 that will include the Servehzah/Big Dog’s collaboration fruited blonde La Guerita and Magnum.
For more details on the events, live music lineup and to purchase a Magnum tasting package visit www.bigdogsbrews.com/events/bigdogs30.
Quite interesting historical tidbits are that when Holy Cow! opened on the Vegas Strip at Sahara in April, 1993 as Las Vegas’ first brewpub, it was the 114th US brewery in the modern era. Now in 2023 there are more than 8,000 breweries in the US. And, the brewery was renamed Big Dog’s in honor of its founder Tom Wiesner (his nickname during his college football playing days) in 2003 when it relocated to the current location on Rancho Rd. just north of Craig Rd.
Also taking place this month are the CraftHaus Brewery Hausfest 9 anniversary celebration and the Art on Tap beer festival, both on September 16, which I detailed in this column last month. If you missed it, or to refresh your memory, click here to read all about them.
The 11th annual Motley Brews Downtown Brew Festival, one of the larger fests in the state drawing thousands of craft beer fans, returns to the Clark County Amphitheater on Oct. 7 from 5-9 p.m. (4:00 for VIP and early entry).
You can expect more than 200 beers from 60+ breweries, including 20 of our local brewing establishments, as well as live music and several food options. The amphitheater venue is centrally located and is a nice environment set in a grassy area in a circular configuration so everything is within steps. For the list of breweries, food vendors, performing artists, beer being poured, ticket prices and to purchase tickets visit downtownbrewfestival.com.
Las Vegas Beer News: What’s Pouring in September
Trustworthy Brewing Company is celebrating its fourth year in Las Vegas with a special anniversary brew, Another Trip to the Strip DDH Double IPA. It’s an 8.2% double dry-hopped hazy IPA with 100% Citra hops, which create flavors of citrus, sweet peach, and grapefruit; and a malt bill composed of wheat, Pilsen and Carapils malts that create a for a surprisingly light foundation that’s big enough to hold up the hop character. The can may wind up being a collector’s item, as the art is by local artist Pretty Done (AKA Adam Rellah).
Mojave Brewing Company has a beer perfect to accompany brunch, as its SINamon Toast Crunch is made with cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.
Kyle Weniger, our local roving brewer (AKA Juxta Nomad), has been pretty busy. He has Jam vs Jelly: dueling sour Berliner Weisse beers made in collaboration with Bad Beat, meant to spark the age old “which is better” conversation. Both Strawberry Jam and Grape Jelly variations are packaged in mixed 4-packs, along with a small amount of draft around town.
Kyle is also teaming up with Celestial Mechanics this year to once again produce “Beer is Beautiful,” a West Coast IPA with coconut, mango and lime zest which he brewed at Astronomy Aleworks and will be released at the Life is Beautiful music festival (Sept. 24-26), where we’ll also be setting up a small craft beer garden featuring only local beers.
In addition to this batch, he’ll also have an AF (alcohol-free) version of the same beer released side by side at the festival, brewed in collaboration with BrewDog Ohio.Also at Life is Beautiful will be two limited edition canned beers from Big Dog’s: A Beautiful Haze, which is a Hazy IPA with a combination of hops bringing juicy citrus and tropical notes along with peach, wine, pine and coconut; and Cool as a Cucumber, a refreshing lager infused with fresh cucumbers and limes. Both beers will be available at all concession stands, in the Craft Beer Village and in sponsored pop-ups throughout.
