Beer Blog [ADD A NEW ENTRY]
01/14/2010 | Joseph James Brewing, Las Vegas
Author: Ron Knapp
Just returned from Las Vegas where it's hard to find decent beer. Most bars have the regular stuff, like Sam Adams, Bass, etc. There are a couple of gems, however. Right at the entrance to New York, New York at the top of the escalator is a bar named Pour24. They have 24 taps and are open 24 hours. But they have the best collection of beers that you won't find anywhere, that changes from time to time. Last week they had Dogfish 60 min IPA, Stone Ruination, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Rogue Imperial Stout, Alaskan Amber, and a bunch of other excellent beers. Las Vegas is the only place you can order a beer "to go" in a plastic cup. You get a couple of good beers, then go to any of the other restaurants in the hotel, or even across the street on the footbridge connecting to the MGM, to eat lunch or dinner where they may have crappy beer. Pour24 is also an excellent place to watch sports on TV with several flat screen TVs with good sound. Also in NYNY is ESPN Zone which is wall-to-wall TVs plus about a dozen decent beers on draft, including maybe Longhammer IPA.
Anyway, I found another gem. At the back of Monte Carlo, adjacent to NYNY used to be a microbrewery, which closed a couple years ago, and all the equipment was removed (idiots). Now there is a bar called The Pub (www.montecarlo.com/restaurants/restaurants_the_pub.aspx). Mounted on the front of the bar is about 6 regular crappy beers. However, all along the back bar extending the length of the huge bar is a line of 59 taps of amazing microbrews. Besides some good ones like Stone IPA, they were featuring the beers of Joseph James Brewing (www.foxbrews.com). The beers on tap include Alpine Wit (Belgian White Ale), Freakin' Frog Apple Ale, Red Fox (Russian Imperial Stout), Joe's Root Beer, and my favorite, Hop Box (Imperial IPA) with Cascade and Simcoe, 8.2% Alc., and 90 IBU's (that's ninety!) Their beers are a bit pricey, $8 for Alpine and Apple, $10 for Stout and IPA, but worth every penny after you've been forced to drink Heineken and Corona at the buffet. If you look at their web site, they also have a gluten free IPA, Fox Tail, 8.1%, 80 IBUs.
Another gem I heard about, but didn't have time to check out is the Yardhouse, located at the extreme South end of the Strip beyond Mandalay Bay in a shopping center next to Fry's. It's the last stop on the "Deuce" (Strip double-decker bus). Buy an all day pass for $5, good deal. According to the bartender at Pour24, they have 160 beer taps.....