First, let me begin with a couple of basic non-beer related facts about Las Vegas. The city was established as a railroad town in May of 1905. The name, translated in English, means “The Meadows”. Gambling was legalized there in 1931, roughly five years before the 1936 completion of the nearby Hoover Dam. As we all know, the city has grown like mad ever since.
Big Dog's Brewing Company
Big Dog’s Brewing actually offers actually three locations, two of them quite far from the strip and tough to get to without a car. The one I visited is located on Sahara Avenue, a short bus ride away from the strip. Let me mention here that Vegas city buses are quite convenient, beat the heck out of walking in the heat, or driving under the influence, and are also much cheaper than cabbing your way around town: a 24 hour pass is only $5.00 and will get you all over!
I had lunch at Big Dog’s and found both the food and the beer quite good. The brews included the “leg-lifter light” (indeed very light but nice in hot weather), the Tail-Wager Wheat (nice but much too thin), and a very crisp and tasty K9 Kölsch.
Also brewed on the premises are the Holly Cow IPA, which had a very light body but was well hoped and refreshing (good thirst quencher!), and the Red Hydrant Ale, which had a medium body with a dark amber color. The amber ale reminded me a bit of Newcastle, and actually won the Gold Medal at the 2006 World Beer Cup.
My personal favorite was Black Lab Stout (see picture). Although it had a fairly light body for the style, I found it very tasty. It won the Bronze Medal in the “Foreign Stout” category at the 1996 GABF (Great American Beer Festival).
Overall, Big Dog’s Brewery is a nice spot for a meal, has decent beers, and offers a pleasant break from the Strip’s Mega-Casino madness.
Ellis Island Brewing Co.
The next day, I visited the Ellis Island Brewery, located in the casino by the same name. It is a few blocks east of the Strip, and is also easily accessible by bus. The place has a restaurant (the food looked good and the portions large), but if beer is all you want, you may park your “derriere” at the bar and try all their brews for a mere $1.00 per twenty-ounce glass! And it gets better: they are actually very drinkable!
Ellis Island makes the following brews: A “Light” (which I did not try it, but looked extremely light), a “Gold” (light but pleasant American-style lager), a very decent “Hefe-Weiss”, a pleasant amber ale and a very drinkable stout. Just like Big Dog’s stout, it wasn’t too heavy but was quite tasty.
Incidentally, Ellis Island also makes its own hard lemonade and root Beer.
In addition to the beer being good and almost free, I liked that you could sit at the bar and be surrounded by locals. Ellis Island isn’t a big fancy casino, it is a casual and laid-back place where locals come to relax and gamble, away from the tourists. With $1 beers that size, you’re almost guaranteed to make friends there!
Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas
A few years ago a whole new Hofbräuhaus was built in Las Vegas; it is a smaller but almost exact replica of the one In Munich. It is located on Paradise and Harmon, a few blocks away from the strip (walking distance if you like exercise, or accessible by bus), right across from the Hard Rock Café. It opened 29 January 2004.
OK, it may not be Germany but it is still a blast. Even though my favorite German restaurant west of the Mississippi is still the Suppenküche (in San Francisco, blocks away from the Toronado, the famous beer bar) the food was excellent, a traditional band was playing nightly, and the brews were excellent. Frankly, I did not expect the beer to be half that good, being so far from home. The beer served is the original Hofbräuhaus beer, shipped over from the fatherland. They have the regular Pils-like lager, the Dunkel, and the Weissbier. As a bonus they also had a Maibock; my wife ordered it and it was excellent. Again, short of going to Germany, German beer just doesn’t get any better. Female servers were all wearing their dirndls, and one of them went around selling real German soft pretzels, the best I had on this side of the Atlantic.
There are just a few differences between the Vegas Hofbräuhaus and the original: the Vegas one opted for an indoor biergarten instead of the outside one (no one really wants to be sitting outside when it’s 100F I guess). Also, they actually have three beer sizes. The original Hofbräuhaus in Germany has no wimpy-size beers: when you ask for a beer, you get a liter of it, unless you ask for a Weissbier in which case it comes in a .5L Weissbier glass. The Vegas Hofbräuhaus serves beer in .3L, .5L or 1 liter size. They also serve the Weissbier by the liter if requested, something that would be considered horrible etiquette in Bavaria.
Overall, the place is a lot of fun. Even the gift-shop was great, with lots of German items and reasonable prices; mugs, shirts, hats, flags, Bavarian table decorations etc. In case any one is looking for an outfit or decorations before Oktoberfest time comes around, you can even order on line.
Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas
4510 Paradise Road Las Vegas, NV 89109 Tel: (702) 853-BEER (2337)
http://www.hofbrauhauslasvegas.com
Gordon Biersch Las Vegas
This is very close to both the Ellis Island Brewery and the Hofbräuhaus. It also happens to be one of my favorite G.B. locations, along with the Honolulu G.B.
I got a sampler of the appetizers (all very good) and a sampler of the beers. The Weizen was definitely one of the better US-made weizen beers I'd had. Also, Gordon Biersch serves its weizen the authentic German way, in the right glass, and without the lemon. I like that!
Overall, a good experience with good food and good beer. It is a chain, but still a fun stop on a beer-hunter's itinerary.
Gordon Biersch Las Vegas
3987 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89109
phone: 702-312-5247
hours:
Sun-Thurs: 11:00 AM - Midnight
Fri-Sat: 11:00 AM - 1:00 AM
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