The New Guy From Vegas

[dantheman13]

Born and raised in Vegas, and although we have a couple of great microbreweries here, I have decided that I would like to try brewing my own beer! I have already taken advantage of the friendly advice on this forum, and brewed my first batch of Coopers IPA (extract) a couple of days ago. I don't think that my temperature control is going to let this first batch turn out correctly (plus a few other mistakes), but I am considering this to be a learning process for me.

Thanks in advance for all of the answers to my noobie questions... I am sure that I will be asking a lot of them!

 

[wlffmnnn]

Welcome! I am new also. One of my favorite beer glasses is one I got last summer from the Sin City Brewery in the forum shops. Your temp control problem can be easily fixed. Do you have a wort chiller? Also did you pitch your yeast at a warm temp? I learned 2 things very fast. First, invest in a wort chiller and do an Ice bath with it. My cool down times went down dramatically. Also be sure to refrigerate your distilled water over night before your brew day. As you topp off it helps to cool down better. Just do not make the mistake of trying to add the cold water to a hot wort. Good luck. i have had a lot of succcess with extract kits and and have 2 on tap now that I would make again. It gets a lot more fun too when you get in to all grains.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

i will be heading to Vegas this summer. what are some of the Micros you recommend to try? Also, do they serve Russian River Brewery in vegas?

 

[dantheman13]

wlfmnnn - Yeah, I made a few mistakes with my first batch of beer. I pitched it at about 80 degrees F. Also, what is wrong with adding cold water to hot wort to cool it down before pitching? These are probably the least of my worries though because I think that I fermented at a higher/changing temperature. I am definitely investing in a fridge with a controller before I brew again! Thanks!

Hockeyhunter99 - Without a doubt, the best micro in Vegas is Big Dogs Draft House. there are three locations, but their brewpub location is the best in my opinion (http://www.yelp.com/biz/big-dogs-draft-house-las-vegas). They recently won second place in an IPA competition for their Dirty Dog IPA. If you can get their yearly War Dog IPA though, that one is something special. Aces and Ales is the best bar for draft from around the country on tap, but they can be a bit pricey (http://www.yelp.com/biz/aces-and-ales-las-vegas). Aces and Ales is also where the local Homebrew club meets. As far as Russian River, I am told that it is not available anywhere in Nevada. You'll probably have to go to Northern California to get some of that.

I follow a guy named Ken on Yelp who reviews every craft beer pub/brewery in Vegas, and lists them. I doubt you'll find a more complete list. Here you go!

http://www.yelp.com/list/las-vegas-craft-breweries-las-vegas
http://www.yelp.com/list/brewtus-maximus-craft-beer-revolution-las-vegas

 

[wlffmnnn]

Theoretically there is nothing wrong unless you use a glass carboy. You are basically doing the same thing when you use a chiller. The difference is that the cold distilled water after you have cooled your wort is basically an insurance policy that you get down to pitching temperature. I always make sure that I am below 75 degrees before I pitch.

Side note: Have you been to the Sin City brewery in the forum shops?

 

[dantheman13]

wlffm - Thanks much for the info. I think what you are saying is that it is better to get the wort too cold than to not have enough cold water to bring the temperature down. That is also a lesson I learned during my first brew. I should have chilled the other gallon containers of water that I had, but I only chilled one gallon! It wasn't enough to bring the temperature all the way down, and I was prepping the yeast in some warm water, so I didn't know if I had time to try and chill the wort some more. I just went ahead and added yeast to the warmer wort. Oh well, I am not too fussed on doing everything right the first time. This is a learning experience for me, and I am lousy in the kitchen as it is.

I've never been to Sin City Brewery, but I've heard that their 4 year round beers are pretty standard stuff, better than macros but nothing to be overly excited about. However, I have heard that some of their seasonals can be good. Big Dogs is definitely the pride of Las Vegas when it comes to microbreweries, particularly if you like the west coast IPA style. Big Dogs isn't like going to Stone Brewery or anything like that, but I think they brew good beer, and the bar food is pretty good too.

P.S. For some reason my links redirect to a Yelp advertisement webpage. Just copy and paste the URL, and it should take you to the listings.

 

[JoeyLink]

Welcome! My girlfriend and I are considering a move to Vegas in a year or two. She's lived there before and loved it but I'm a little apprehensive. I've always lived in Portland and I'm sure I'll miss the brew scene here, but I'm ready for a change. Are there many brewpubs down there?