Before coming to Vegas, my wife, Ashlee, had done a bit of touring in California before meeting Mel in L.A. when she landed from Kiwi-land. While in Cali Ashlee spent some time with her friend, Teri, who happens to work at Port Brewing Company in San Marcos near San Diego. Teri was kind enough to hook us up with a ton of good beer that Ashlee graciously lugged to Vegas for me to begin sampling and then lugged home for more sampling in the near future (more on that later). While in Vegas I did try four of the Port brews. They batted 3 out of 4 with me as I throughly enjoyed the full pints of their Wipeout IPA, Hop-15 Ale and their Inferno Ale from The Lost Abbey line. Their Belgian/French-style seasonal Carnevale Ale (also from The Lost Abbey line) wasn't real pleasing to my palette, but I still do applaud the effort and others do as well since it's a gold medal winner. These guys really know what they are doing in terms of brewing. Thanks to Teri and Ashlee for their help in letting me try these beers since I haven't made it to California recently, plus the fact that these beers are not available in Tennessee. Look for a report soon on the rest of the Port brews that I will be trying.
We were also able to check out Vegas' own Tenaya Creek Brewery while we were in town. It was established in 1999 and while small in stature, they are big in taste and quality. This was some good, quality beer and eons better than Sin City Brewing over on The Strip which is just over-priced soapy swill aimed strictly at the tourists. I tried the Tenaya Creek Brown Ale, their Hop Ride IPA, their Ringtale Pale Ale and their Hefeweizen. Mel said their pilsner was good as well.
We also visited my favorite 100-beers-on-tap restaurant, the Yard House, but I didn't have anything new and stayed with my beloved Double Daddy IPA instead. Thanks, Vegas, see you again in October maybe?
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