BY REGGIE CURRIE (Twitter: @MrBikerBrew)
Feature Photo by Amit Dadlaney (http://www.AmitDPhotography.com)

You work hard, drink beer with Integrity, and proudly pour yourself true “Craft Beers”. But lets be honest, you like teasing yourself with a little sin too! You need a bit of seductive mischievousness, as a reward for your hard work. And when that beer is being poured by a woman just as alluring as the hops in your glass.. well, who are we to complain? Welcome to a true Craft Beer Festival, put on Vegas Style at the Golden Nugget! Complete with a Live Band, beautiful decor, 300 Craft Beers, and of course lots of lovely beer maidens readily pouring! (http://www.GoldenNugget.com)

Amy Chasey

Amy Chasey, the VP of Marketing and Advertising for the Golden Nugget, modeled this evenings festival after a wine tasting where one gets up close and personal with the vintner (wine-maker). Tonight’s event is educational as it gives attendees the chance to learn about the brewers while surrounding themselves in a fun, yet comfortable environment.

Spoetzl Brewmaster Jimmy R. Mauric

I mosey around and quickly find a passionate brewer, sporting a giant Texas sized smile. Jimmy Mauric, the Brewmaster for Spoetzl Brewery, greets me enthusiastically and shakes my hand with a firm grip. He fills my glass with a Shiner Smokehaus (http://www.Shiner.com) (twitter @ShinerBeer). It’s a Helles Rauchbier (light & smoked) beer holding good times in a bottle. The smokey aroma gets your attention like your nephew playfully bouncing a beach ball off your head while barbeque’n with the family: Fun, smokey, and brings out a smile. I’m really impressed with the amount of flavor in this straw colored quencher. I ask Jimmy,  ”how did you get such well balanced smoke in a bottle?” He beams with obvious pride, smiling from ear to ear, and proclaims, “We smoke a quarter of the Malt with homegrown Texas mesquite Wood!”  And we are sure glad he did. The Smokehaus is great way to wash down the good wings, sliders and other eats which the Golden Nuggets Chefs put there personal touch into. (http://www.GoldenNugget.com/dining/)

Frankie Moreno of The Frankie Moreno Band

The Frankie Moreno Band is setting the mood, and rocking away (http://www.GoldenNugget.com/entertainment/) while the beers are pouring. The beers are not pouring themselves of course, we are privileged to have beautiful German Barmaids a plenty to fill our cups. The night is going great.. Wait.. the lead singer of the band has an empty glass! I feel duty call, down my Shiner Smokehaus, and fill his glass with some Ommegang 3 Philosophers (http://www.Ommegang.com).

Civic duty completed, I head to Tenaya Creek’s Brewery table (http://www.TenayaCreekBrewery.com) which beckons me with swaying wheat decor, a barmaid I swear is looking just at me (hey I can dream!), and a lithe out-stretched arm holding a pitcher of Tenaya Creek Hop Ride… Yes, please, I stammer… then take a sip as I realize I’m was just standing there smiling and not saying a thing..

Our personal Barmaid with Tenaya Creek's GM, Karl Herrera and Tiffany Hauck

My inadequate female social skills are rewarded with the huge wet hoppy taste I crave! A vast pop of citrus and spice hits my Tongue with all the excitement of the dealer yelling.. “Black Jack!!” The Brewer, Anthony Gibson, really did a great job of handcrafting Hop Ride. The dry hopping (adding hops to the wort or “grain mash” after the boil), gets right in your face.. Yet does its job of adding aroma and flavor while keeping the bitter and sweet symmetry in the beer we IPA lovers look for. The mouth feel is much lighter then I expected, but adds a nice refreshing feel to the beer. Not to mention, the after taste actually sweetens up in this little tiny finishing tinge which has me craving hops again. Well done Teyaya Creek, I really enjoyed this beer. I can see why you made the Sweet 16 at the 2010 National IPA Championship, out of 248 entries! Tenaya Creek Brewery is a home town Brewer Las Vegas and the Golden Nugget can be proud to support.

Happy and smiling I mosey on to find that my festival kinsmen are walking around wearing Alaskan Brewing Company slap coozies on their arms like Elven warriors battling Hell spawn. Err.. or at least cool folks proud to drink real Craft Beer. Either way I decide to find these armor toting “Alaskan” guys. I turn around to see a really tall man sporting 4 slap coozies, a wild captivating smile, and an Alaskan Brewing Co. shirt.

“Hello!” He says jovially as he slaps a coozie on my arm. Ha! And since that’s how all great conversations start, soon it’s two craft beer lovers chatting about great beer (http://www.AlaskanBeer.com) (twitter @AlaskanBrewing). Chris asks me what my “favorite” beers are with the type of emphasis on the word that says don’t BS me. And since I like to tell the truth to large men wearing cooooozies.. I tell the truth, “IPAs, Barley Wines, and Creative extreme beers that push the envelope.” He soon produces his secret stash of 2008 Alaskan Brewing Company, Gold Medal Winning, Barley Wine! After carefully rinsing my glass, I indulge.

2008 Alaska Brewing Company's Barley Wine Ale

The sweet malts are smooth, but not to much, and I’m left contemplating whither a brush of dates, or raisins toasted with brown sugar just treated my mouth? It reminds me of aging pine, stacked next to a orange tree. The spicy heat from the hops is there, but not much bitterness. This baby is smooooth. I can see Steve Jobs and Apple’s Board of Directors planning world domination while sipping this beauty. Me? I’ll sip it around the campfire.. Damn, I loved this beer (http://www.AlaskanBeer.com). Chris, you rock.

Paulaner's beer loving family!

The next day was the Pool Party. Last night your $50 awarded you with all you could drink tastings, wonderful interactions with the actual brewers, and ladies riding the wonderful line of sex and class. Today there is no fee to get in. Just hang out by the pool and listen to live music, all the while sending your smiling kids sliding through a swirling pool of sharks! You generously treat yourself to a Ommegang Three Philosophers (twitter @BreweryOmmegang). Your wife? She is laughing and.. taking pictures of kids sliding threw sharks! And of course, loving her canned Big Sky Brewing Trout Slayer Ale, which lets her do 12 things at once while keeping glass away from the kids (http://www.BigskyBrew.com)! You deserve it.. She deserves it.. And me? I loved seeing so many people having so much fun.

Slide through the Shark tank at the Golden Nugget

Oh-my-gang it's Ommegang!

Tenaya Creeks main guys Anthony Gibson and Karl Herrera by Amit Dadlaney

Craft beer lovers desire flavor, taste, and character. Landry’s Restaurants, the group who owns the Golden Nugget, knows this. Not only did Amy Chasey and Tiffany Hauck, Public Relations Manager for the Golden Nugget, put together an elegant classy craft beer event last night, they followed it up with a great pool party. The success of the event is probably just good karma coming back. You see the company as a whole is working with local Craft Brewers to bring our Craft to the forefront. In fact, Scott Tarwater, Corporate Wine & Beverage Manager for Landry’s Restaurants, happily shared Landry’s thoughts with me. Part of there marketing strategy is to find valuable local craft brewers surrounding there restaurant and entertainment concepts. Giving those brewers support, as well as the opportunity to grow within the company. Yep, a wonderful stage for local brewers to show there beers upon! That way Landry’s supports the local business community around their concepts, while showcasing character and great flavor to their guest. Now that’s something I can get behind.

Bottom line? Everyone wants to release, and to come enjoy Las Vegas! Craft Beer is the perfect reason to come have a lot of fun! So, keep an eye out for whats going on at the Golden Nugget (twitter @GoldenNuggetLV). I look forward to sharing a toast with you! Whether at next years Fall Beer Festival, or at one of the Golden Nuggets Craft Beer dinners, when you arrive, I think you will find some real craft beer culture, right here in Vegas.

Your Brother in Beer,

Reggie