Vegas Beer Update

I’m in Las Vegas this week for a work conference and so far I haven’t really run into an awesome beer selection, though Bouchon in the Venetian has a pretty decent selection of beer for a fancy restaurant. There may be some other opportunities for great beer later in the week, but for now, this is what I’m making do with:

  • New Belgium Fat Tire – A pretty straightforward amber ale, this reminds me of a sorta west-coast Yuengling lager. It seems to be ubiquitous around here and while it won’t blow you away, it makes a good session beer. It might be a little better than the Lager, but that also may be the novelty of it speaking, as New Belgium does not distribute anything near me… Hopefully I’ll be able to find some of New Belgium’s more adventurous beers at some point.
  • Chimay Cinq Cents (aka White) – Chimay’s version of a tripel is fantastic, as always. I’ve had these many times before and may even have a half finished blog entry about it somewhere. I still wouldn’t call it my favorite tripel or anything, but it’s very good and retains a certain distinct Chimay character. I had it on tap at Bouchon, and it went well with my meal.
  • Delirium Tremens – Another beer I’ve had several times before, but which is, as always fantastic. In fact, I enjoyed it much better while having it during a meal. It’s a very sweet beer, so having it all by itself can get a bit cloying after a while. Mixing it with rich, meaty flavors of my dinner worked really well. Also on tap at Bouchon.
  • Shiner Bock – There’s a bar attached to Treasure Island called Gilles. It’s a Country/Western bar (strike 1) and their beer selection featured mostly macros (strike 2), but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the Shiner Bock and was glad to have a few of these. The bar is pretty funny though. It’s got a mechanical bull, and the waitress’ uniform was… interesting (I suppose these two features mitigate the two aforementioned strikes). Oh yeah, the beer. It’s good. As Bock’s go, I have to say it’s easily better than the recently reviewed Yuengling Bock, and made for a nice session beer last night. I can see why this beer is so popular (though I don’t know why the beer nerds and BA are so hard on it).

I’ve had a few other beers and will hopefully have something more interesting before the week ends. More to come…

2 thoughts on “Vegas Beer Update”

  1. Vegas, baby, Vegas! Or something to that effect…actually, I hate that movie (Swingers). A lot.

    I “experienced” Vegas back in 2003, when my brother got married out there…it was awesome, but then, I was 23, single…and, well, 23. I’m not sure I’d get the same thrill out of it now, but maybe it would be cool to see in a different way.

    I do know it was a very strange place, where the basic rules of society and even physics seemed to be altered…and my mind kept running to Fear and Loathing, but maybe that’s just me. The Venetian was cool in a weird way, as was Paris, Las Vegas, where we stayed. It was also really cool seeing the fountains at the Belagio, all the more so since Oceans 11 had just recently come out.

    I’ve had the Chimay Cinq Cents, as part of a Chimay sampler pack, though I can’t say I remember much about the beer. I do like the notion of the sampler pack. (Especially for Scotch!)

    I have had Delerium Tremens several times, and always loved it. If memory serves, it’s from Corsendonk? Or maybe I’ve just always connected the two in my memory, since my good friend who got me into Belgians loved both Delerium Tremens and Corsendonk..? Now I’ve confused myself.

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  2. I like Swingers, but for a while, all the lingo associated with it was wayyyy too overused (i.e. You’re so money! And the Vegas thing:p)

    You’re dead on about Vegas – it’s not reality, and I can really only take so much of it. 3 days usually does it. This time around, since I was there for work, it was a little different, but by the end, I was definitely ready for home. And reality.

    Chimay seems to be the special beer of choice for most places. I love it, but then, I’ve had all the varieties several times. I ended up having a Chimay Blue later in the week. I think Delerium Tremens is different than Corsendonk, though I’ve only had the Corsendonk Christmas ale and thus don’t know much about them…

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