Cheers to Cheers, Featuring Craft Beers from Speakeasy Brewing, Stone Brewing, and Samuel Smith Brewing

It was a bittersweet night for our most recent impromptu “I Love Beer Show” as we bid farewell to one of our favorite craft beer dive bars in Las Vegas. Any fan of the show knows Cheers Bar has hosted many a show and have been one of our biggest supporters over the past few years. We are sad to see them close their doors, but wish everyone all the best of luck in the future!

The show started out with some strong selections from Speakeasy Brewing in San Francisco, including their Blind Tiger Imperial IPA and the Butchertown Black Ale. Then we moved onto Stone Brewing’s Vertical Epic 8/8/08 craft beer along with Samuel Smith Brewery’s “Winter Ale”. As you may expect, the “Bar Closing Party” lasted for quite some time afterwards!

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We’ve tasted craft beers from SpeakEasy at a numberr of Beer Festivals in the Las Vegas area and always loved their selections, but for some reason, we’ve never featured them on the show before. We’re here to tell you they are for real! At 8% alcohol, their Butchertown Black Ale was the hands-down show favorite. It poured a deep brown ruby hue with a creamy mocha brown head that settles and laces very well. The aroma hits you fast with roasted malt, coffee, light chocolate, and a touch of pine which gave it a nice piney bitterness on the taste up front. We tasted an earthly roasted malt, sweet chocolate, a hint of coffee, and some light citrus on the creamy smooth finish. This is a very smooth, great tasting beer with a nice hoppy aftertaste. Butchertown is a limited release so if you see this one you better take advantage. All we can say is “nice job, Speakeasy!”

Then we moved onto their “Blind Tiger”, a 9.8% alcohol Double Imperial IPA that was absolutely fantastic as well. If you like hoppy craft beer, this one is for you. We tasted lots of orange and passionfruit mixed with other citrusy and fleshy fruits, followed by a powerful hop punch finished with a smooth but memorable aftertaste. The bitterness is cranked to well over 100 IBU, plus over 10 pounds of hops per barrel were added to the brew—including Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo, and Centennial hops. Overall, Blind Tiger is a “must-try” for hopheads and another winner for the show!

Moving on to another show favorite, we decided to go with Stone Brewing’s Vertical Epic 08/08/08, an 8.6% Belgian IPA that of course was delicious (and unfortunately, retired). We’ve showcased craft beer from Stone MANY times on the show. (It’s like we always say, you can’t go wrong with Stone, and their Vertical Epic series is to die for!) It’s highly hopped with Ahtanum, Amarillo and Simcoe hops and pours a beautiful pale golden color and a creamy white head foam. Immediately you smell the citrus notes, pepper, clove, and banana aroma from the Belgian yeast strain. The taste was fruity, spicy, and of course hoppy and resulted in a pleasant bitterness that lingered nicely with a refreshing finish that made us wish we had more of this craft beer to drink for the evening.

Then we finished with the Winter Ale from Samuel Smith Brewing in England (after all, we’re heading into Thanksgiving and Christmas Season, right?). This 6% ale tasted exactly as you’d expect an English Ale would taste like. It poured a clear orange color with great retention and a nice bubble lace. You’ll get a nice bready malt aroma of dried fruit and herbal hops, followed by a bold, malty, and slightly fruity bitter taste with a dried plum aftertaste at the finish. Overall, with a medium mouthfeel and ample carbonation, this would make a great choice as a winter warmer when you’re sitting by the fireplace as you contemplate life during the inevitable winter snowstorm.

Then we ended the show. Even though Cheers has closed, the “I Love Beer Show” is moving forward in significant directions! Don’t forget to visit us at New Vista Communities bi-annual BrewsBest Craft Beer festival to be held at Town Square in Las Vegas on December 5th, 2015. Get your Living Social discount tickets here. More season 3 episodes are currently in production, so why not be a guest on an upcoming show?