End of Summer Craft Beer Birthday Party Features Wasatch Devastor, Lost Abbey Ale, and Clown Shoes

Season 2, Episode 20: Where did the summer go? Talk about time flying! And time also flies by quickly when you’re having a great time drinking craft beer and listening to a live band playing incredible music! Add to that a birthday celebration for the band’s lead singer at Las Vegas’ #1 Dive Bar, and you have the ingredients of a really fun evening, which is exactly what happened as we featured craft beer brewed by the likes of Wasatch Brewing out of Park City, Utah, San Marcos California’s own Lost Abbey, and Clown Shoes Beer from Ipswich, Massachusetts . So long summer, we hardly knew ye this year, but we’ll continue to bring you interesting craft beer selections as our shows continue throughout the autumn season into Christmastime!

We started out the show with the Devastator from Wasatch Brewing Company, a strong amber double bock lager. Double Bocks are not for everyone, but if you know you like that beer class, you should give it a try. Clocking in at 8% alcohol, it poured an off-white head with a maroon/darkish amber glow. You’ll immediately start to smell hints of caramel as soon as you open the bottle, and that caramel and burnt raisin taste continues throughout, with an interesting spiciness on the finish giving way to a medium bodied mouthfeel with a syrupy type carbonation which is great for some, maybe a bit too strong for others. The good thing about this craft beer is the price: you won’t pay that exorbitant price for the Devastator as you would with similar craft beer Double Bocks you find on the market. For the price, it’s a winner – but it’s up to you to try it for yourself and let us know what you think.

Craft beer from the Lost Abbey Brewing Company was next, and let us just say, this brewery has quickly become one of the show favorites. In fact, we’re confident saying you can put this craft beer up against any competing beer class without fear of disappointment – and that was the case as we highlighted their “Devotion”, a 6.25% alcohol Belgian Pale Ale. If you like Belgian style beers, you’ll LOVE this! And if you aren’t sure about Belgian Pale Ales, you definitely need to give this a try. With a rich clear amber look and a huge white head, we found this craft beer light and refreshing. The mild nature of the taste is balanced perfectly with a little hoppy bitterness which we all like and a slightly spicy aftertaste that is truly impressive and smooth.  While not on the cheap side, we highly recommend you buy a bottle of Devotion and sample throughout the product line of this great brewery. As mentioned earlier, we “discovered” this brewery at a local craft beer festival and haven’t looked back – a major craft beer winner!

Finally, we ended with a beer that was mentioned to us as perhaps one of the best tasting hop experiences you’ll have, so when we found it, we had to give it a shot. And all of us on the show – as well as those in attendance at Cheers Bar in Las Vegas – agreed, the “Hoppy Feet” from Clown Shoes Brewing as amazing! Seriously, don’t let the name “fool” you! This had to be one of the best tasting black IPAs we’ve tasted in a long time! This 7% alcohol American Black Ale had an absolutely great dark brown pour with bold bubbly lacing and smelled amazing.  You get a full bodied, yet smooth and rich mouthfeel and although it tasted very hoppy, the bitterness did not overwhelm and gave way to a strong finish and an aftertaste that you really have to try for yourself because it’s hard to describe with words.  Find this craft beer by you, and whatever the price, buy it (it’s not cheap, but we guarantee it’s worth it)

The “I Love Beer” Show strikes again! Besides the great tasting craft beers, the entire bar was treated to the sounds of “When I Grow Up“, a great local Las Vegas Band. And I think Karen (the band’s lead singer) enjoyed her birthday party that night as well. They rocked it so hard the amp blew out and had to cut the last set short! It didn’t matter, the craft beer still poured!

Want to join in on the fun at our next show? Just text BEER to 69302 and get updates on upcoming shows and locations. We’ve got some special shows in the works in the upcoming weeks and months, so get on board NOW, become a fan if you haven’t already done so, and let’s drink some fantastic craft beers!