LET’S GO....DRINKING IN LAS VEGAS (PART TWO: POUR 24)

After a hard day on my dogs all day in Las Vegas last Monday, what I needed more than anything was a cold, refreshing ultra-scarce microbrewed craft beer that I’d never had before. I’d been reading one of those ridiculous all-advertising throwaway “Vegas lifestyle” magazines at lunch, and there was a pseudo-writeup about a place called POUR 24 in the New York, New York Hotel, a place with lots of taps and a commitment to quality beer. It sounded like my kinda place at 4pm on a Monday. I checked it out. Here’s what I found.

POUR 24 is really just a little non-enclosed island in the most heavily-trafficked portion of the hotel, the place where all the shops are that people hurry by on their way to lose a bunch of money. A simple, fairly unobtrusive bar with some stools and a view over the main “trading floor”. I liked it. In Las Vegas, like the FREAKIN’ FROG I wrote about yesterday, this classifies as an oasis, though being smack dab in a casino and on the Strip makes it both highly visible and very noisy. I saddled up with a STONE RUINATION, just a fantastic beer and one I’d only had once before. I’m willing to raise my 7.5/10 up to an 8.5/10 now, as this pint was totally worth savoring – an intense IPA that nonetheless has a very clean, fresh, moderately smooth mouthfeel and a sparkling, tingling dose of hops. Unlike any other IPA I know of, though for sure its differences are subtle. It’s like it has the potential to overwhelm, and yet it’s so well-crafted and so juicy just doesn’t, and one could even imagine non-beer dorks enjoying it. Now that’s quality. Again, 8.5/10.

After going bananas for BRECKENRIDGE BREWING’s CHRISTMAS ALE just a month or so ago, I saw that Pour 24 had their OATMEAL STOUT on tap and I got all excited inside. Well stow me for a lubber, but this is just not a very good beer. An unpleasant, astringent, unsmooth concoction of roasted malts and deep dark jungle flavors, I found Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout a bit of a chore to get through. It was either that or my hotel room and a bunch of work that was beckonging, so I stayed with it, but it wasn’t easy. 4.5/10. Hard to imagine this being from the same folks who made that CHRISTMAS ALE this year – now that one was the bomb.

With regard to POUR 24 – well - when in Vegas, lord help you, this little nook is as good a bet as any for beer geekdom.