Perhaps you’re a beer aficionado whose in-home bar is lined with trophies commemorating your numerous blind-tasting victories. Or maybe you’re just a regular Joe or Jane who enjoys relaxing on a Saturday afternoon with an ice-cold IPA (or three). Wherever you fall on the beer-drinker spectrum, be sure to block out a few hours this weekend to attend events celebrating the nectar in all of its various forms and flavors. Motley Brews presents the second Mad Craft Experience on April 6 and the eighth annual Great Vegas Festival of Beer Grand Tasting on April 7 in downtown Las Vegas. The nighttime Mad Craft Experience features more than 120 of the world’s premier craft breweries and will take over four city blocks.
The Craft Experience features several culinary competitions and one-off beers; in the Grand Tasting, more than 500 types of beer can be sampled, from such familiar brands as Guinness, Leinenkugel and Warsteiner to regional breweries from Oregon (Hop Valley), Southern California (Stone, Left Coast and Saint Archer), Montana (Big Sky) and beyond. Southern Nevada’s brewing community will also be well represented, including Joseph James, Banger, Big Dog’s, PT’s and CraftHaus. In between sips, festivalgoers can purchase bites from a makeshift gastropub, boost their beer IQ at BrewLogic educational lessons and even partake in a little silent disco.
World Market Center, Mad Craft Experience, 7-10 p.m. April 6, $60 plus tax and fee, 2 p.m. April 7, $45, $55 early entry and $100 VIP all plus tax and fee, 21+. greatvegasbeer.com
