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| - I've been to a few brewery tours now, and this one was probably the most fun. JJBC is a small brewery here in Southern Nevada. They distribute to about a dozen different states right now. As a local, I am proud of what they have done for Las Vegas and craft beer.
The free tour happens every third Saturday of the month. Ours was started by Matthew Lisowski, the owner of the brewery. Matt gave us an introduction and a short history of the brewery, including where the name came from (you will have to go on the tour to hear the story!). Then Alex, the head brewer, took over the tour while Matt constantly poured us samples of the various beers that Joseph James makes. It was really neat to drink really "green" beer straight out of the fermenter. One such beer was a Steam lager that was a recipe by a local homebrewer, and was probably my favorite beer of the tour. We also had a couple of other special release beers like the Hubub, a super hoppy, unbalanced beer that was brewed just once. The 6 pack was free!
Matt definitely goes out of his way to make everyone feel at home in his small brewery. We got to see the mash tun, the boil kettle, the grain mill, and various huge fermenters fermenting away. As a homebrewer, it is always fascinating to see how the pros do this stuff. Joseph James is a very intimate brewery, with a small staff, but they have some good beer, like the Red Fox Imperial Stout.
If you want to do the tour, just give them a call ahead of time and reserve a spot for you and your friends/family. As others have mentioned, they also make soda, although you do have to be 21 to go on the tour.
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