Station Casinos selling Las Vegas valet driver’s craft beer

Dave Forrest worked as a valet at Green Valley Ranch Resort when he was a college student in 2001. He occasionally went to the sports book for a beer after work.

Sixteen years later, he’s still a valet there, and he still enjoys some suds after his shift ends. But now the blonde ale he buys is his own.

Station Casinos recently began serving Silver State beer. It’s made by CraftHaus Brewery in Henderson, which Forrest launched in 2014 with his wife, Wyndee.

“It’s kind of come full circle,” Forrest said. “I used to just share my home brew with my colleagues, and now to have my product upstairs is really surreal. I still have to kind of pinch myself.”

The brewing enthusiast is one of a handful of entrepreneurs celebrating a new campaign by Station to feature locally made craft beers at its properties.

Wyndee Forrest said Station has exclusive rights to the first 150 24-can cases of Silver State. More CraftHaus brews are expected to be added soon.

“It means quite a bit for a small independently owned brewery,” she said. The deal with Station represents a 20-25 percent bump in production.

Dan D’Agostino, corporate director of beverage for Station, said the move to support local breweries was a natural fit for the company.

“We’re a locals’ casino,” he said. “I really thought our beverage program needed to reflect that.”

Adding Silver State, which CraftHaus released on Nevada Day, was an easy decision.

“The fact that it’s local and it’s a phenomenal beer, that was the driving factor,” D’Agostino said. “I love Dave and Wyndee, but if they didn’t have a great beer, we wouldn’t be doing them a favor.”

Wyndee Forrest said CraftHaus will be Station’s featured brewery of the month in February. For that, she said, the brewery is making ten 13½-gallon barrels of Citrus Station, a mandarin IPA that will be available exclusively at the company’s properties.

Station brought in Banger Brewing late last year to take over the brewery operations at Barley’s Casino & Brewing Co. on Sunset Road in Henderson. Barley’s was one of the first local brewers, opening in 1996, and had been producing primarily German hefeweizens and lagers. Banger partner Nick Fischella said the change allowed for an update.

“Barley’s (had) been brewing that same style of beer for 20 years,” Fischella said. “As the craft beer movement began and the flavors of beer changed, they were looking to bring in newer styles.”

Fischella said they’ve done some of the classic styles that Barley’s produced before but also are introducing seasonal beers, such as a vanilla maple porter for winter, Barley’s Pale Ale for spring and a peach wheat beer next summer.

D’Agostino said there will be more changes, such as investing in equipment for canning beer.

The craft beer radar also includes Tenaya Creek Brewery, which has six brews (an IPA, a pale ale, a brown ale, two lagers and an oatmeal stout), Big Dog’s Brewing Co. and Able Baker Brewing.

“Big Dog’s has some really highly awarded beers that have won national recognition, in particular, their brown ale,” D’Agostino said.

Able Baker recently did a special release of its Honey Dip Stout, which was infused with cacao chips. Chocolate Chip Honey Dip Stout is available at all Station properties and the Palms.

Karl Herrera, director of sales for Tenaya Creek, which opened in 1999, said it is looking forward to seeing its brews served at Station, though they haven’t reached a formal agreement yet.

“We’re ahead of the times in many things in Las Vegas, but craft beer is not one of them,” Herrera said. “In San Diego, Portland, Denver, you go to any bar and it’s all local beer. It’s hard to find a Bud, Miller or Coors these days in those more mature craft beer towns.”

D’Agostino acknowledged that the move is “huge” for CraftHaus.

“But it’s huge for us, too,” he said. “When I travel, one of the first things I do when I go to a bar or restaurant is ask what local beers they have. I in particular want to try things I can get there that I can’t get at home.”

Adam Carmer, owner of The Whisky Attic and a local beer expert who was knighted by Belgium for his contributions to beer, said it’s huge for the city, too, because “you have community involvement from someone as influential as the Fertitta brothers and their Station Casinos brand.”

“They won’t do anything that’s not quality,” Carmer said. “What they’re saying is not only do we support our locals, but our locals have a very high-quality product. So other people should get on board, because we bring in things from all over the world. It’s a big compliment — and an honest compliment, because they’re not going to do it if they can’t make money, and if it’s not a quality product, they won’t make money.”

Back in Henderson, Forrest said a number of regular casino guests have watched the evolution of CraftHaus.

“They’re excited, because they can now go up to the sports book and ask for our beer,” he said.

He and Wyndee have three children now, and he’s not planning to quit his valet job anytime soon.

“This is going so well for us, we’re continuing with the investment and getting more equipment to keep up with the demand,” he said. “It’s hard to say what the future holds. But the future is pretty bright, I would say.”

Local suds

Craft brewers are multiplying in Southern Nevada. Not all have taprooms; for details, go to their websites.

■ Able Baker Brewing Co.; ablebakerbrewing.com

■ Bad Beat Brewing; badbeatbrewing.com

■ Banger Brewing; bangerbrewing.com

■ Barley’s Casino & Brewing Co.; wildfire.sclv.com/barleys

■ Big Dog’s Brewing Co.; bigdogsbrews.com

■ Boulder Dam Brewing Co.; boulderdambrewing.com

■ Chicago Brewing Co.; chicagobrewinglv.com

■ CraftHaus Brewery; crafthausbrewery.com

■ Ellis Island Casino & Brewery; ellisislandcasino.com

■ Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant; gordonbiersch.com