Working off the Tonopah area’s beer-rich history, a new brewery is set to make beer the area’s signature drink once again.
On Saturday, the grand opening of Tonopah Brewing Company, 167 miles north of Pahrump, will take place with a day featuring live music, special events and of course, tastings of the several beers made on site.
During Tonopah’s silver boom years, beer was the go-to drink for the European-born miners looking to strike it rich, and the brewery looks to capture that spirit with the new business.
“Beer was the primary drink when Tonopah was first founded,” said Jim Caroompas, marketing manager for Tonopah Brewing Company. “The water quality wasn’t great and folks back in those days drank a whole lot of beer as a matter of course. One of the very first businesses in Tonopah in 1900 was a brewery.
“One of the first stone buildings built in Tonopah was a brewery, so they (brewery owners, Fred and Nancy Cline) felt it was a good idea to bring one back.”
Saturday’s event runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and will feature a live performance by Virginia City-based Lady and the Tramps starting at 7 p.m. There will also be prizes given away every half hour, and other special guests throughout the day.
The brewery has five standing brews, and occasional seasonal offerings that change on a regular basis. The regular beers, all named using Tonopah or Nevada-based references, offered include: 49251 (American Pale Ale); .999 (Indian Pale Ale); Mucker (Irish Red Ale); Half Life (Hefeweizen ); and Frail Sister (Pilsner).
One of the seasonal specials, Mother Joan, is a cherry-infused stout named for a now-deceased local religious leader who was also a motorcycle riding, tough-talking iconoclast, or as the brewery said, “a typical rural Nevadan.”
Nevada beer-making legend Lance Jergensen uses ingredients he either grows or sources from Nevada. Doing so, Jergensen’s craft gives the brews a unique flavor that already has a solid local and tourist following.
“We’ve had just phenomenal response from the folks in and around Tonopah and from the travelers that go through,” Caroompas said. “If you look at Yelp and Tripadvisor there’s a whole stream of four and five-star reviews, that are really impressed with not only the beer, but also the southern style barbecue.”
That one-of-a-kind quality is exactly what owner Fred Cline had in mind when conceptualizing the brewery.
“Beer should be fun. It should be an experience. That’s what we’re going for,” Cline said. “Right now we’re in a beer renaissance. There’s an appreciation for well-crafted brews. And that’s what we’re making.”
All the beer is made and sold on site, and eventually, the label should be on supermarket shelves around the country, although no immediate plans are in the works.
In addition to the beer, the brewery offers a southern barbecue food menu. Manager Richard Weathers makes sure the barbecue offerings reflect his years in the south, where barbecue is basically a religion. The meat is slow-cooked and tender, and a wide variety of sauces, including sweet, tangy, and scorching, are offered to accommodate each customer’s individual taste.
The Clines also own Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in California, and the remodeled Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah.
Tonopah Brewing Company is located at 320 Veterans Memorial Highway and is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. They can be reached at 775-482-2000.