Cruisin' For A Brewsin': Operation Vegas!

My first brew in Vegas:
Utah's Squatters Hop Rising Double India Pale Ale

Man, this past week has been the hardest in my whole life, dealing with my mother's passing and all. But it would have been a whole lot more trying if it wasn't for the overwhelming amount of support I have received from family, friends, colleagues and you, my fellow sippers in the beer world. Thank you again for all the shout outs, texts, emails and calls to comfort me. It will be a tough road from now on, but I will keep on Cruisin'. Love you guys. 

Speaking of "cruisin'", as you can tell in the title of this post, I am in Sin City. I was strongly considering not taking this business trip after saying my formal goodbye to Ma Dukes last night during her awesome service, but she would've kicked my ass if I didn't get my ass on that plane so here I am. After checking into the Mandarin Hotel on "the Strip" (which is really, really nice), I started to get my walk on. As soon as I stepped out, traffic was blocked off by cops to make way for NASCAR hot rods doing donuts in the middle of a main intersection in front of hundreds of onlookers. It was pretty cool (and loud as hell) with all of the city lights in the background, but I kept my eyes on the prize: finding a quality brew to sip on back at my hotel room. 
The selection at a few mainstream gift shops that sold the suds were pretty basic with the macros running the shelves, but then I spotted a bomber of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for $3.99. I almost grabbed that always consistent "go-to" brew until my eyes caught a single of the Squatters Hop Rising Double IPA out of one of my favorite regions of the U.S., Salt Lake City, Utah four driving hours or so away. (Actually, as many of you know, I have a love affair with Park City especially, but Salt Lake is cool too.) Brewed at a well-balanced potency of 9 percent ABV and 75 IBUs, I have been an enthusiast of this IPA and its wonderful brewery as a whole (I featured Squatters and Wasatch here), so I was happy to see this favorite for 2.49 a bottle. I grabbed two. 

Oh yeah, and after my buy, I noticed some crazy ass mints. Check 'em out. Excuse the language on these things but hey, only in Vegas, right? 
On Saturday, I am looking forward to hitting up Rí Rá - Mandalay Bay who I shouted out in a past post here. 
Overall, this should be a fun, yet necessary trip to get my mind off of things going on back home. 
Thanks again for your support with everything. It will not be forgotten.
Cheers!
Ale