Great Basin Brewing Co.

Dear_Abbey

4.71/5  rDev +24.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

The Great Basin Brewing Co. is absolutely the best (only) local brew pub in town. The beer is great, regardless of who you are and what you like (college kids need not comment, but they do have many low abv beers for the UNR twerps). These guys make, what is probably, the best barley wine I have ever had - the Bourbon barrel barley wine. The food is great, the beer is better. If you dig beer and are in Reno, check one of their 3 locations out, you will not be disappointed. Grade A and I'm proud to say it.

01-19-2013 09:25:09 | More by Dear_Abbey

Cinderbike

Nevada

3.95/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Located in Victorian Square in downtown Sparks, this is the original Great Basin location. It's small but has enough room for you to eat.

The food is good to great (try the cheese soup, it's amazing), but the star of the show is definitely the beer. I've never been disappointed with the beers on tap, either. The Icky IPA is the most popular but I prefer most of their seasonals, including bourbon-barrel aged barleywines and stouts, as well as the occasional DIPA or spiced beer (try the chili beer that's on tap during the rib cookoff).

Overall, it's one of my favorite hangouts.

02-04-2012 02:17:05 | More by Cinderbike

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.43/5  rDev -9.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Located in Victorian Square, across from the Nugget. This place's atmosphere can really depend on the event going on outside. Sometimes when its rib cook off, farmer's market, a-hole biker vibrations, hot august nights, it will definitely be a non craft beer crowd.

But then sometimes its a cool evening of bands and a variety of beers. Its not some Mecca type of brewery where you will be driving 500 miles to check it out, world renowned etc. . . but it is the best thing in Sparks hands down. This place is an institution, while many knock it and dream of migrating from homebrewing in their garage or whatnot, this is the place that has made it happen. A rotating specialty list is really the draw here. You can pretty much get their flagship Ichy IPA, which owes more to English IPA's than west coast, just about anywhere.

But if you wanna check out their high gravity beers, the taphouse is where its at. Big open area with tons of wood all over the place. Really nothing atmosphere wise you haven't seen elsewhere in a brewery/bar scene. Bartenders don't seem to have the greatest amount of enthusiasm or knowledge. They will cater to the bar scene more than the craft beer scene when faced with a choice on a busy night.

10-24-2010 16:00:37 | More by Beerandraiderfan

Mark

California

4.13/5  rDev +9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Love this place, when in Reno for more than a few days we attend happy hour without fail. Pints are only two bucks and change. Food is decent. A simple layout but ver homey and comfortable. Icky IPA is a solid beer. Getting served by the lovely Andrea is always a pleasure and the other staff members are nice too. My only complaint is their pours often lack a head. We now are sure to request it and all is well. A must visit when in the Reno area. Easy to reach via 80 east to Sparks. Get of at the Pyramid Lake exit. Make a left at the next light. Great beer awaits in what is generally macroville.

10-03-2010 04:01:19 | More by Mark

RLaurel

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

For a hot traveler, this place is a good stop on your schedule. I am not familiar with any other watering holes in the are so I cannot draw contrast. I found it welcoming, busy, crowded & loud.

As other reviewers have pointed out, parking is a bit of a problem but I got that out of the way quickly. I started by quenching my thirst with a double IPA. Now, I ordered food and a second beer for my hunger.

The double IPA was very satisfying. Not overly hoppy flavored with a smooth taste & easy to swallow. The jalepeño won ton are superb! The jalapeño sauce is not spicey but has a smooth sweet taste. The maibock is what I like with my food & is the way I gauge the beer quality. The chips & salsa are a good chew with a litely pepper taste. I liked it very much.

I usally finish with a stout or porter, however, a lively conversation with the fellow next to me who is considering beginning his own brewery, convinced me to try the "Icky" IPA. So, I did. It is a very good IPA without the hoppy taste to finish. I had trouble telling the difference between the IPA & the double IPA at this point.

The atmosphere is typical but nothing exceptional. Four televisions with sports games. At least no HSN or QVC.

It is a stop I would make again but before I do, I would try their competitor the Silver Peak.

This establishment will fill, refill anyone's growlers provided it has the government required warning concerning the consumption of alcoholic beverages. They also sell their own silk screened growlers.

06-23-2010 16:32:06 | More by RLaurel

OStrungT

California

4.2/5  rDev +10.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

This place is located right of the freeway. There is a big parking garage right behind the building. Inside, there is a big counter with a huge selection of shirts. There is a lot of seating area. A bar off to the left, and lots of tables everywhere. The walls are decorated with beer bottles and shirts.

I went on a Tuesday called "Tightwad Tuesday" It was very crowded. Our waitress was friendly, and everything we ordered was brought quickly.

The beer selection was incredable. They had 3 different stouts, and a good balance between ales and lagers. They had about 10 house beers and about 7 Belgain bottles.

The food was not the best. On the menu, everything looked incredable, but no one was entirely happy with the main course. The appetizers, however, were great. The jalapeno wan tons were amazing.

The price was pretty good. "Tightwad Tuesdays" have $2.50 pints for most pints. The Bourbon Impreial Stout and the Barelywine were not included, but most others were. There were 3 of us, with 3 appetizers and 6 beers and we walked out with a $85 bill. That is pretty good anywhere.

Overall: I will definately be back the next time I am in town. This place is great for the area.

03-11-2010 03:54:07 | More by OStrungT

wspscott

Kentucky

3.85/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

I ended up here 3 different time over a 4 day weekend because it was right down the street from my wife's convention hotel. The place looks like standard bar/restaurant, exposed ducts, TVs, basic tables,... not bad, but not impressive. There is a patio, which would be nice if the weather cooperates.

The food was nothing special, basically standard brewpub, i.e. burgers, sandwiches,... The beer was much better than the food which is better than the reverse for a brewpub.

The first time in my wife and I had lunch and a couple of beers. I had their "wet hop" IPA which was excellent, very hoppy but not overly bitter. I also tried there standard IPA ("icky") which was more malty than I expected for a west coast IPA, not bad but not great. I had a sample of the belgian IPA which I did not like at all.

The next time in, I had been drinking at FiftyFifty in Truckee so I just went with another wet hop. The last time was breakfast with college football at the bar. I had both the chocolate stout and the porter. Both were nice examples of the styles. The bartender was friendly as was the one local at the bar having a sandwich and filling some growlers. Speaking of, the growlers fills are pretty cheap, I think I heard $8.

Great Basin is worth checking if you are in Reno/Sparks, but probably not worth doing a special trip if you are near Lake Tahoe.

10-29-2009 01:50:12 | More by wspscott

ThreeWiseMen

California

4.08/5  rDev +7.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

I stopped by Great Basin Brewing Co. twice during the Best In The West Rib Cook-Off this past weekend. Therefore, my experience at the brewpub was an atypical one: Victorian Avenue was jam-packed with people, all beer was served in plastic cups, lots of noise, lots of smells, etc. With that said, hopefully this review can provide some very unique insight.

The first stop I made at Great Basin was an uneventful one. I stopped in shortly before we began our tour of the rib cook-off on Saturday and ordered a Jason Green's Russian Imperial Stout. My $4 beer was served in a 10oz. clouded plastic cup. Yay :-/. I pulled up a chair at the only empty table and dug in. The brewpub was absolutely loaded with people! While most had beers in hand, quite a few were there just to use the restroom. I finished my beer quickly and left.

I stopped in again the next day with Wiseman Zach. After about an hour of rib-eating, we decided to meet a couple of friends at the brewpub. Surprisingly, it wasn't nearly as crowded as the day before. We ordered a round and sat at one of the outside tables. The beer was once again served in plastic cups, but I guess that's just protocol during the festival.

Great Basin had hired a band to play (called Bad Neighbors), and they were actually pretty good. They played a collection of folk, country, and classic rock songs; both old favorites and original works. The crowd was into it and a couple of people were dancing in front of the stage. Even though we were only 30 yards or so from the stage, we didn't feel crowded at all. It was very relaxing and cool. I dug it!

We all shared our beers with one another, and each one that I tasted was solid. The Chilibeso stood our the most though. It smelled and tasted just like jalapeños, without the spiciness - it was awesome! Carbonation did seem to be a bit of an issue, however: nearly every beer came out a little flat. Still, I was impressed. They offered a wide variety that included a lot of off-center styles.

The service was quick, friendly, and fairly knowledgeable. Our waitress always showed up right as we finished our beers, and she answered each of our questions promptly.

We split an order of chips and artichoke dip while we were there. It was the only food we got. I thought it they overdid it with the mayo, but it still tasted okay.

I'd love to come back to Great Basin again and see what it's really like. From what I've been told, this is the best brewery in northern Nevada. I believe it!

09-09-2009 17:17:55 | More by ThreeWiseMen

willjschmidt

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

A brewpub located in downtown Sparks. Standard brewpub atmosphere, some outside seating. They have a large selection of house brewed beers on-tap, probably around a dozen. Pretty good range in the beer selection as well; IPA, DIPA, pilsner, stout, porter, RIS, chile beer, witbier, etc. I sampled the Hop Head DIPA and it was pretty good. The food menu was standard brewpub fare; burgers, sandwiches, etc. The food was decent but nothing to write home about. If you find yourself in Sparks and are looking for a decent brewpub meal and a good beer, I would recommend this place.

08-03-2009 17:09:43 | More by willjschmidt

VegasBill

Nevada

4.18/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

I manage to get to Great Basin about six times a year. The atmosphere is nothing to get exited about. As stated by many before, parking is tight, but that is the lot right behind Great Basin. Across the street from that lot is a free city parking garage and across the street from that is a number of free casino parking lots.
I consider their beers to be quite good, with the most recognized one being Ichtyosaur, locally called Icky,this beer is sold in many bars in northern Nevada and is an IPA. Great Basin has won many awards including some at the GABF.
As for the food, one notch up from standard pub fare. If one likes fried pickles they are called Willy Dillys. This micro brews a lot of beer for a small operation, they brew for the pub and restaurant and all of the bars that sell Icky and the many events that they sell beer at each year.

03-04-2009 20:48:47 | More by VegasBill