Freakin' Frog

slander

New York

4.6/5  rDev +12.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4

Yeah, I had a whole bunch of places mapped out, brewpubs and bars. I was going to take in a good bunch of 'em that I hadn't hit last year, and then... nothing. Every night, the blackjack table sirens were singing their sad songs to me. I couldn't get away. I was there for 4 days and never saw anything until the last night, when me and Mark (the Connecticut Kid) made a dash for The Freaking Frog...
A 3 mile cab found us staring down some space towards the end of a strip mall. Wasn't too promising looking and I could see the look of, "Uhhh" on Mark's face. In a pair of smallish narrow rooms with the connecting wall mostly removed, an "L" shaped bar seating a dozen, kitchen functions, the "2 for 1 cooler", and a piano occupy one room (there was a guy playing it belting out Tom Waits tunes when we got there). There's a large projection screen TV on the rear wall where they do movies. The other room holds 3 booths and 5 tables, all with these beautiful "beer & brewery" table tops (Alaskan, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Ayinger, Stone, Merchant Du Vin, Sam Adams, Beamish, made by a company called, "Tabletops", check out their website, they make cool shit). There's a small elevated stage to the rear of the room, a pair of dart boards, and a Ms. PacMan/Galaxa machine. The beige walls are decorated with beer neon lights and guitars that people take down and play.
10 taps (Stone Double Bastard, Alaskan Smoked Porter, Sierra Celebration Ale, Chimay Triple, Lindeman's Framboise, Beamish, Pyramid Apricot, Abita Andy Gator, John Courage, Icehouse, with the Alaskan Amber on deck). I opted for the Alaskan Smoked Porter and we needed to find Mark a beer. When he said that he liked the Dunkels we fed him in Chicago, the guy walking through carrying cases to the back room offered up some help unsolicited, suggesting, I think it was the Scnheider Dunkel. I concurred. Mark liked the beer. I guess as the owner, Adam has a pretty good handle on what his clientele is looking for (a clientele by the way, that is mostly made up of professionals, UNLV staff from across the street, and grown up beer people and not so much the college kids). He sat with us for a good while and talked beer. Adam let me into the beer room for a looksie. Damn!! Extensive collection of Belgians (Caracole, Affligem, Duvel, Chimay, De Ranke, Saison DuPont, Fantome, Piraat, Pater Lieven, Mort Subite, Bruegel, Achel, Scaldis, Petrus, Gulden Draak, Westmalle, De Dolle, Bon Secour, Delirium, Corsendonk, Urthel, Foret, Moinette, Gouden Carolus, Oude Beersel, Westvleteren, Maredsous, Duinen, Liefman's, Leffe, Orval, Rochefort) and American micros regional (Avery, Stone, Deschutes, Speakeasy, Moylan's, Alesmith, Hoptown, Anderson Valley, Bear Republic, North Coast, Acma, Laguanitas, New Belgium, Mendicino, Ruby Mountain, Lost Coast, Pyramid, Flying Dog, MacTarnahan's, Sierra Nevada, Rogue, Anchor) and beyond (Alaskan, DogFishHead, Ommegang). All sorts of nice stuff back there (Unibroue Fringante, Avery Grand Cru '03, Horny Devil & Old Numbskull, Stone Symposium and on and on). 472 bottles. We pulled a bottle of the MacTarnahan's Tripel and Blackwatch Cream Porter (Bourbon cask aged) from the vault. Both were very nice and went well with the "pretty good phuckin' fries" we ordered.
He took us upstairs to see the sick ass Whiskey bar (under construction) and spec out the blueprints. 500 whiskeys, a 5 seat bar, a tasting counter over here, banquet type seating for 2 dozen there. It's going to be brilliant when it's done.
It was time to go and cutie bartender Jen called us a cab, but it was going to be a long while, so she offered up to drive us back to the hotel as she was leaving anyway (thanx Jen, you rock!!!).
Adam's a most hospitable host, doin' a good beer thing. I got out of Vegas 4 bills up and a Freaking Frog visit under my belt. Not a bad trip.

04-03-2005 19:08:33 | More by slander

CasanovaCummins

Nevada

3.31/5  rDev -18.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.25 | selection: 3.5 | food: 2.75 | $$$

This place is a bit on the smallish side. It has a little stage area for impromptu performances, but not exactly much for seating other than a couple tables and a belly up to the bar. It gets excessively loud during the performances as well. You wind up yelling at someone next to at the bar.

The selection on tap is along the lines of Delirium and Lagunitas. Nice for a bar, not great for a true tap room. The real selection is in the chiller room, but you pay way over liquor store prices. Don't expect any real deals. But you can find nice stuff if you look. If it's busy, you won't be able to. If slow, you might.

This place is right across the street from UNLV and draws the typical college crowds, young college age students, professors, and some out of towners.

This place is best for the liquor room upstairs where they cater to people wanting to sample high end Bourbons and whiskies. Once again, bring your check book. Not even remotely cheap. But cheaper than an imported bottle.

Great for a visit, but not a great go to hangout.

05-19-2013 22:00:57 | More by CasanovaCummins

FosterJM

California

4/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

So I was under the impression this was a store. Im an idiot.

Atm- Located across the street from UNLV is a open strip mall with one sign on the building and the windows blacked out and a tiny ass door. What was I doing? Inside dark as shit for 3pm on a Sunday. One guy inside plus the cooks/bartenders.

Quality- Good Beers on tap, from EvilTwin, Ballast Point and a couple others. No BMC that was nice to see. In the cooler was an impressive array of bottles for a bar including Cantillon Classic, lots of Mikkeller and imports. Uinta Oak Jacked Pumpkin, Stone rarities, lots of Euros as well.

Service- Super nice bartender let me poke around the cooler when I realized I was an idiot and would have to come back, next trip to Vegas to try a beer.

Selection, Cantillion, Mikkeller, Stone, The Bruery, Weinhestephaner. Lots more to choose from as well.

Food- N/A

Value- When a small bottle of Cantillon is $36, Ill stick with the tap list.

06-06-2012 21:13:40 | More by FosterJM

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.36/5  rDev -17.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | $$$$

Located near what they call a university campus (maybe for a commuter college, otherwise, ugliest, least campus like campus ever), the Freakin Frog is in a strip mall essentially, and not the most noticeable from the street. But inside, its a two tiered level place and the setup is spacious and interesting, so I'll give it above average marks regardless of the shitty situation outside, or the fact that they don't even open for lunchtime.

There was only like 6 beers on tap, for whatever reason, I expected a lot more there. On top of that, I found the long beer list to be filled with a lot of "meh" type of stuff, at "crap" type of prices. I came in with the expectation of an awesome bottle list at expensive prices. Well, 1/2 ain't bad. Claims at the number of beers they carry seem embelished. Hate places that advertise they carry beer x, or x amount of beers, and then turn out to be posing. Or you know "out of it right now, shoulda been here yesterday," type of cover.

At yet, despite all of this, it is a slightly above average place overall, and still probably the second best bar for beer in Las Vegas.

05-16-2012 17:21:48 | More by Beerandraiderfan

djbreezy

Washington

4.6/5  rDev +12.7%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Have a couple friends in Las Vegas and was hoping to visit this at some point. Went down there for a trip this past weekend and made it!

First things first...the vibe inside was pretty dark and quiet like a dive bar. It was fairly clean though. There were a bunch of guys hanging out playing games on their laptops at some of the booths.

The bartender was super down to earth and friendly. The taplist was nice. We had some Green Flash Palate Wrecker, Sculpin IPA and a few others.

We had some pizza which was good enough. The food is basically bar food but it does the trick.

We headed back to the freezer/cellar to check out the beers. That place is cold as shit but the selection is on point. Even though some of the bottle dates weren't great the beer tasted excellent due to the ideal storage. The prices were on and off considering but that's all good since it's Vegas and there isn't a ton of competition from what I saw. Totally impressed with the selection in there and our bartender had excellent recommendations.

Had a great time. Didn't go up to the whiskey room but this spot was fun and just what I needed.

04-04-2012 23:27:32 | More by djbreezy

ferrari29

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2 | $$$

Live bands, open-space, enormous whiskey room, walk-in freezer with 500+ beers, and a big burly-bearded bartender. What more could you ask for in a beer destination? I'm glad I stopped by here, while taking a break from "The Strip." Friendly staff and friendly beer people co-habitat this ideal brew destination in the dessert. Be sure to stop by the freezer and select any beer from a handful of unique and ubiquitous micro-crafted brews.

If there is one thing I wish for this place, it would be a bigger food menu. Perfect opportunity to pair up a nice plate of meat with their top-notch beer menu.

Tap selection is great, I had a Stone Self-Righteous Black IPA and a Napa Organic IPA straight from the tap. Poured in a Chimay open goblet and Nonic shaped pint, respectively. I liked the approach to using the appropriate glassware.

One other thing I should mention, if you warm up enough to the bartender, or locals, you might be lucky enough to share a drink or two in the upstairs whiskey room. It's a must-see.

02-17-2012 18:25:23 | More by ferrari29

downhilldrift

Arizona

4.15/5  rDev +1.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

Definitely a great spot to hit up while in Vegas. Ridiculously long beer list. If you are in the mood for a certain beer, they probably have it. Walk-in cooler is pretty awesome to have at the bar. It was dark, and the music was a bit loud, too loud to have a conversation with the person sitting across from you at a table. They have rarer beers, but they come at a cost. Even beers that aren't as rare come at a little bit of a price, but with the selection they offer, it makes sense. A little bit off the beaten path of the Strip, and I like that.

12-20-2011 09:33:55 | More by downhilldrift

2378GCGTG

Texas

4.01/5  rDev -1.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$$

I know that good beers purchased in a bar are often expensive, but they were asking more than $20 for this years world wide stout. I would understand the price if these beers were aged, but they're not; and that same beer is around $10 at a local store, thus I think the place was overpriced. Their selection is good, best I've seen for a bar, still I would rather just find beers at local stores and save my money. The atmosphere was decent but could have been a bit brighter and the service was awesome.

On the whiskey side of things, they had a great selection. I've had most of the bourbons on the market so I was surprised to see the buffalo trace single experiment bottles and a 3 others which I haven't had. Don't have much interest in scotch but they had a good selection of that as well. In short, it was fun to visit, but I wouldn't count this on the list of establishments to frequent often.

12-08-2011 16:32:54 | More by 2378GCGTG

ZenAgnostic

Texas

4.2/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3 | $$$

A little too dark to properly evaluate the appearance of your beer.

What really helps out the atmosphere though, is the walk-in cooler. It's pretty amazing. If you get there early in the day when it's dead, perhaps the bartender will give you a quick tour.

It's a beer geek's heaven in there. Though for some reason I left feeling like there wasn't quite the stated number of beers in there. I think they're currently boasting 500 beers, but the fridge doesn't quite feel like that many. Still pretty amazing though.

The food is greasy but enjoyable.

Ask for the beer menu. It's page after page after page. Even says they carry the Westy 12, but fat chance they'll have it!

10-15-2011 08:50:27 | More by ZenAgnostic

tastyales

Nevada

3.2/5  rDev -21.6%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2 | $$$$

Ok - one of the best beer bars in Vegas... I have been here probably 20 times. I have a different experience every time I come here. I use to go here for SNAFU (our home brewers) club every month, but they decided to move venues. This place is a dive bar. When they have live music it gets loud and you cant really have a conversation. The draught selection is typical - not too many standouts on tap. Quality beers on tap though. They have a pretty good bottle selection and thats why I go there. When I'm in the area and I have some extra cash, but the only problem is it is expensive - $25 to $100 a bottle for the really good stuff. The food is not good there at all. If you go there go on a full stomach. Service - you never know what kind of service your gonna get. I will say they're not very good at multitasking over there. I would suggest if you have money to burn, it's an ok place to have some good bottles. There are other places in town that have way better draught selections and are usually half the price.

07-21-2011 20:50:57 | More by tastyales