And there’s some seriously fine beer and liquor here, too

Craft brewing in Nevada’s been on the rise since the legalization of brewpubs in the early 1990s. Now, with close to 40 breweries and brewpubs, and new ones popping up every day in almost every part of the state, no more excuses—you can do better. Next time you’re in Las Vegas, leave the silver bullet at the slot machine and veer off the Strip to visit Tenaya Creek Brewery, who recently medaled at the Great American Beer Fest with their Bonanza Brown Ale. It’s not just the craft beer scene that’s experiencing resurgence, either. Thanks to some recent changes in legislation, Nevada’s distilleries are also thriving. And here, they take drinking local seriously. To be considered ‘craft’, distillers need to produce tiny batches of booze—no more than 10,000 per year (to put that in perspective, big name-brand liquors sell close to 70,000 cases a day), with at least 90% of their ingredients sourced from within the state. Nobody takes this rule to heart more than Frey Ranch Distillery, Nevada’s first and only estate distillery (only the second in the US). Every single one of their spirits (they’re currently producing vodka, with gin and whiskey in the works) was grown, distilled, and bottled right there on their Fallon, Nevada property.