The snow atop the Sierra vanishes like the foam atop an idle beer. Paddleboards replace skis in cars racks, and outdoor furniture is stripped of its covers. With the sun comes a thirst for adventure and a thirst for beer.
Fortunately, it is still light out at 8 p.m., which leaves plenty of time for both.
Many great outdoor drinking spots exist in areas just outside of Reno (Blairsden and Truckee, Calif. and Victorian Avenue in Sparks come to mind), but due to limited space, we’ll focus on four favorites within Reno city limits.
A nearby oasis
Brewer’s Cabinet Production Facility
8565 White Fir St., Reno
Thebrewerscabinet.com/brewery
The Brewer’s Cabinet Production Facility—close to Mayberry Park, a West Reno launching pad for river floats and hikes on the Tom Cooke Trail—produces beer to be distributed and enjoyed at its downtown pub and taproom, along with other establishments.
On a recent visit, six beers were on draft at this family-friendly facility—four flagship beers and two seasonals. (Visit thebrewerscabinet.com/beer for tap updates.) On colder days, I am a fan of the malty Dirty Wookie Imperial Brown Ale. On warmer days, I prefer the hoppy, floral Dragon Punch IPA.
Bartenders pour drafts inside, but much of the action on a nice day is outside the garage door, where wooden tables sit under misters strung like vines along shipping containers. The smell of sunscreen combines with the smell of quesabirria tacos from a food truck onsite. The jangle from a railroad crossing echoes distantly as the horn from a train fades in between abrupt thuds from a cornhole bean bag. When the noise dies down, there’s peace, solitude and a full beer.
For some, the facility is merely a pit stop before heading back to wherever on their bicycles. For others, it’s a destination—one that provides a mental break on the outskirts of town.
A warm, Irish welcome near downtown
Ceol Irish Pub
410 California Ave., Reno
Ceolirishpub.com
Drinking outdoors at an Irish pub might seem questionable, considering what the interior can provide—sanctuary, song and sarcasm—but surely even the Guinness toucan likes to be outside every now and again.
The staff can transform the parking lot and alleyway into a massive party on St. Patrick’s Day, but during the rest of the year, the establishment operates as a neighborhood pub. The front and back garage doors are open on warmer days, making the patio spaces feel like natural extensions of the bar. Three circular tables occupy the front patio, and there are four out back. Music, sometimes live, drifts outside. In the back, string lights hang on metal bars shoved in casks; in the front, Kelly green lights frame the entrance. Sit in the back for solitude, or sit in the front to risk or welcome conversation.
Twelve beers are on tap: Five traditional Irish beers, with the rest a variety of the American stuff. My tendency is to start with what owner Ron McCarty calls “The Shifter,” a beer that is mostly Smithwick’s Red Ale topped with a rotating, local IPA. The service is dedicated; the server places the beer atop a coaster, makes eye contact and nods or smiles upon departure. He or she also dictates the pace as books are read and beer is sipped. I suspect that no one has ever left Ceol feeling like an outsider.
A container bar where it’s always game day
The Eddy
16 S. Sierra St., Reno
Theeddyreno.com
In the film Hot Tub Time Machine, John Cusack and his friends see younger versions of themselves in the mirror. Even when they can, and should, leave, they do not. That is the feeling I get when I am at The Eddy.
Three shipping containers fortify this beer garden. Inside each one is a bar that serves eight distinct draft beers and myriad canned beer. The space is a concrete sandbox, and like any functioning sandbox, it contains toys aplenty. People play cornhole and outdoor bocce ball near the entrance while a giant Connect 4 game stands next to a life-sized 3-D pin-art toy. Shaded booths with metal fans and hanging hammock chairs exist along the eastern wall. On a warm May afternoon, out among the high tops and tables, the skin of a man built like a lineman turned the color of pinot noir, and a dog cooled its belly on the fake grass.
Sometimes I find myself on the outskirts like a dad at a beer tent at Coachella, and the distance offers a detached perspective. I notice college students, blue-collar workers and professionals intermingling in an alternative, outdoor drinking space—a good place to call in sick to work or school.
A ballpark brew selection that hits all the bases
Greater Nevada Field
250 Evans Ave., Reno
Milb.com/reno/team/club-information
A friend of mine living in Chicago once told me, “You don’t go to Sox games for the baseball—you go for the beer.” Well, fortunately, we can enjoy both at Greater Nevada Field.
Consider the ticket fee to be like a cover at a club, but instead of doing a lap around the bar, spectators can do a lap around the field. Sure, “tall boys” can be purchased more expeditiously from the vendors along the first and third base lines, but head farther to right field, and microbrews await. Lighter, refreshing beer and citrusy IPAs are abundant. Sadly, local breweries are largely absent from the menu, but keep your fingers crossed for potential tap takeovers in the future.
With a beer in tow, the grass berm above the bullpens in the outfields offers ample, relaxed seating for an inning or two. Bartenders pour $2 draft beers on Thursday nights. On other nights, for a few bucks more, they sling ’em all the same. The walkway under the scoreboard linking center field to left is bereft of bars—a quiet place to heckle an outfielder or meditate on the fact that in 2028, if everything goes according to plan, the Las Vegas A’s will be playing baseball indoors.
Cheers to baseball—and drinking beer outdoors in Reno.