Her goal is to make Nevada the next destination for beer travelers.

Wyndee Forrest, president of the Nevada Craft Brewers Association, joins us this week for Nevada Week In Person .

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week In Person .

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

After graduating from UNLV, she and her husband took a trip to Europe where their experiences inspired them to open a local brewery similar to those they saw while traveling abroad.

In 2014, they opened Crafthaus Brewery in Henderson and later another tasting room in Downtown Las Vegas' Art District.

Now the leader of the Nevada Craft Brewers Association, Wyndee Forrest, thank you for joining us for Nevada Week In Person .

(Wyndee Forrest) Thanks for having me.

-So prior to becoming president of the Nevada Craft Brewers Association, you lobbied at the city level for some licensing changes for breweries.

What changes did you help bring about?

-Well, when we went to the City of Henderson and we explained our business model-- which is very commonly found in all the beer-centric cities: San Diego, Portland, Denver-- they didn't quite understand it, because nobody had opened the type of business model that we were looking to open.

So we could either choose a brewer's license, and that didn't include a tasting room, so that defeated the purpose of us opening Crafthaus, which was to build a community, or the brew pub license was $60,000 and it automatically came with gaming, because it was written for a Station Casinos gaming property in the City of Henderson.

And I said, Well, we don't want gaming.

That'll defeat the purpose of us building a community if people are zoned out and gaming.

And they said, Oh, no, you don't have to have it, but you just have to pay for it.

So that didn't really make a lot of sense.

And as a point of perspective, this license in San Diego County is $1,000.

-Wow!

Compared to 60,000 here-- -Correct.

- --if you were to have gaming, but you didn't want it.

-Correct.

So we were fortunate.

At that time, there was a new person who came into licensing, Lana Hammond, and she was really open to reevaluating the licensing and how it applied to craft beer and breweries within the City of Henderson.

So that was a long journey, in retrospect, to put our business on hold for, I think it was almost 15 or 16 months that we worked with the city and city council to write new licensing.

So we removed "brewpub" into "nongaming" and reduced that to $10,000.

-Well, congratulations on that!

Opening the way for other local breweries, as well.

You were named the president of the Nevada Craft Brewers Association in early 2021.

What was that first legislative session like for you?

-We did not attend 2021 legislative session.

We knew that to be effective in the upcoming legislative season, I think next month it starts, we knew that we had to put in the work and really have a relationship with our legislators, first and foremost that they know who we are, second, that we create jobs here in Nevada.

And we're heavily taxed, and those tax dollars go to our community.

And it's not really fair to the legislator to automatically understand our industry when a bill hits the floor, and they're not prepared for it.

So we had seen bills fall off due to those reasons.

So we knew that this was a long game plan.

So we've had a lot of face time with the legislators.

They're very interested, they want to hear our story, and they love that the craft beer industry is really philanthropic.

-What are your priorities for this legislative session then, now that you're geared up ready to go?

-It's about time that the laws that govern our industry are reflective of our industry and written by our industry.

Previously, they've been written by other industries that support ours, and they're more skewed to favor those industries and not ours.

So it's about time that we put in the work and that we have a voice that's heard.

-Give me an example of what you're talking about.

-So my secondary tasting room, I have to buy my own beer back from my distributor at a markup to get my beer six miles down the road.

-Why is that?

-Because the laws have been written by wholesalers.

-So wholesalers say that in order for you to sell your own beer, you have to buy it from yourself?

-Because we don't brew at the second location; we don't manufacture there.

-That's kind of complicated.

-It is, it is.

And Nevada is complicated because we're what's called a "three-tier system," a non self-distribute state.

So if you would like your product to get outside of your own tasting room and be in market, it needs to go through a distributor.

Which distributors, we have a great relationship with our distributor, and they allow us access into the gatekeepers on the Strip, for instance.

We couldn't be able to penetrate the Strip on our own.

However, when it comes to selling your own product at your own business, it's a little slighted.

-Yeah, you would think you'd be able to sell the beer that you make at the same location.

All right.

You've taken this all the way to the D.C. level.

I mean, your lobbying efforts, correct?

-Yes.

-What were you able to do there?

-So Nevada Craft Brewers Association is under the umbrella of the National Brewers Association.

So every year they do Hill Climb.

So I went and represented Nevada, and we met with all of our senators and congress members to really just, again, tell our story, tell our business and make it personal so that when bills or legislation comes across their desk, they can think, Oh, yeah, I-- I met a brewery owner and, you know, they are making a difference.

At that time, we were lobbying to reduce our federal excise taxes in comparison to the large macrobreweries.

And we were successful; we did reduce those.

-All right.

So you told offthestrip.com, quote, We have been highlighting that Nevada is poised to become the next beer traveller destination with bringing awareness to our award winning beers and growing craft beer community, end quote.

What constitutes a "beer traveler destination"?

-Well, beer traveling has a long history.

Ever since the boom of craft beer in the early '90s, people have made their travel plans around, What beer-centric places can we go to?

What brewery tours can we go to?

What beer releases are coming out?

If there's an annual release, then they plan their trips around those.

And Las Vegas is a worldwide destination.

It's very easily-- easy for travelers to come in and out.

So all that infrastructure is already there waiting for us.

And we are turning into a craft beer tourist destination because of the boom of new breweries opening within Las Vegas and Henderson, as well as the breweries up north in Reno and Carson City.

-When you think about your contributions to allowing those breweries to open, what comes across your mind?

-I'm proud to do it.

And really, that's the ethos of the craft beer industry is that "A rising tide floats all boats."

It's really built off camaraderie and making sure that your fellow brewery brother or sister is right along there with you.

-Okay, so you need to have everybody in together to actually make it a beer traveller destination.

Women in the craft beer industry, how prevalent are they?

-So the craft beer industry has been working toward equity.

And it's no secret that the craft beer industry is a male dominated industry, but it is changing.

We have head brewers.

We have brewery production staff.

We have brewery owners.

Any piece within the industry, there are women who are doing a fantastic job.

-So how do you go about increasing their presence?

-First and foremost, by having a voice.

And second is education.

So we've partnered with UNLV with their Hospitality program.

And it's a way to expose those students who may not think that a craft brewery is in hospitality, but we are hospitality.

And also education for STEM for females so that they can go into the brewing side of it and know science.

-Oh, that's really cool!

For viewers who are saying, You know, I don't really know what craft beer is, what would you say?

-Well, craft beer, there's three designations for us to be considered craft beer: You have to be small, independent, and traditional.

So "small" is under a certain amount of barrels that we produce annually.

"Traditional" means that we use all-- all-- excuse me, all malted barley.

And we're "independent"; we're not owned by more than 20% of another larger corporation.

-Okay, so that's where it starts.

And for someone who wants to get started in experiencing craft beer and who may feel a little bit timid about it, what would you suggest?

-Go to your local brewery.

We love to guide people, we love to have them experience new flavors, and we love to have them find something new.

And again, the craft beer industry is built on camaraderie and building community, and that goes with our guests.

-Yeah.

You need to have people there that are willing to instruct and to make you feel comfortable in the process.

What do you tell people who say, You know, I'm fine with just my Bud Light or my Coors Light or my cheap beer?

-It's fine.

People like what they like.

Craft breweries don't make enough beer to please all the beer drinkers.

And if they want to expand and if they want to try something new, then that's up to them.

We don't force it on anybody.

However, they should know that there's an option.

They should know that there's a brewery around them that is making something of high quality and that they're probably their neighbor and it supports their community.

-And odds are they might find something similar, but higher quality, correct?

-Yeah.

-How do you know it's higher quality?

Can you taste it?

-Yes.

Everything is handmade in a craft brewery.

There's not a lot of automation, and our brewers are always educating themselves.

Whether it's going to conferences or listening to podcasts, they're always trying to improve.

-Your favorite beer is?

-Anything Nevada.

-Anything Nevada.

So you like from the dark all the way to the light?

-Yes.

My go-to typically is a pilsner, because it's bright and light and refreshing, and it shows the craftsmanship of the brewer if they can execute a clean, crisp pilsner.

-And you talk about Nevada beers, in general.

I'm wondering if there's a difference between-- because you have spoken about wanting to unite the Northern and Southern Nevada brewery scene.

Is there a difference in issues that each face?

-Not on the state level, because that's what we're representing on the state level.

They do have home court advantage when it comes to legislative season, but we use that to our advantage.

A lot of legislators, they like to visit the taprooms because it's-- they're ingrained in the community.

So that definitely works to our advantage.

-So that might be where you do some of your lobbying this upcoming session-- -Absolutely.

- --at some of those breweries.

We have talked a lot about beer, which when consumed can sometimes lead to dancing.

[laughing] You have quite the background in dancing.

Your career roots are in dancing: Sacramento Kings cheerleader, dancing at the parades at Disneyland.

It goes on.

Are you still involved in dance in any way?

-I am not.

I still love it, and I still love that I'm surrounded by creative entertainers in Las Vegas.

And that's what brought me to UNLV was-- The degree is, even though I graduated from the Hospitality school, my emphasis is in Entertainment Management.

So I still wanted to stay within the entertainment industry.

I just didn't want to have to audition every six months for a new job.

-How has that impacted your breweries?

I mean, is there entertainment at your breweries?

Is there dancing at your breweries?

-Absolutely.

I see a correlation between the beer tender is onstage and really is a performer, just like a performer is dancing or singing onstage.

It can be intimidating for people who've never been a beer tender before, but it is definitely similar to having a performance.

You're onstage, everybody's eyes are on you, and I look for people who are comfortable in that role.

-Wyndee Forrest, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week In Person.

For more Nevada Week In Person, go to vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

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