Las Vegas brewery pays homage to Nevada’s state flower: The traffic cone
Looked at one way, the orange traffic cones endemically infesting Las Vegas are like ranks of thorns — pricking and jabbing and gashing motorists with detours, delays, closures and vehicular snarl. But where some see thorns, others see flowers. In a way.
On Monday, Able Baker Brewing Co. in downtown Vegas debuted its Nevada State Flower, a hazy double IPA “celebrating” Nevada’s new official bloom: the traffic cone.
“They’re everywhere,” the product description says of the cones. “Bright orange and seemingly in full bloom year-round. No matter where you turn, cars from all over are lined up to stare at them. No one is there to maintain them. No one even knows how or why they’re there, or for how long. With each passing day it feels like more pop up.”
Able Baker’s advice for handling these poxy posies? Let the other car in. Cue some relaxing music. And look forward to enjoying the IPA when you reach your destination.
At the taproom, Nevada State Flower will be available on draft and in $17 four-packs of 16-ounce cans. The first 20 people to buy a four-pack at the brewery will receive a rubber duck in construction worker garb.
Able Baker is no stranger to nomenclature at once evocative and cheeky.
The brewery, at 1501 S. Main St., is named for the first two atomic shots in the Operation Ranger weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site in 1951. Atomic Duck, Able Baker’s mascot and its signature brew, pays homage to the duck that, local lore has it, was the only animal to survive the atomic blasts. And the brewery’s current tap list includes Impale’d Ale, Our Cha Tah cream ale and Cherry Berry BANG! BANG! fruit beer.
When traffic cones drive you to drink, Able Baker has the sips.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on Twitter.