The Queen of Hops in Sin City: Cicerone Sarah Johnson
As we sit on elegant couches inside of the Delano’s new Franklin bar and lounge with dimly lit lighting and a soundtrack to match, Sarah Johnson orders a round of Timmermans Oude Gueuze for the table.
My question as to where to get sour beers in Vegas was met promptly with her ordering the Timmermans. The tart, sour beer satisfied my thirst as Johnson, a soft spoken and brilliant woman of 36-years-old, discussed her vision for broadening the beer landscape in Las Vegas.
“Vegas is a very young beer town,” explained Johnson. “But the cool thing about Vegas is the fine dining is already there. The spirits are there, the wine is there and then the little bit of impact that we can make, can have a huge impact.”
Johnson, who currently works at the Director of Food & Beverage for Mandalay Bay, has made quite a name for herself especially after becoming the first female in Nevada to complete the Cicerone Certification Program for beer in 2012. Essentially, Johnson is ‘the queen of hops and all things beer’ in Nevada and especially Las Vegas. A name I’m coining for her myself.
“One of the things that I’ve been able to bring to the scene is exposure, frankly,” explained Johnson. “My bosses and coworkers are all really into what we’re doing so I do have the opportunity to really further the conversation and make some noise.”
Like many of us who have come to Vegas for a short stint and stayed much longer, Johnson made her way to Sin City on an internship for a mere three months at Four Seasons. Alas, she is still here some 11 years later. Johnson is a bit of a ladder climber, which is meant in the most positive of connotations. She is determined to make a difference in the beer community and she works her ass off doing so.
As part of her job, Johnson oversees financial planning and analysis for food and beverage including 1.7 million square foot of banquet space and all the restaurants.
“From an operational perspective, I have direct oversight of all food and beverage,” she said. “My baby, of course, is beer.
Most recently, Johnson is getting rather excited for her first BEER Fest this weekend (Sept. 12 – 14). It’s an entire three-day event dedicated to beer tasting with how to and what to pair craft beer with when it comes to food choices. The event has been a long time coming and Johnson is certainly excited about it.
“Now that it’s getting closer, it’s getting more exciting” Johnson exclaimed. “We’re really excited about this weekend. The Friday night dinner is going to be absolutely out of control – paired with two beers for each course.”
For Saturday night, there will be 31 breweries on site and a brewer from each to discuss their beer, making the event quite unique.
“The beauty of ours is first the location. It’s outside at the beach; it’s just a beautiful place to be,” said Johnson. “We’re pairing the beer with food, so we’re bringing restaurants to make food specific pairings directly with the beer.
In her oh-so-rare free time, Johnson enjoys heading to Atomic Liquors where she sweetens the bartenders with her vast amount of knowledge and her generally kind disposition – all in the hopes of tasting the secret stash. When she’s not there she’s at Sage in Aria, Velveteen Rabbit, Money Plays or at home with her adopted cats Stormin’ Norman and Professor Christopher.
“It’s not my natural state to be out talking to people so much. In a perfect world I’d be counting my millions, at home with my cats, knitting, reading a book,” she joked.
