Enjoy the Arts and Craft Beverages in Casper, WY

This Wyoming gem allows residents to satisfy their thirsts for a great drink and compelling cultural activities.

By Rebecca Treon on March 23, 2023

Tawni Leigh Moore

Americans have rediscovered small-batch, independent, craft breweries and distilleries, and the results are delicious. Casper is no exception, where a robust collection of tasting rooms pepper its flourishing downtown and beyond. Also, you can work up a good thirst by taking part in the Casper Art Walk, which happens four times a year.

Not only do these locales make a good drink, but they’re known for hosting community events like trivia nights and live concerts.

Sip Your Way Through Casper

Here are 10 of Casper’s must-try craft beverage venues, followed by great information on the amazing arts scene in town:

Tawni Leigh Moore

1. Backwards Distilling

With a lively circus-themed tasting room and a line of spirits including rum, gin, vodka and moonshine, Backwards Distilling is a family-owned operation in downtown Casper. Take a tour, a cocktail-making class or simply enjoy an inventive cocktail. Founded in 2014, it’s a cornerstone in the community, hosting events, including the city’s annual Pride festivities.

2. Vintage Fine Wine Bar & Martini Bar

Liquor store owners and brothers Mike and David Reid envisioned an upscale lounge where patrons could relax and enjoy a martini. Casper didn’t have one, so they opened it themselves in 2004, offering more than 30 wines by the glass, a menu of signature martinis, local beers and top-shelf spirits. They also have an extensive range of whiskeys.

3. Gruner Brothers Brewing

Located in the revamped historic Casper Petroleum Club, Gruner Brothers really is owned by two beer-brewing brothers. With their grandfather’s old truck as their mascot, the siblings have brewed a dozen beers inspired by the stunning local terrain. Their taproom is home to live music, comedy events and car shows.

4. Mountain Hops Brewhouse

Mountain Hops Brewhouse is one of Casper’s newer boutique breweries, but it’s getting plenty of attention. Some of its beers are standard, like wheat and stout, while others are infused with orange peel, berries or barrel-aged flavors. A back “yard” is home to yoga and food trucks, while indoors, the Mountain Hops crew hosts live music and other events.

5. The Local Liquor & Lounge

Part liquor store, part bar, The Local inhabits a sleek new space on the east side of Casper. It stocks beer, wine and spirits of all kinds, from household names to bartender’s secret handshakes. But it also offers a full bar with beers on tap, wines by the glass and specialty cocktails created by the owner – all encouraging locals to gather, enjoy and catch University of Wyoming games.

6. The Gaslight Social

More than a bar, The Gaslight Social is being dubbed a “social space,” where guests can partake in cocktails and beer, order from a Mexican-inspired menu of tacos and burritos, play bar games like billiards and arcade games plus outdoor games like cornhole and volleyball, and even listen to live music at their concert venue. Right by the Nicolaysen Art Museum, it’s the perfect place to meet friends or take a date.

Jeff Adkins

7. Black Tooth Brewing

With locations in Sheridan (its flagship), Cheyenne and Casper, Black Tooth takes its name from a peak in the Bighorn range. The Casper location opened in 2021 and is an oil-inspired taproom, featuring an outdoor courtyard with a stage, pergola and fire pits. Wyoming influenced, its line of beers ranges from lager to IPAs.

8. Oil City Beer Co.

It may look like an unassuming warehouse from the outside, but inside Oil City, you’ll find live music, fierce corn hole competitions, and, duh, beer. Pale ale, Hazy IPA, Blonde, Belgian, Red – pair your favorite with something from one of the food trucks that frequent the parking lot.

Ben Winckler Photography

9. Frontier Brewing Company & Taproom

The former Fox III Theater in downtown Casper has found a second act as a family-friendly small-batch brewery and taproom. Brewed fresh each week, Frontier uses a self-serve tap system and offers live music, trivia, board games and food trucks.

10. The Beacon

“Where the Cowboys Go Sneakin’” is the neon-emblazoned motto of this roadside joint in Mills – but don’t fret, that’s cowboy for dancing. Live music brings regulars to the dance floor, but even if you don’t take a turn, you can enjoy drink specials all night long.

Jeff Adkins

Take in the Arts in Casper

Four times each summer, the Casper Artists’ Guild organizes an energetic Casper Art Walk that occurs in the city’s downtown area.

The event takes place on the first Thursday of each month from June to September, and a variety of activities happen from 5 to 8 p.m. along the downtown streets and in the Old Yellowstone district. The 2023 dates for the Casper Art Walk are June 1, July 6, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7.

Highlights of every walk include visits to galleries such as Art 321, Artisan Alley, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Goedicke’s Custom Framing & Art Supply and Scarlow’s Art & Coffee. Also on display are several artist studios with visual art demonstrations, and, within walking distance, you’ll find live music and food vendors.

In addition, organizers remind patrons to view any of the 12 colorful murals that adorn various downtown Casper walls, including a new “Better Together” mural on E. Second Street on the east side of Atrium Plaza. Other eye-pleasing murals include “Fox Den” on the southwest corner of the Downtown Casper Parking Garage, “Prairie Woman” on South David Street next to the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, and “Lucia Vigneri TV” on West Midwest Avenue behind Gaslight Social.

Backing each Art Walk event is the Casper Artists’ Guild, which will mark its 100th anniversary in 2024, making it the oldest organization in Wyoming dedicated to the visual arts.

Guild officials say the Art Walks have many positive aspects, including that it brings the Casper community together, showcases talent and diversity, creates downtown foot traffic, and provides more economic opportunities for artists and galleries.