On today's Outdoor Nevada, I'm checking out the town of Tonopah.

Here I visit the Mizpah Hotel to learn about its history and check out some of its haunted rooms.

Then I head over to a local brewery and meet up with Ed, the Brew Master.

Ed walks me through the process and tells me about some of the local ingredients that he uses.

All this and more right now on Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪ I'm Connor Fields, your new host for my favorite show, Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪ Tonopah is a small yet historically significant town.

Known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps," Tonopah rose to prominence in the early 20th century due to its booming silver mining industry.

The discovery of silver ore by prospector Jim Butler in 1900 led to a rush of miners and fortune seekers to the area, transforming it into a bustling mining town almost overnight.

Tonopah's rich mining history is still evident today, with remnants of old mines and historic buildings scattered throughout the town, providing visitors with a glimpse into its storied past.

Tonopah boasts a rich cultural heritage and a strong sense of community.

Visitors can explore several museums showcasing the town's mining history and cultural heritage through exhibits and artifacts.

Tonopah is also home to the Tonopah Test Range, a military installation shrouded in secrecy, adding an air of mystery to the area.

Plus, you have the legendary Clown Motel.

Tonopah offers a unique and memorable experience for everyone.

The other thing in Tonopah, ghosts.

I heard that a prime place for ghosts was the historic Mizpah Hotel.

The Mizpah Hotel stands as a testament to the town's rich mining heritage and storied past.

Originally built in 1907, the Mizpah Hotel quickly became a hub for miners, businessmen, and travelers seeking comfort and luxury in the heart of the Nevada desert.

Its elegant architecture and opulent interiors reflected the prosperity brought by the booming silver mining industry, making it a symbol of Tonopah's golden era.

The Mizpah continues to welcome guests today with its timeless charm and rich history.

I stopped by for a quick tour and maybe, just maybe, a ghost.

Hey, how's it going?

(Chavonn Smith) Good.

How are you?

-Great.

My name is Connor.

-Chavonn.

-Chavonn, wow, this hotel is awesome.

I feel like I just stepped back in time.

-Yeah, she's over 100 years old.

-Over 100 years?

Wow.

Well, we're in the area checking out a few different ghost towns, heard all about the history of this place, and decided to come check it out.

Can you show me around?

I'd love to show you the vault.

-Let's see it.

-Perfect.

♪♪♪ -Oh, wow.

This is a really cool room with some really cool stuff.

-Kind of a collection of history between the hotel and Tonopah.

-So would this have been a uniform from a hotel worker?

-Yes, this is one of our original bellhop uniforms mid-1900s.

-These photos... the first ever wedding?

Look at this old phone.

I'll be honest, I don't think I could make a call on that phone.

-Yeah.

I feel it would be difficult.

These were original to the rooms at some point.

-That is so crazy how they've changed from then to now.

-To now.

-When we walked in, I noticed we were behind what looks like a 9-inch thick vault door.

So is this where they would store the gold and silver back in the day?

-Yes.

Our original vault is in the basement.

We had three miners decide to dig up into it and steal everything.

And when they went back into the tunnel, one got greedy, shot the other two.

Those two still haunt in the basement to this day.

-I guess "no honor amongst thieves" is true, huh?

-Yeah.

-So the miner that got away and got everything, got all three shares, was he ever found?

-No.

Never caught.

Legend has it he buried the gold and silver out in the desert.

-Have people looked for it?

-Absolutely.

-No one found it?

-No.

-I'm assuming the two murdered would be the two who are said to haunt this hotel, right?

-Yes.

We have a couple other-- -More ghosts?

-More ghosts.

Couple other famous ones.

We have Miss Rose or Evelyn who haunts the 5th floor and the basement.

She was our most popular prostitute, worked exclusively out of the Mizpah.

She was murdered on the 5th floor in the hallway.

Then we have the kids who haunt the 3rd floor and the basement.

They were murdered in the refrigerator by their mother.

She would lock them in there when she had clients.

Different prostitute, not Miss Rose.

And last time she did, they sadly perished.

-What a crazy story.

You now told me don't go to the basement, 3rd floor, or 5th floor if I want to avoid the ghosts?

-Yes.

-Anywhere in Tonopah I should check out that maybe doesn't have ghosts?

The Tonopah Brewing Company a couple blocks down is great.

-After those stories, I do feel like I need a beer.

-Let's go.

-But before I hit the brewery, I wanted to check out some of the supernatural locations.

Like many historic buildings with a colorful past, like Chavonn said, the Mizpah is said to be haunted by several spirits.

Among the most famous tales is that of the Lady in Red, a ghostly apparition said to roam the halls of the hotel.

According to legend, the Lady in Red was a prostitute who was murdered by a jealous lover, while others claim she fell victim to a violent altercation.

Regardless, guests and staff have reported sightings of a ghostly woman dressed in a flowing red gown often accompanied by the faint scent of perfume lingering in the air.

Another ghostly resident of the Mizpah Hotel is believed to be the spirit of a young boy named Tommy.

According to local lore, Tommy was a mischievous child who lived in the hotel during its early years.

Tragically, he met his untimely end in a mining accident nearby.

Since then, guests have reported hearing the laughter of a young boy echoing through the halls and experienced unexplained disturbances in their rooms, leading many to believe that Tommy's playful spirit still roams the hotel seeking companionship and mischief.

I walked the whole place from the 5th floor to the 3rd, right down to the basement.

Nothing, not a ghost.

Nothing.

Next time, maybe I'll stay overnight and see if the ghosts only come out at night.

Despite these eerie tales, many guests are drawn to the Mizpah Hotel in hopes of experiencing a paranormal encounter firsthand.

If you believe in the supernatural or not, the stories surrounding the Mizpah Hotel add an extra layer of intrigue to its rich history, making it a truly unforgettable destination for those seeking a glimpse into the unknown.

You'll have to let me know if you see anything.

If you do, make sure you take a picture.

Now it's off to the brewery.

I am so excited.

♪♪♪ -From crisp lagers to bold ales and flavorful stouts, the Tonopah Brewery caters to a diverse range of palettes, ensuring there is something to satisfy every beer enthusiast.

I met up with Ed, the man behind the magic.

Ed, tell me how you became the head brewer here at Tonopah Brewing Company.

(Edward Nash) Well, one of my other passions is astrophotography.

I love dark skies.

Then I found out there was a head brewer position open here, and why not combine the two?

I used to live out in Southern Cal, and I wanted to come back out to the West Coast.

I was in Michigan, got tired of the winters, and it worked out great.

-Sounds like you're living the dream.

You get to make beer, wonderful night skies, you get to hang out in Tonopah.

Win-win.

-Yeah.

Absolutely, it is.

-Yep.

So we're sitting here.

We've got some different items here.

Tell me what's going on here.

-Yeah, so I got some grains here I'll show you.

This is how the brewing process starts, by selecting the malts.

This particular malt right here is a two-row malt that we use as a base for most of our beers.

And then depending on the beer style, we'll use different flavoring malts like this caramel malt here or like this roasted barley here.

And again, it just depends on the style and flavor that we're looking for how much we're going to mix into it.

-This is the base?

-Yes.

-Then do you add different amounts, different ratios, different types of things based on what kind of beer you're trying to brew?

-Absolutely, yeah.

Yeah, we have recipes for all the beers that we brew, and it tells us, you know, how much we need to add of certain different malts to get that character that we're looking for, for that particular beer style.

So you've selected your malts, you've got your ratios, you've got your recipe, now what?

-The next thing we do, go up here, I'll show you.

-All right.

I feel like a mad scientist walking up here.

-This is where all the magic happens.

Let me show you.

So this is our mash tun.

This is where we mix our grain and our hot water.

And the hot water activates the enzymes, which start on the starch and converting into sugar.

The process takes about an hour.

And then when we're done, there's a false bottom in here, and we transfer what is now called wort, which is sugary water, into the brew kettle over here.

-And then out of this comes beer?

-No.

Out of this comes wort that's been bittered with hops.

What we do is we bring that wort to a boil, depending on our recipe, then we add hops.

I got a sample here.

We use hot pellets.

These are cascade pellets.

And then our recipe will tell us when to add them in during the boil.

And then once the boil is finished, we transfer it through a chiller which drops it down from just under boiling to about 68 degrees or 50, depending if we're doing a lager or an ale.

And then we transfer it to one of the fermenters.

-So start to finish from the selection of the materials through this process, how long does it take to brew beer?

-It's about an eight-hour day to do the whole brewing.

-Are you telling me I have to wait eight hours to have a beer?

-Actually, longer.

But have some ready if you want to try it.

-Let's go get some.

-All right, let's go.

♪♪♪ [blank] -It's always great to meet a person so passionate about their craft.

And really, it shows.

Ed knows his stuff.

-I have one tank over here already set up we can taste.

Just opened this up here.

-So what is it doing in this tank here?

-So right now we're finishing the polishing process, and we're carbonating it.

So we're letting what little yeast is still left in here drop out to the bottom and then getting the full carbonation on it before we package it.

And by packaging, it's either going to the taproom or it's gonna go in distribution.

-And what kind of beer is this here?

-This is a harvest ale that we just did.

And we used estate-grown hops from the parent company, which is Cline Wineries.

-So because this is not 100% finished, is it gonna taste like a beer would typically taste, or is it gonna take a little different?

-Well, it's gonna be pretty close.

We have about another week of aging on here so that it gets the full carb.

So it's gonna have a little light carbonation to it.

So here's a sample that we just pulled off that tank.

-Is it going to taste like a finished product?

-It's gonna be pretty close.

It's gonna sit in here for another week to get full carbonation, but this is about as fresh as you're ever gonna get the beer.

If you bring it up, you can really smell the hops.

-Oh, it hits you right in the face.

-Yeah.

They're very prominent.

-Is it going to be like that when it's done aging?

-Yeah.

The head here is going to promote the aroma.

And yeah, as-- but as it ages, the hops will suddenly drop out over time.

But we're talking months.

-So you better drink it quick?

-Not necessarily.

But yeah, you should probably drink it soon.

-Well, cheers.

-Cheers.

-It's smooth.

-Yeah, smooth.

And you can see the carbonation is still light because it hasn't gone all the way through.

But what's special about this beer is these are cascade hops that are grown on the estate of the Cline Wineries, and they have a little plot up there that they grow.

And every year we do a harvest ale, and we do that to showcase the hops in this particular beer style.

-So this is a unique beer?

-It is a unique beer that we only brew once every fall, harvest time.

And then once it's gone, it's gone till next fall.

-Well, cheers!

Thanks.

I appreciate getting the not-quite-finished product, but is there a way I can try the finished product?

-Absolutely.

We got more.

We got plenty that's ready to go.

-Let's try some.

-All right.

-The Tonopah Brewery stands as a vibrant beacon of craft beer culture in the heart of this historic town.

The brewery offers a unique blend of old-world charm and modern brewing innovation.

Visitors are welcomed into a warm and inviting atmosphere where they can enjoy a rotating selection of handcrafted beers, each brewed on site using only the finest ingredients.

-All right, Connor.

Are you ready for some fun?

-Oh, yeah.

-All right.

So here's a sample of some of the beers we have.

-Which one's the one we were just trying in process?

-I don't have that on here right now because it's still in the tank.

-I guess that makes sense.

-But we have a couple of examples that are similar.

Let me start here.

The first one we have here is our Tombstone Light.

This is the lightest beer that we brew.

Some call like a lawnmower type beer.

It's 4%, very light grain bill in there.

That's what gives it a light color.

The second one here is one of my favorites.

We call it Cherry 51 after Area 51.

This is a cherry flavored Belgian wit.

And we use a mahleb spice, which is a Middle Eastern cherry pit spice in there, as well as we use dark sweet cherry and tart cherry juices in that one.

The next one here is a coconut IPA.

This is kind of a special one that we have.

It's just an IPA-based beer and we add some toasted coconut to it to give it an unusual but delicious flavor.

The next one is our most popular, Moe's IPA.

It's a West Coast.

It's a very citrus-forward IPA.

-It's got those hops we just looked at, those green ones?

-Yeah.

This one actually uses Citra and Mosaic hops.

Then the last one we have here is pastry stout.

So this is a high-gravity or imperial stout that we use toasted coconut and cacao nibs.

And it's very sweet, thick.

It's comes in at about 10%, but tastes like Mounds.

That's why we call it Mounds of Love.

-Sounds like dessert.

-Yeah.

It is a desert.

-I'm assuming you put them in order from this end and work this way?

-That's the best way.

-Well, cheers.

I appreciate it.

Did you brew all these?

-Oh, yeah.

Everything is brewed in-house here.

-Oh, yeah.

That's light.

That's easy to drink.

Hot summer day, that's perfect.

-Yeah.

-This one I should expect a bunch of cherry, right?

-Yeah, you'll get some-- -This is tart cherry, dark cherry?

-Yeah.

Dark, sweet cherry.

-Oh, that's nice.

-Yeah.

-That's really nice.

-It's a great summer one.

-It smells nice.

Yeah, it's really good.

At what point in the process do you put cherries in?

Do you put cherries in the beer?

-So during the boil process that I showed you, we add the mahleb spice then.

And then we do a regular fermentation on it.

We use a Belgian wit yeast on there.

And then when we get ready to move into secondary to carbonate it, that's when we add the cherry.

-And so is it just like a bunch of cherries and you throw them in, or how does it work?

-This is cherry concentrate that we use on this.

-Then I'm assuming the same thing with the coconut?

-Yeah.

So this is like a typical made IPA with a typical hopping schedule.

And then we do use hops that have like a coconut kind of flavor profile to them.

And then when we get ready to move in secondary, we put on toasted coconut to bring out more of the coconut flavor.

-That is delicious.

-Yeah, thanks.

-I'm an IPA guy, so I'm a little biased.

But that is delicious.

And this one is a West Coast IPA.

Yeah, West Coast Moe's IPA.

We call it Moe's because we use predominantly Mosaic hops on this one.

-What makes the difference between a West Coast and a New England IPA?

-Well, New England is typically hazy and has a lot of late hopping additions, where a West Coast, they hop fairly through the whole group, boil process, and they use dank hops.

And it's very hop-forward.

-It is very hop-forward.

-It has a very good bitterness to it.

-It really does.

And then this one is the pastry stout?

-Yeah, so it's dessert time.

And as it warms up, you really get the coconut on the nose and the dark chocolate.

-Oh, that is nice.

Yeah, it's sweet but not like overpowering.

It doesn't feel heavy.

Like it goes down easy?

You could have a full beer and not feel bloated.

-Right, exactly.

And it's 10%, and you don't really get the-- -Careful now.

10%?

-Yeah.

-Oh, man.

Which of these is your favorite to brew, or do you like them all equally?

-That's like asking me which is my favorite kid.

-Everyone's got a favorite.

You just don't tell your kid which one your favorite is.

-Right, exactly.

No, I brew everything that I want-- -Cover your ears.

- --to drink, that I like to brew.

And it just depends on, you know, the mood I'm in, what am I eating or whatever, but there's a beer for everything, for every occasion.

-When I think about Tonopah, I certainly do not think about a really great craft brewery.

So how do you end up with this awesome place, awesome beer, in Tonopah?

-Well, it takes hard work, and we got a great crew.

Passionate about what I do.

Actually, it makes it easy being passionate about producing what we can.

We want to make sure we produce the best beer possible here.

-Awesome.

Well, I appreciate you sharing a little bit about the process.

I am going to finish drinking these beers.

-Absolutely.

-Thank you.

-I'll get one and join you.

-I love that this place is in Tonopah.

It really goes to show you that small towns have these great places.

You just have to do a little exploring.

You never know what you'll discover.

Thanks, Tonopah.

♪♪♪ Anytime you're going to be mountain biking, it's important to remember the basics.

Always give your bike a once-over, making sure everything is tight and in good mechanical order.

Always wear your helmet and have your protective gear.

And always be sure to let someone know where you're going if you're going to be riding alone.

But if you're gonna be riding new trails in a new area, there's a few additional things that you can do to give yourself the best experience.

It's a good idea to go online, check out some of the apps, some websites, and research the trails you're going to be riding.

But ultimately, the best thing you can do is talk to a local.

Mountain biking is a great community of people.

Everyone's always eager to share and help let you know what the best trails around are.

And ultimately, if you are going to be riding by yourself, take the trails slow your first time.

You don't know what's coming.

You don't want to go around a blind corner and see something that you don't expect.

Stay safe, but ultimately have fun.

Traveling around our state has been an amazing adventure.

I saw some incredible places, met lots of amazing people, and did things I never thought that I would do.

Whether it was visiting Jarbidge, the most remote town in the lower 48 and seeing all of its beauty, mountain biking in some incredible places all around the state--Kingston, Ely, Sloan Canyon--or working with all of the government and state agencies and seeing all of the hard work that goes in to keeping our unique states so beautiful, it's been an incredible adventure.

I love exploring Nevada.

I really hope you'll get out here and do your own exploring.

♪♪♪ We've taken you to a ton of places this season of Outdoor Nevada, but there is so much more to see and discover.

That's why we've partnered with Nevada Public Radio's Desert Companion to create extended guides of each of the places we traveled to.

The guides include where to go, how to get there, what to see, and expert tips from fellow travelers who love to explore the Silver State as much as we do.

All of this is available at vegaspbs.org or knpr.org/desertcompanion.

Traveling around Nevada has been an amazing experience.

I hope you've enjoyed my adventures as much as I have.

I can't wait to get back out on the road.

There's always some more amazing places for me to check out and people for us to meet.

So till next time, I'm Connor Fields, and this is Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪