Empyrean Lazlos Limited Smoked Lager

Delayed entry from Tasting at Holiday Beerfest in Omaha: Not 100% sure this is the right beer listing, but the representative from Empyrean told me this was their only smoked beer as he poured it for me from what looked like a moonshine jug! Amber pour...no head to speak of, but that could have been due to the pour. Two words describe the aroma...Smoked Ham! Flavor is very similar...there’s a healthy amount of smoke in this one...I’m not a fan of smoked beers, but this wasn’t half-bad!

On tap at Lazlos Omaha. Poured amber with a white head. Served freezing cold and had little aroma or flavor. After letting it warm I could the smoke aroma was present, but still weak. Also some weak carmel and dirty earth malts in the aroma. Flavor was lightly smokey kinda like a campfire smells. Overall it lacked the smoked character my palate is used to. I had my parents try it and they thought it tasted like an ash tray. Ah well.

At the GESU housing fundraiser Beer Sampling in the Huber Haus. Dark brown with a very thin white head. Very faint roasted aroma, but not so much smokiness. Good roasted flavor with a bit of chocolate, but the body remains too thin for this style. UPDATE: On tap at Thunderhead. Chestnut color with a dark beige large head. Aroma of a ham sandwich. The flavor is much better than I had thought before. Clear smokiness, good malt. Meaty and nice.

Tap. Brown beer with no head. Served ice cold, that may be why I didn’t detect much aroma. Laura thought it smelled like bacon, I got only a hint of that...Drinks something like a Dunkel, with a very subdued smokey character. Not much else to say, I had hoped it would be a little more robust...suffers from a watery like body, as many of their beers do. OK, but not as nice as say the Fort Collins Z Lager. Original #s of:5,3,6,2,12. Jan. 2006 batch...better in all regards. Still subtle on the smoke, but the base beer was better. Reminds me of Spezial a bit, although the smoke may be even more subtle than that. A very enjoyable beer that I’d like to see more of from Empyrean...