Empyrean Third Stone Brown

Brewed by Empyrean Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Lincoln, Nebraska USA

My first NE beer? Sep Bier Meisters meeting. Muddy brown color, khaki head. Aroma is mildly roasty with nutty notes, maybe some broen sugar and plums. Taste is roasty, chocolate, coffee, and hops. Some light bitterness in the finish. Nice brown ale.

Pours medium brown (duh!) with light tan head. Aroma and flavor both have a good amount of roastiness and nuttiness. Lightly hopped as it should be. A little thin on the palate, as many from this brewer are. But, not a bad beer.

One of the beers in my cellar I thought I had consumed. Very Nice beer. Roasty and chocolately, nice malt flavor. Smooth drinkable beer. Definitely the best of the Nebraska beers I’ve had.

St. Pats Day 2005, Crescent Moon Ale House (Omaha). On tap. I’m half-heartedly compelled to state that this is not an unejoyable beer. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s tasty, or interesting, or pleasing; but it wasn’t bad in any discernable way, and it’s not bad in ways that I find impressive. Uninteresting in looks: murky brown in the glass, a dusting of head retained, not much action in the lacing/racing categories. Smells vaguely sweet and lemony (very vaguely), somewhat yeasty, maybe. There might have been some roastiness and nutiness, but I could have been projecting that based on the looks. It seemed musty (cobwebs, dust), but not in a dominant way; it was like an attic that had just been cleaned, but not very well. It was most certainly sweet, and sweet in a nice controlled way. The finish rounded off into a graham-cracker sweetness that was admirable. Body was medium, but it felt lighter without some dominant flavor or collection of flavors floating on top of it, which made it seem lighter and more watery than it was or looked.

Color: dark, chestnutty brown, with a short, dunnish head. Aroma: chock-full-o-nuts, with lesser tones of cocoa and pepper behind. Rich, creamy, and airy. Body is full, but texture lacks. Hops are largely MIA. A drinkable drink, but it’s missing much in the way of character, and reminds me too much of a Newcastle. Toward the end, I felt better about this brew. The nuttiness remained on the palate and ably stood it’s ground, but overall flavor should have stood out more. It merely laid about, had no spark or tingle. Too mild for me.

Poured much darker brown than I expected with thin white head...malty nutty nose with something twangy in it...tasted malty and metallic....lost me on the flavor...

Brown with small off white head. Smelled of toasted malts. Chocolate and vanilla flavor blend proved to be pretty nice. Tasted much better upon warming a bit. Malt flavors changed with temperature also to be more nutty than chocolatey. Very enjoyable drink.

Brown color with hint of orange through the light. smaller, but stable bone colored head. Very dry aromas of hearty grain bread. Moderate body with a lightly acidic finish. Lightly sweetened nuts and a more simple sweetness in the middle. Toasted malt fin the finish and linger. A light flavored brown that is quite straight forward.