Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill, Lincoln NE

19 June 2023

Lazlo’s is associated with Empyrean Brewing of Lincoln, and together they are Nebraska’s first brewpub and first craft brewery. My hopes were high going in; were my expectations met?

The interior is a cross between a contemporary pub and a 1970s steak house, but not in a bad way. These photos are of the contemporary part where I sat at the bar; the “steak house” end is in the other half of the building and isn’t visible here. There’s also a small covered patio area with a few tables.

As always, I asked about a flight and it turns out it entails ALL of their current beers, minus two that are only in cans right now.

I’ll describe them starting with the lighter beer to the right of the very dark one and continuing clockwise:

Super Nova (5.5% California Common) – This is a style I’ve never seen before; it’s basically a pilsner with a bit of rye thrown in. It wasn’t bad, but it seemed a bit thin.

Sunslinger (4.4% Extra Pale Ale) – Low carbs, low calories, practically water with a bit of flavoring.

Chaco Canyon (4.8% Golden Ale) – Thin with a hint of honey.

Mind over Mango (6% IPA) – I rather liked this one and I don’t usually like beer with mango. Still, it was definitely the best of the bunch to this point.

Burning Skye (5.3% Scottish-style Ale) – Another pretty good one, nicely malted according to the style.

Third Stone Brown (5.3% Brown Ale) – I’m not a great fan of brown ales so one has to be particularly good for me to like it. This is probably a very good brown, but not good enough to tickle my fancy.

Watch Man (6% IPA) – This wasn’t bad, but I definitely preferred the Mango IPA for the flavor.

Luna Sea (6.3% ESB) – I love a good ESB; I’m not as fond of one that tastes OK but is terribly thin in the mouth.

Zookeeper (5% Lemon Kölsch) – I love a shandy and I love a Kölsch. But putting the two together? It just didn’t work for me, not today anyway.

Collapsar (5.6% Oatmeal Stout) – Again, I love a good Oatmeal Stout, really I do. This one tasted OK but was so terribly thin.

Onto the food. I was debating between a Pub Club and a Reuben; as they had run out of Corned Beef, that decided the issue. But that’s OK, because the Club was marvelous!

Not only was it the right amount of food, but the Dijon dipping sauce was amazing and the fries were perfectly crispy and didn’t lose any of that crisp exterior the entire time I was eating. That got me thinking about dessert, so I ordered a pint of the Scottish Ale and a slice of Key Lime Pie.

The pie was a perfect Key Lime flavor with just the right amount of tartness, but the texture baffled me – it was gritty! There wasn’t any issue with it, it’s just that I’ve never run across a Key Lime pie quite like this before. But the crust was wonderful and I just ignored the texture and enjoyed the flavor 🙂

So, the overall impression was of thin beer in a variety of styles without flavors that stood out, but very good food.