Omaha Exploration

Brewing was big business in Omaha and the rest of Nebraska for its first several decades. That came to an end when the state enacted prohibition in 1917. The last of Omaha’s four big breweries, Krug Brewing Company, later sold to Falstaff. After Falstaff Brewing closed its Omaha plant in 1985, Nebraska had to wait six years before it would see a resurgence in in-state brewing.

It wasn’t until 1988 when the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill allowing for the existence of brewpubs. In those days, you had to serve food in order to brew and sell your own beer to the public. Due, in part, to the large cost of equipment, it took another three years for the first brewpub to open.

In 1991 brothers Scott and Brian Boles along with friend Jay Jarvis took a gamble and opened Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill in Lincoln’s Haymarket District. While they had experience working in the restaurant industry, they knew that the addition of an on-site brewery would set it apart from the competition. That would market the beginning of Nebraska’s first brewpub located in Lincoln’s Haymarket district at 710 P Street.

The partners settled on the name Lazlo’s as it was a nickname that the brothers had given Jay years earlier. With the concept and name established, they needed a brewer. Nearly everyone in town recommended Rich Chapin. At 36 years old, Rich had been a home brewer for 15 years and won multiple national awards. Once Rich was onboard, he went to work adjusting his recipes for a larger scale operation.

The craft beers were designed to compliment the food which included meat grilled over a hickory wood fire. The brewing operations sat behind a glass wall that was visible to diners. The first beers included Lougales Gold, Captain Donovan’s Special Amber, Creamator Stout, Black & Tan and Brewmaster’s Special.

Lazlo’s was an instant hit and its founders immediately wished they had room for a larger brewing system. By the time Omaha’s first brewpub, Jaipur Indian Restaurant & Brewery, opened in 1992, Lazlo’s was already considering opening an Omaha location. They delayed opening in a new market instead opting for a second location in South Lincoln. 

It wasn’t until 1996 after the state passed a bill allowing breweries to sell its beer through wholesalers that the brewery became a separate entity from the restaurant. The name, Empyrean Brewing Company, was based on a belief by ancient civilizations that paradise existed at the highest point in the universe within a fiery sphere called “The Empyrean”. At that time, they moved to a larger brewery in the old Coffee & Spice building around the corner at 729 Q St. One year later Empyrean was bottling and distributing its Third Stone Brown, LunaSea ESB and Chaco Canyon Gold beers. 

Empyrean became the largest brewery in the state in 2001 after they began distributing its beer statewide. It continued to to grow after it started to distribute outside of Nebraska to Iowa and the Dakotas in 2009. More recently Empyrean began distributing to Chicago in 2022. The restaurant, meanwhile, expanded to Fremont and Omaha in 2006. While the Omaha location remains open, the Fremont location closed in 2007.

While no longer the largest brewery in the state, Lazlo’s as the pioneer in Nebraska’s craft beer industry continues to operate three restaurants while its sister company, Empyrean, brews 14 beers not including its small batches and limited releases.

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Until next time, keep exploring!

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