Empyrean Ales Winter Wisdom Hazelnut Brown Ale

Empyrean Ales was the pioneer craft brewer in Nebraska and I owe much to my craft beer education to Jim and Rich and my many first Mondays at the monthly Lazlo's Beer Tour. Sadly I have been neglecting Empyrean lately - there are just so many craft and micro breweries out there, including a growing number in Nebraska that it's difficult to keep up. 

One of the trends in craft brewing over the last few years has been a race to see who can come up with the craziest, most unusual beers. Not just unusual styles, but unusual flavorings. I'm not against added flavorings to traditional styles, or even new hybrid styles, but sometimes we forget that underneath it all it beer, and the platform that all the extras are built upon must be solid. 

Winter Wisdom is a winter seasonal. There winter seasonal has been called "Winter Tilt", then got a cease and desist order from the makers of a drink called "Tilt" and changed it to "Winter Axis". This is not the same as those previous winter warmers, although in that winter tradition. It's a brown ale. Brown ales are the workhorses of the ale world. They're not fancy, and they don't put on airs. Heavier than a pale ale or an amber, lighter than a porter, they are solid and don't need much embellishment. There's some hazelnut flavoring added, but it's subtle, not overwhelming. Hints of caramel and teeny, tiny shades of brown sugar and dark fruit, but so underwhelming that you might miss it. Looking for a no-nonsense beer that nonetheless is a champ, get yourself a few of these.