Lazarus Brewing

October 2017 – May 2018

The folks at Lazarus clearly love what they do. Their stylish taproom mixes it up, with their signature mounted metal deer head on a crisp, duck-egg blue wall, a cosy reading nook and a large, shaded patio, all in the heart of East 6th. Despite the central location, it’s a pretty chilled spot (although I’ve never been there on a Friday night!) bustling with a friendly mix of locals and tourists, and a decent quota of cute dogs to coo over, and you can get a decent view of ATX’s spectacular sunsets from the trestle tables out back.

Lazarus has a strong stable of Belgian ales, from goldens up to Tripels, but they aren’t afraid to play with different styles. Expect to find a diverse menu including saisons, porters and the odd ESB, a style I’ve been surprised to see at a few ATX breweries. I’m a sucker for a high quality hazy IPA, and Lazarus didn’t disappoint. Their signature juice-bomb, 40 Days and 40 Nights, won me over immediately, and is a must in any Lazarus flight. If you like the big hitters don’t miss their Double Predestination, a dense, malty DIPA that to me had a certain (very welcome) maple syrup quality. The Amandus, a sweet, smooth Belgian Golden Strong Ale, will pull the wool over your eyes, weighing in at a very well-disguised 9%, making it scarily sessionable. Not every style is pulled off with equal aplomb, but a happily diverse menu means that there’s something available to suit most beer-drinkers. Of course, I would always advocate starting with a flight before specialising. Or just having another flight.

Staff are passionate and knowledgeable, and their tap list, although not huge, rotates relatively frequently. Bottle-only specials the Blushing Bride and Tall, Dark and Handsome were being served in medium pours on our last visit which meant we could try both, a really nice idea that I’d love to see more of.

Lazarus’ taproom is the only place that you can buy their beer, which makes a visit pretty much de rigour, and to make it really easy for you they are open every day of the week, serving coffee and tacos (as well as the beer!) from 7.30am on weekdays and 10am on weekends – you really can’t say fairer than that.

https://www.lazarusbrewing.com/