Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company - Southern Pecan

Southern Pecan is the flagship brew for Lazy Magnolia, and really helped put them on the map. The brewery says this World Beer Cup bronze medal winner is the first beer made with whole roasted pecans. Other brewers have used pecans, but this is the first beer to use them in the grain bill, meaning the pecans get partially fermented in the brewing process and contribute to the core flavors of the beer rather than being an afterthought to add aroma. Upfront, it smells fairly sweet and nutty, with a hint of plum, gingerbread dough, and a smidge of citrusy hops. We found plenty of malt on the nose, but a nicely balanced beer overall. Because the pecans are used as a fermentable agent (and not simply a flavoring), there’s not a heaping dose of pecan on the palate, though there is a restrained pecan note, amplifying the nuttiness and caramel tones of this brown ale and adding a delicate sharpness to the palate. The beer starts on the sweeter side but this is tempered by hop bitterness and a faintly woody, almost ashy, tobacco-like, tannic character, all hugged by a gentle citrus note and some final breaths of roastiness. The brewery recommends pairing with steak and burgers, as well as chocolate if you’re up for something more dessert-ish. We also think it pairs nicely with Edam cheese. Cheers!

Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company was founded by Mark and Leslie Henderson in 2004. The first steps toward the founding of Lazy Magnolia occurred one Christmas when Leslie bought Mark a homebrewing kit because she couldn't think of anything else to get him. We’ve all been there, right? You don’t know what to get someone, so you give something that YOU want, and hope for the best. Mark only got to brew one batch of beer before Leslie took over, leaving Mark to put his engineering skills to work designing new equipment, tools, and gizmos to enhance the homebrewing process. It didn't take long for this hobby to take over their home and all their free time. The house was completely overtaken with 5-gallon glass jugs, copper heat exchangers, and bubbling buckets of beer as they refined their recipes.

Family and friends were so impressed that they encouraged the couple to go pro; many even offered to invest in such a venture. So Mark and Leslie started doing some serious research to answer basic questions about the legal status of breweries in Mississippi (there were none at that point) and the potential market in the state for specialty beer. Much to their surprise, all answers came back positive. The time seemed ripe for Mississippi to join the rest of the nation in the craft beer revolution. A building was secured in September 2004 and the brewing equipment was delivered in October and fully set-up by December. The dream became a reality in January 2005 when the first batch of beer was brewed on the Lazy Magnolia system, making them the first packaging brewery in Mississippi since Prohibition.

In December of 2022, the couple sold the brewery to new owners, Jason Anderson and Ryan Bowen, who have invested $1 million to renovate the facility and ramp up production, including the introduction of new beers such as this month’s featured Endless Summer. For more information about the brewery, check them out at www.lazymagnolia.com.