Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company - True Green

True Green represents Lazy Magnolia’s second entry in their “Brew Note” special release series, reflecting the talents of head brewer Will Brown and his appreciation of music and art. This pours a super hazy golden orange color capped by a robust and lasting cap of foam that laces our glasses nicely. Look for a bold, engaging, and complex aroma offering prominent citrus, tropical, and stone fruit notes, backed by pine-like herbal notes and a distinct floral flourish. On the palate: This is a robustly built hazy IPA with tons of flaked oats contributing to a smooth and creamy feel, as well as the very hazy look. The hops come through even bolder in the flavor than in the aroma, with a massive juicy fruit cocktail complemented nicely by herbal tones. Per the New England Hazy IPA style, bitterness is restrained for an IPA, but still more than enough to balance a little residual sweetness to keep this brew dry through to its lingering finish. For pairing options, the brewery recommends po’boys, sweet potato fries, and – for a dessert option – parfait. 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 True Green. For more information about the brewery, check them out at www.lazymagnolia.com.