Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan

I enjoy brown ales. That really is not the most exciting way to start a blog, but I feel brown ales are a style of beer that has gotten lost in the fold over the past few years. I commonly hear friends of mine tell me they just don't like brown ales. That always surprises me because it is a style of beer I have enjoyed since my early days of beer drinking. However, I also know that when you find a bad brown ale, you do not forget it. I still have not forgotten how much I disliked DuClaw's Dirty Little Freak and Magic Hat's Snow Roller. Those are brown ales I wish I could forget but serve as a reminder to help me understand why so many seem to avoid this style.

The reason I enjoy the style dates back to somewhere around a decade ago. I was sitting in Alternative Brews in Amherst, NY, drinking their Hazelnut Brown Ale from CB Craft Brewers(or at the time Custom Brewcrafters) while enjoying a cigar. It was a tremendous experience and it was that beer that got me into bottle shops and breweries seeking out more brown ales. Like every other style of beer when you find the right one, it is a fantastic drinking experience. Some favorites of mine that come to mind are: Telluride's Face Down Brown Ale, Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Cigar City Vanilla Maduro and my all time favorite, Hill Farmstead George. All of the beers I mention are well worth seeking out but one that is not is the one I am writing about today. That beer is Southern Pecan from Lazy Magnolia.

Boasting it is the “Original Nut Brown Ale”, Southern Pecan is the kind of beer that would unfortunately reinforce someone's dislike of a style. From the label, I thought I would love this Mississippi brewery's take on a nut brown ale but unfortunately as a whole, it fell flat. I knew something was off right away when it did not have that rich, nutty aroma I have come to expect with the style. Instead it smelled more like an adjunct lager with a lot of bread, grain with a slight nuttiness and hints of chocolate and caramel. The first sip matched the nose. The typical flavors one would expect to experience are pushed to the background. The big grainy flavor of cereal and bread are right up front with a light nutty flavor requiring some seeking out to find. The finish finds the chocolate and caramel one would expect from the style. There is practically zero hop presence in the beer, which does Southern Pecan no favors. The finish is clean and the beer is refreshing on a hot day because there is practically nothing going on here. I keep searching for something positive to say about it but I keep arriving at the same conclusion. Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan is a thin, watery, bland version of a nut brown ale.

If my blog does anything today, I hope it steers you away from this particular brown ale and into looking for a better one. To some, brown ales might not be the most exciting style to seek out these days but when you find a great one, you find an excellent drinking experience.

Overall rating: 1.5/5

Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!