Pecans in a beer sounds like a novelty until you actually taste one done right. Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale from Lazy Magnolia is that beer, and it has been Mississippi’s answer to the question since 2005.
Why This Beer Exists
Lazy Magnolia opened in the small town of Kiln, Mississippi, becoming the state’s first packaging brewery since Prohibition. Co-founder Leslie Henderson set out to brew with whole roasted pecans, a nut with high oil content that had sunk most earlier attempts at nut beers. She worked out a process that treats the pecans like a grain addition rather than a flavoring, and the beer that resulted became Lazy Magnolia’s flagship.
Southern Pecan is billed as the first beer in the world brewed with whole roasted pecans. It won a Bronze Medal in the Specialty Beer category at the 2006 World Beer Cup, a result that put a tiny Gulf Coast brewery on the map.
Tasting Notes
Dark mahogany in the glass, Southern Pecan pours with a light hop presence that stays out of the way of the malt. Caramel and toasted pecan carry the flavor, with a nutty finish that reads more like a good pie crust than an artificial nut extract.
At 4.5% ABV it drinks easily and works as a session beer, which fits its role as a year-round flagship rather than a seasonal specialty.
Alternatives to Buy Online
Southern Pecan is a regional craft beer, so it is not stocked everywhere outside the South, and it is not currently listed on Saucey. If you cannot track down a bottle locally, these two are easy to order online and come from breweries already known for nut-forward and nutty-malt brown ales.
If nutty brown ales are your thing, our Best Dark Beer Brands roundup covers several more malt-driven options worth trying alongside this one.
FAQs
Does Southern Pecan actually contain nuts?
Yes, whole roasted pecans are used in the brewing process itself, not as a flavor extract, so people with nut allergies should avoid it.
What style of beer is Southern Pecan?
It’s classified as an English brown ale, with the roasted pecans adding a nutty character on top of the standard caramel and malt notes.
Is Southern Pecan a strong beer?
No, at 4.5% ABV it’s a moderate-strength, easy-drinking beer suited to session drinking.
