Aside from the closets of home-brewing friends, where can we get good local ale around here? (Home-brewing friends? Shhh! It’s illegal(!) to brew beer in Alabama.)
Visit Fine Wine and Beer by Gus, next to the UPS store, for semi-local Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale on tap, which you can buy in a freshly poured half-gallon jug. This is the nuttiest of brown ales because it is actually made with roasted pecans. Brewed by Lazy Magnolia Brewery, in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, this ale is best just off the tap—not too chilly, not too fizzy—with salty snacks and pickles.
Here’s how the Lazy Magnolians describe Southern Pecan:
Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale is the first beer in the world, to our knowledge, made with whole roasted pecans. The pecans are used just like grain and provide a nutty characteristic and a delightful depth to the flavor profile. This beer is very lightly hopped to allow the malty, caramel, and nutty flavors shine through. The color is dark mahogany. Southern Pecan won a Bronze Medal in the 2006 World Beer Cup in the Specialty Beer category.
Another semi-local brewery I like is Terrapin, in Athens, Georgia. I like all the ales I’ve tried, and would love to taste the one they call “Oak Aged Big Hoppy Monster.” About their coziness with their city they say, “both Athens and Terrapin have a great love of music, are committed to the environment, and practice living life to the fullest.” OK, I’ll buy it, because the beer is good.
(By the way, Gus also sells local wine, but despite my love of wine, I haven’t…well, dared to try it.)
The Roving Locavore 