What in the World?
WHAT IS THIS "PRETTY THINGS" ALL ABOUT? WHO IS BEHIND ALL OF THIS NONSENSE ANYWAY?
It all started in Yorkshire, England, at the time home to beer-brewer Dann Paquette and his wife (tea-brewer) Martha. Dann was brewing at a small family-owned "real ale" brewery in Harrogate and Martha was a scientist in York. On the weekends they'd explore the nearby Moors and Dales and the small towns and pubs that are dotted about them.
One of these small towns, Ripon is home to a fantastic cathedral, which stands guard over an ancient Saxon crypt, hidden down a narrow staircase. But the jewels of the cathedral are the 15th century misericord carvings in the choir. Pigs play the bagpipes, swimmers are snatched from the sea by monsters, apes fight lions, a fox preaches to a chicken from his pulpit, wild men prowl the forest, a mermaid preens, griffons strut and Pliny's mysterious "Blemya" inhabit this magical world.
The volunteers who work at the cathedral are quick to point out that Lewis Carroll's father was a residential Canon here in the 1850's, and Lewis didn't hide the fact that pages of "Through the Looking Glass" were written here. One carving shows a Griffon chasing a rabbit down a hole. So Dann & Martha weren't the first to be inspired to creativity by these carvings.
Here’s the Cathedral website: check it out when you’re in Yorkshire www.riponcathedral.org.uk
Before long Dann was summoning a "John Barleycorn" character called "Jack D'Or" (Jack of Gold). A wise old grain in the form of a blemya, Jack has roots: in Yorkshire, in Ripon, in Belgium where monks from Yorkshire took the brewing craft…
But Jack stands on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, where he has been brought and given many new leases on life. With a great, gleaming moustache, knee-deep in a wooden mash tun, he conjures himself into beer. Helped along by the other "Pretty Things" like the mischievous hops and the transformative miniscules we know as yeast - a magnificent fester would no doubt ensue! One of the most joyful transformations in nature, better than any rabbit from a hat, beer is the result.
That is the inspiration of Pretty Things!
On the beer side "Pretty Things" is an obvious extension of the sort of things Dann's been brewing or talking about brewing for years. But these beers are for fun, not for display! Our beers are not precious jewels, they are happy peasants! Their motto is "Good Time Artisanal Beers": hold them to it!
ABOUT THE BREWER: DANN (nee Daniel-Paul) PAQUETTE
Dann has been brewing professionally since he was a young lad of 22. He's an insanely old man now so that must be a long time. Before then he spent some time working for television programs such as "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" and "CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt".
Among the breweries that have been home to Dann are Ipswich Brewing Company, Pilgrim Brewery, Mill City Brewing Company, John Harvard's Brew House, North East Brewing Company, The Haverhill Brewery, and Daleside Brewery in Yorkshire. Over the years he has been known as a creative fellow and that's usually been reflected in his beers where possible. Presently he's enjoying life in Cambridge, Massachusetts and making the 62 mile trek to the Buzzard's Bay Brewery in Westport where he brews Pretty Things.
His favorite beers are Taras Boulba, Daleside Bitter, XX Bitter, Oerbier, Smuttynose IPA, Saison DuPont, Old Brewery Bitter, Old Peculier, Rodenbach Grand Cru (his own beers are disqualified!)
Other interests include other things related to beer and yes, 1960's r&b, mod, beat and garage bands. Here's one people ask us about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pretty_Things -One of the great rock acts of all time. They got their name from a Bo Diddley song.
Speaking of music, ever heard "Pretty Things Come in Twos" by Sandler and Young? Good stuff.
MARTHA:
Martha and Dann met at NERAX in 2004 and their lives have pretty much remained a beer festival ever since. They walked down a Yorkshire aisle (actually two of them) in 2006 and walked out again to ‘Spend my life with you’ by Bo Diddley: So yes, from George Dilboy in the VFW hall in Somerville, via Ripon cathedral and some long Yorkshire nights, it all goes back to Bo Diddley once again.
Martha's a scientist at MIT and is originally from North Yorkshire in England. You would be correct if you suspected that she was probably the brains behind the operation (any operation, you name it), and is no less beery than Dann despite making an honest living.
OTHER FOLKS WE YOLKED INTO THIS PROJECT:
ADAM "Human Joe" FISHER: Adam's a formidable homebrewer and you'll see him working the Beeradvocate beer fests in Boston. He also did this webpage, so if he doesn't approve of this description he'll just edit it himself. How do you know he hasn't already?
AARON "The Wrekkah" HECKER: He's the brilliant caretaker of our top secret R&D facility and is a former Brewer at North East Brewing Company, Allston, Massachusetts. When he's not working on test batches he's restoring Lambrettas in his basement.
WALTER "Wally" YOUNG: Another former brewer, this time from Tremont Brewery (when it was still brewing in Boston). Now he's in the printing field. Had he not cleaned up Dann's 400-layer Photoshop label for Jack D'Or, no one would have printed it.
JAMES "Bocky" BARNES: Everywhere we go, no matter what we do Jim is there (usually with his camera). We really look forward to seeing what he's made of it all!
JOHN "Johnny P" POMPEO: Do you remember the old BeerAdvocate slogan "Beer first, everything else can wait"? That was a quote from Johnny P! Now one of the things that can wait is our company insurance, supplied to us by none other than Johnny himself. Give him a call for your insurance needs. www.pompeoinsurance.com
PAPER CITY BREWERY: What can we say – they opened their brewery to us and we wish them all the best.
THE RUSSEL FAMILY: Our hosts in Westport. We're humbled by the opportunity to work with them.
HARRY SMITH: Head Brewer in Westport. He packages all of our beers for us and takes way too many annoying phone calls from us to not be mentioned. Big part of the team.
THE GOOD BEER BAR OWNERS OF BOSTON: They've become so used to just selling beer from Brooklyn, California, Colorado and Belgium that it's so good to have them on board for this funny little local project.
