I’m sure I’m a latecomer to the Pretty Things beer and ale party, but I’m totally onboard now.  I recently discovered this Someville, Ma. “gypsy brewery” that’s producing some pretty spectacular stuff.  I’ve found Pretty Things on the menus at the Porter Cafe gastro-pub in West Roxbury (fabulous!) and Meadhall in Kendall Square, and am staying on the lookout for more of its delicious offerings.

Loving Pretty Things’ Jack D’Or, in particular.  It’s not too heavy but has a nice bitter “bite” to its finish.  Some more on Mr. Jack, courtesy of the cool Pretty Things site:  “Inspired by some of our favorites like Saison DuPont, but also DeRanke’s XX Bitter, De Dolle’s Arabier, and local IPAs like Smuttynose, the Jack D’Or starts off with North American Pils, Vienna, Wheat and Malted Oats (among others) and is hopped with a combination of four hops, finishing with Palisade and Nugget. The bitterness is the real backbone of the Jack D’Or.  It’s a proper “plant-like” bitterness with all of its jagged edges, beginning deep in the soil, then to the stem of this beer and up into to the very tippity heights.  Fermentation-wise we use a blend of four yeast strains to give Jack D’Or its refreshingly dry character.  Finally, despite all of the spicy flavours in this beer it contains no actual spices – only malt, oats, rye, sugar, hops and yeast.  One more time: there are no spices or citrus in Jack D’Or. Wheat lends acidity at Jack’s edges, then rye and our blended yeast character come into play for a bit of polyphony, displeasing the notion of “balance” and creating the fire in the belly of Jack D’Or!”

I enjoyed Jack last night in the company of some of the Cantata Singers leadership team. Cantata Singers performs just four concerts per season (including some in Boston’s beautiful Jordan Hall) and juxtaposes both old (Bach) and new (commissioned) music.  Yes, another pretty thing!  And a group very worthy of checking out in its 48th season!

To Jack and Cantata!