Pretty Things

I came across this awesome entrepreneurial start-up that I had to share; Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project. As some of you may know, I can unfortunately no longer drink beer but I still love learning about new brews and how they came to life. According to their tagline, Pretty Things is an idea, not a brewery. They are a small company based in Massachusetts and twice a week or so, they brew their beers at Buzzards Bay Brewery in Westport, MA. Most importantly, Pretty Things 'brings you beers that are truly of their own making: the recipes, brewing and labels are all done by them'.

It all began in the VFW Hall in Davis Square, Somerville, MA, where Dann and Martha, Pretty Things' founders, met at NERAX, a Real Ale festival. Dann Paquette is a brewing industry veteran in the middle of a busy career, with over 20 years experience working in over 10 breweries on two continents. Martha is British and grew up in Yorkshire in the North of England. She has a BA and PhD in Virology from the University of Cambridge in the UK. She moved to Boston to work as a research scientist at Harvard Medical School, and then she met Dann. Needless to say, that was the end of that. This duo is a rather hilarious, creative couple, which is evident throughout their very animated website. They moved to Yorkshire, England, and Dann brewed at Daleside, a small real ale brewery in Harrogate so they could eventually bring back a new perspective of brewing to Boston.

Once they gained even more experience and new ideas, they headed back to Boston, ready to brew but knew they had to find a place to do so. And they did. The duo found out that you can be a tenant brewer, which is precisely what Dann and Martha did. This is different to contract brewing - where a head brewer from the host brewery brews and/or formulates the beer for someone else. The important thing about tenant brewing is that they supply all the brewday labor, without help from other professional brewers. Essentially, Dann brews all the beer, Martha help with milling, weighing hops, and running around counting kegs; a match made in brew-heaven.

You can find their craft beers in and around Boston at various locations. Make sure to give Pretty Things Beer & Ale a chance this summer and taste how Dann and Martha devour the details!