How Pretty Things Beer became ubiquitous in Boston

Well said! Aside from everything, they make great beer. I remember a time not too long ago when quality control wasn't like it is today, and things were sometimes hit or miss.

 

Never had any of their offerings, but Fluffy White Rabbits, Jack D'or, and Field Mouse's Farewell are all on my list to seek out next time I'm up at Table & Vine (this weekend lol)

 

It's a nice write-up. 2 things:

1 ) The first sentence that states "If you go out for a beer in a Boston-area bar or restaurant, chances are the beer list offers something made by Pretty Things "

Really? I don't go out for drinks in Boston proper as often as I used to, but it still seems I need to seek out a relatively good beer bar to find Pretty Things. It's not hard to, and there are more restaurants getting it on tap, but that statement made me chuckle because it makes it seem like they're on tap everywhere... as if I could just waltz into any joe-shmoe Irish dive bar in Southie and find Jack on tap.

2) "This week, the project brews its first-ever IPA, to be called Meadowlark."
It's funny how Pretty Things always occupied a place in my mind as "the local brewery that doesn't make IPAs". Not that they shouldn't. I'm sure they'd make a great one. Something tells me theirs would be more of a British take on the style.

 

You're spot on. That is a gross over-exaggeration. An accurate statement would be "Pretty Things is on tap at the majority of craft beer friendly establishments". You still won't find it at any of the myriad of BMC-friendly bars/restaurants that serve Harpoon/Sam Adams, which make up the bulk of the bar scene in Boston.

Basically, if it's in the Beer Advocate database, they probably rotate Pretty Things in frequently. If it's not, then no, they almost definitely don't carry Pretty Things.

 

I am so glad to see Pretty Things doing so well. I have loved everything they have made. When Jack D'or touched my lips for the first time I was beyond excited. I got the chance to meet Dan (as many have). He's a great guy and hearing him and his wife find success brings a smile to my face. Keep it up Pretty Things!

 

Basically every new restaurant that has opened within the last 3 years in the Boston area has some sort of craft beer selection. And Pretty Things, Jack D'or especially, is easily the most commonly found beer on those menus.

 

Maybe you guys need to get out of Boston/Cambridge once in a while - I've seen it at a bunch of places that are not craft beer centric.

 

PT makes great beer. I love ordering their stuff when I'm out. But I can't help but temper my enthusiasm for the company because they seem have been New England's trailblazer in the bomber-only brewery model. Now that they're more established, I'd love to see them make some attempt to bring the price down on Jack D'Or. Even a $10 4pk would be a step in the right direction.

 

I'm completely with you in that I'd love to see it, but they dont even own their own brewery, why would they want to start making less money? People love and buy all their products - if it's not broke (for them), why fix it? It's just not going to happen.

 

I'd assume they could make more money by selling more beer at lower prices. Maybe not. I get the sense that Dann and Martha seem to be very interested in getting good beer in the hands of happy, excited beer drinkers. Lower prices would help that goal, I'd think. Give me a 25% discount and I'd certainly be happy and excited!

 

You'll find plenty of the year-round Jack, and Fluffy White Rabbits is in season, but I don't think the Field Mouse's Farewell comes out for another couple of months (which is sad, because that's one of my favorite PT brews).

 

Field Mouse is out now - had one the other night. Bit darker and "spicier" than I remember. Not sure if it's due to a yeast, malt base, or hop change (or all three?) VERY nice!

 

Wow, I had no idea! I thought it was a midsummer release. Thanks for the word; I'll likely go in search of some this evening.

 

From their website:

 

Example? I've certainly seen PT at places that would never be confused for Lord Hobo, but they still tend to carry a variety of 6-12 craft taps. I'd definitely call that a "craft friendly establishment".

When I see a BMC bar/restaurant with a PT tap instead of a Harpoon IPA/UFO or Sam's Seasonal, then I'll consider PT having truly broken into the mainstream. This category still makes up the vast majority of establishments in the Boston area...

 

Of course Pretty Things isn't on at every dive bar in Boston--I don't think it's too hard to tell from the article that the author is talking about more craft-friendly or upscale places than the Cantab or something. Sure, they could have been more specific in that opening sentence, but this is a newspaper piece, not an encyclopedia entry--it has to get you interested in the story, not be a clumsy collection of specific fact.

Once you start reading the article, I think it's pretty clear what they're talking about. They put Pretty Things in the same category as many of the other smaller breweries that have popped up in the past few years (many in their wake); they're not equating it with Sam Adams or Harpoon. Just take this passage as an example of what they're saying:

I'd love to see Pretty Things do four- or six-packs, but I'm not as concerned as with some other bomber-only breweries, because Pretty Things is so easy to find on-tap compared to so many other, small breweries. I think that's interesting, and newsworthy, and this article shed some light on the back story of how that came to be. No need to split hairs over the opening sentence when the story seems pretty accurate as far as I can tell.

 

I don't think it's splitting hairs when the headline uses the word 'ubiquitous', and then leads with a very strong sentence stated as fact. You could call Sam Adams and Harpoon ubiquitous in the Boston area, but Pretty Things has an extremely long way to go to get there. The central theme of the entire article is "PT is so successful that you can get them nearly everywhere!". When, in reality, you can get them at maybe 20% of the bars/restaurants in the area. That's a good bit of sloppy/deceptive/sensationalistic journalism. (take your pick) We're just calling a spade a spade...

Otherwise, yes, it was a very nice article, and cheers to Pretty Things. Totally with you on the 4/6-packs... I really hoped that as they got bigger they'd start going that route.

 

Im curious as to what they are going to aim for with their IPA. Prediction on hop usage?

 

Being in 20% of bars/restaurants in the area is pretty ubiquitous for a small craft brewery, I think. Articles are limited by word counts and need to get people to read them. Sure, the headline would more accurate if it read "How Pretty Things came to be fairly easy to find in high-end and craft beer-centric bars in Boston" but that's a little clumsy. I really don't think anyone reading the article is going to mistake their ubiquity for Budweiser or even Harpoon. It just seems nitpicky for people to jump on a lead sentence and headline of a well-written article about a fairly unimportant, but very interesting topic.

I guess we'll just disagree about this, but I think it's expecting a lot of headlines and lead sentences to contain all the facts of an article--as long as they express the basic point, I think it's fine. "How Pretty Things became the biggest beer in Boston" would be misleading or sloppy, I think, but "How Pretty Things became ubiquitous in Boston" seems to sum the article--and the facts--up well enough.

But yes, I'd love to see some of their beers in smaller packages in the future. I'm bummed, though, to have just read that they're not doing the Hedgerow Bitter this year.