Anyone know of a beer that had a similar profile to Pretty Things Jack D'Or? Hoppy by still phenolic saison. My glory days were in Boston during the mid aughts so it has a special place in my heart.
I do miss this beer. I unfortunately cannot recommend an American style Saison with a similar crisp, clean profile as Jack D’Or. I took a look and the brewers started a new project in England. https://beerofsmod.co.uk/ Maybe look into trading for some of their stuff if you have “disposable” income.
I wish I could find close analogs but no dice. Pretty Things' brews were singular and idiosyncratic. My all-time favorite brewery.
I miss that beer too. American brewers don't seem very interested in brewing saisons like it these days. This might seem like a thoughtless response, but give Saison Dupont in cans a try. It's not the most consistent beer on Earth, but in my experience (so far), the balance of the beer is a bit different in the canned version (perhaps due to small changes in secondary fermentation in that format... but there are a number of variables that might account for this). The fruitness of the beer is lower and the perceived bitterness is higher to me. Saison Dupont isn't very comparable to other beers, but the canned version mighhht scratch your Pretty Things itch a little. At equal ages, I'd personally take Dupont in the 750 over the can, but the canned beer is still a really great drink.
It has been a long time since I consumed Jack D’Or so I consulted the description of the beer via BA with emphasis in bold by me): “Notes: “Jack D’Or” is a simple table beer, or “Saison Americain” as we’re referring to it. We are not trying to coin a beer style – we’re just having fun. The Jack D’Or (pronounced “Jack Door”), is at the very center of Pretty Things and nearly three years on we’re still pleased as punch that he joined us! As you know, PRETTY THINGS doesn’t brew “styles” per se. Close, but we re-imagine everything and leave the style numbers in books on the shelves where they belong. What that means is that while other people might be able to put our beers into a category, we have a hard time with it! Our beers are first and foremost creative beasts, not “types” of beer. Jack D’Or is the kind of beer Martha and Dann like to drink before, after and during a great meal. Heck, we’ll drink this sort of beer any time. On Dann & Martha’s honeymoon in France and Belgium they stashed quite a few cases of Wallonian beer into their trunk. Every night after setting up their tent they’d cook lardons and lentils on a camp stove and enjoy fresh “saison” under the stars. 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! The creature on the label is Jack D’Or himself, conceived and drawn by Dann. Far away in a small clearing in the woods of New England, ankle deep in the mash tun, he contemplates and conjures himself into a batch of beer. For those of you who are new to this, Jack is a grain of malted barley, but more than that: he is the unifying force behind all of the Pretty Things. Jack D’Or Must Die! 57 IBU” I can’t think of any Saison which would match this bitterness aspect of Jack D’Or. Cheers!
My wife works for Dann and Martha. If ever any of you fancy dipping your toe into international trading let me know.
I’ve wanted to try their stuff for a while now but the thought of international shipping costs scared me away. Any idea what that runs on average?
