Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project is a very small company making artisan brews in Somerville, Massachusetts.  Dan Paquette and Martha Holley-Paguette brew the beer.  Anya Kanevsky works on many of the companies lovely promotions and events, and lastly there is Jim “Bocky” Barnes.  Jim is a long time friend of the Dan and Martha’s and is the New York City/Philly Rep for Pretty Things. He is in charge of tap handles, stickers, other Pretty odds & ends, as well as spreading their love around our city and the rest of the North Eastern United States.

Photo courtesy of Jeri Lynn Astra

Beer and music are two of Jim’s passions, and in this post he paired three of Pretty Things wonderful beers along with songs that represent the characters, places, and personalities that these beers represent.

Jim will be DJing a Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project POLKA PARTY at Brouwerij Lane in Greenpoint, Brooklyn this coming Wednesday, February 29th 2012 (LEAP DAY).  More details about the Polka Party can be found after the pairings.

The next segment was written by Jim “Bocky” Barnes.

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Pretty Things' Jack d'Or

Jack D’Or, a 6.5% Saisaon American paired with Manfred Mann’s “My Name is Jack.”
The image of Jack D’Or on the label shows a mustachioed, mournful grain of malt standing in a wooden mashtun conjuring himself into the beer-a sad, yet hopeful tale. The musical pairing is Manfred Mann’s ‘My Name is Jack’ a whimsical song about an orphan named Jack’s day to day life in an orphanage and whimsical tales of the other orphans there. I often picture Jack with all the other grains in those 55lb. grain sacks and wonder what they all talk and think about-much like the song.

(Buy Manfred Mann’s World of Mann. )

Pretty Things' St. Botolphs' Town

St. Botolph’s Town, 5.9% English Brown paired with The Clash’s “Magnificent Seven.”
A malty, brown ale that takes it’s inspiration from North Yorkshire UK-think Theakston’s ‘Old Perculiar’ or Sam Smith’s Yorkshire Stingo’. It’s got a hearty malt body with a clean, drinkable finish. The musical pairing to this is ‘Magnificent Seven’ by The Clash. It’s more in the sounds the song delivers, a nod to the NYC Post Disco-Punk Funk-No Wave movement during the early eighties. It’s an infectious, base-heavy track that has comforting groove whether you’re walking along the Bowery lamenting the days before boutique hotels and tiny dogs that anyone’s cat could beat the crap out of. Or it’s perfectly welcome on the sound system of any bar you may be sipping this beverage in.

(Buy The Clash’s Sandinista)

Pretty Things' Lovely Saint Winefride

Lovely St. Winefride,7% Our Late Winter Seasonal Dark Lager paired with Carol Rich’s “Computered Love.”
This is another malty dark delight that takes its unique roasted flavour from a process in the mashing process called decoction where we took a portion of the mash and boiled it at 212 for 15 minutes. Trust us, boiling a mash is rare. St. Winefride’s story is a sad, yet, again a hopeful tale of a Welsh saint that gets beheaded for spurnig a suiter’s marriage proposal. But then her uncle a preacher that discovered this re-attaches her head bringing her back to life. The song paired with this has nothing to do with headless saints or decoction during mash. But it’s the melancholic sound and melody that strikes me as representing the beer and the story behind it..There’s even a saintly choral feel to the chorus.

Barbar’s Adagio for Strings was used in a video we made announcing the beer’s release and also aptly represents the melodrama of St. Winefride.

(Purchase it here.)

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Pretty Things Polka Party at Brouwerij Lane

As mentioned at the top of this post Jim “Bocky” Barnes will be spinning music at Brouwerij Lane this coming Wednesday, February 29th, from 6:30-10:30pm for the Pretty Things Polka Party!  Brouwerij Lane is one of my personal favorite beer spots in New York City, and while I’m not sure how much actual polka will be played I can guarantee that Jim’s musical tastes are superb. I honestly was kind of blown away by the Carol Rich pick for Lovely Saint Winefrede.  That selection alone makes me think that Wednesday night will not only be a wonderful night for beer, but music as well.

Jim can be found slinging Prettying Things and spinning wax at these places too:

Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project can be followed in these places:
- on the web
- Nation Wide @PrettyBeer and Jim in NYC @PrettyBeerNYC
- Pretty Things Beer can currently be found in MA, RI, NY, and PA.