Last week, many Venture Café-ers inquired about the particularly yummy beer we were serving. Folks, it’s Pretty Things, Jack D’Or (Jack of Gold)! Dann Paquette’s Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but the brewery is a “gypsy brewery,” with no permanent brewing home. Dann has made temporary homes at various local breweries including Ipswich Brewing Company, Pilgrim Brewery, Mill City Brewing Company, John Harvard’s Brew House, North East Brewing Company, and The Haverhill Brewery. Jack D’Or pours as Dann’s flagship beer.

Although Dann and his beer now reside in the US, the inspiration for Pretty Things beer came from the Ripon Cathedral in York, England. The cathedral formerly provided the background for the writing of “Through the Looking Glass,” and featured many pretty carvings in the choir. Dann took the cathedral’s creative spirit and applied it to brewing beer. Dann now includes hops and yeast in his register of pretty things, along with the cathedral carvings of his earlier days.

Other Pretty Things beers include Hedgerow Bitter, Field Mouse’s Farewell, Baby Tree, St. Botolph’s Town, Babayaga, American Darling, Confounded Mr. Sisyphys, and Fluggy White Rabbits. Want to taste them? To see where you can find Pretty Things beers, visit http://www.prettythingsbeertoday.com/site/node/5 and read Dann’s tips for enjoying his beer here http://www.prettythingsbeertoday.com/site/node/6.