If you would be delighted to never see another Natural Ice for the rest of your life, this article is for you. But really, it's for everyone because, let's face it: the days of sipping flat beer out of a plastic cup in the recesses of a dingy frat basement are numbered.
Life beyond the Hill is a terrifying prospect, but navigating the world of decent local craft beers and imported beers doesn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, it can be a beautiful thing — dare we say, a pretty thing.
Enter Dann and Martha Paquette, the owners and self−proclaimed "gypsy brewers" of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project, a local, Somerville−based company dedicated to sharing their sincere and infectious love of a good brew with the New England community. Their whimsically named, colorfully designed, cult−status beer is the perfect brand for the young and the hip. But more than that, it's a beer made out of love. And who couldn't use a little more of that in their lives?
The Beginning of a Pretty Thing
"I still feel like the young kid," Dann Paquette said.
Even so, the Pretty Things brewer is anything but green when it comes to making a good beer. Dann has been in the industry since the mid '80s, opening and shutting a lot of different breweries and working at some big names like the Ipswich Ale Brewery and Mill City Brewing.
Martha Paquette, on the other hand, was a scientist at Harvard University, but was feeling a little lethargic about the whole "grown−up, get a serious job" thing. Then, as their website proclaims, one spring evening in Somerville the two met in Davis Square and a match was made.
In case you didn't catch on, the Paquettes are married — but not in a stuffy way. They're the people you always wish your parents were like, or better yet, your drinking buddies were like. Dann Paquette is into film and art, and Martha Paquette's British accent pretty much makes everything she says sound cooler.
After meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall at a Real Ale festival hosted in Somerville, the couple did a quick stint in Yorkshire, England, got married and then ventured back to New England to begin their gypsy brewery Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project. They use the word "gypsy" because they don't actually have their own brewery — just a funky office in an artsy compound in Somerville. Lately, they've been brewing pretty consistently out of Buzzards Bay Brewery in Westport, Mass.
"We're now gypsies who have found someone who will put up with them," Martha Paquette said jokingly.
Now, after just three years in operation, business is good — not "I'm sleeping in a bed filled with hundred dollar bills" good but "I'm accomplishing my dreams" good. It's rare to meet two people who are doing exactly what they want to do in life, and being around the Paquettes, it's difficult not to get a little jealous of their passion.
There's more to the business than the couple. Like a makeshift family, Dann and Martha have managed to pick up Anya Kanevsky, a college student who requested to intern with them and instantaneously bonded with the duo.
Kanevsky is a party girl. In other words, she's the one who throws all the cool parties and events to bring attention to Pretty Things Beer. In our meeting, Martha Paquette fondly recollects a time that Kanevsky dressed up as a Russian witch for a Babayaga beer launch and read people's fortunes. It's clear that Pretty Things prizes quirk.
Rounding out the whole company is Jim "Bocky" Barnes, an old friend of the Paquettes', who handles their New York and Philadelphia accounts.
And that's it — Pretty Things consists of just those four people.
"It does work, but we all work hard," Martha Paquette said. "We wear a lot of different hats."
On the bright side, the whole company can fit in one car, which makes taking off last minute for a New York launch party a whole lot easier.
How a cathedral inspired a beer
Perhaps the first thing you'll notice about a Pretty Things beer is its size; they only come in 22 oz bottles and half−barrel kegs. After all, bigger is always better.
The next thing to catch your eye is the label artwork, which is unique to each specific type of beer. The paintings on the labels are part of a creative process shared by the Paquettes and Kanevsky. The three sit around a table and doodle and paint, picturing what they want the new beer to taste like.
Dann Paquette compared the cover art to that of an old LP.
"You'd want the sound to represent the art and the art to represent the sound," he said.
So what do they like to draw?
"Things that are slightly magical. Magic and history," said Martha Paquette.
That beer, Jack D'Or, is described as "barley personified, a wise, somber, mythical barleycorn whose name means ‘Jack of Gold.'" The figure of Jack D'Or is a piece of barley that looks like a Blemya. Did I mention he also has a huge handlebar mustache?
As far as taste goes, Jack D'Or is spicy and bitter, and contains only good old malt, oats, rye, sugar, hops and yeast. It's described as a simple table beer, or "saison," that is easy to pair and has a manageable Alcohol by Volume (ABV) of 6.5 percent.
After creating Jack D'Or, the couple headed back to Boston and began trying out more brews. As of now, there are three year−round beers: Jack D'Or, St. Botolph's Town and Baby Tree. There are also five seasonal beers, including Fluffy White Mouse, Field Mouse's Farewell, American Darling, Hedgerow Bitter, and Babayaga. Lastly, there's the "Once Upon a Time" series, which are experimental one−off brews based on pretty much whatever the Paquettes feel like brewing.
Each brew is unique, and the Paquettes keep elaborate descriptions of all their beers on their website to help their patrons identify what they're drinking. It's worth checking out, if only to know which ones pack a punch: Despite its innocent name, Baby Tree boasts an unexpected ABV of 9 percent.
As far as taste, beers can change from batch to batch, so you might not get the same exact beer you had a month ago.
"Beer is ephemeral," said Dann Paquette. "We have to make something new every single time. Besides, we're not excited about making the same thing all the time — that's for the big companies. [Beer] can always improve, that's the problem. We're not going to apologize for trying to make a better beer."
Surely, no one is going to ask them to.
"Can you please put some head on that?"
Dann and Martha Paquette are passionate about beer — so when they think of people pouring beer into plastic cups or tilting their cup so that the foam disappears, they cringe a little.
The couple's advice for novice beer drinkers?
"With good beer, you want to create a head on it, which goes against what a 22−year−old would think. Head on a beer is part of the beer. If a bartender served me a beer with no head, I would send it back," Dann Paquette said.
As he talked, he sipped one of his own beers out of a Pretty Things glass, which resembled a big, bulbous wine glass — an unlikely vessel for a beer.
"It seems strange to us now, but in the mid−1970s, even Budweiser had stemmed beer glasses," said Dann Paquette.
Between the company's name and the odd glass, it seems as though all the manliness has been sucked out of drinking a beer — Pretty Things seems to go against expectations.
"That's why we did it," said Martha, adding that people should remember beer is no less artful than wine.
The Paquettes note the importance of pouring beer into a clean glass, as opposed to something you just drank milk out of. Dann Paquette adds that he's been known to tweet back at people who have mentioned his beer on Twitter, giving them advice on the best ways to serve it.
The final takeaway from the conversation? Bubbles are a good thing. Stemmed glasses are best. And respect the beer.
Keeping it Local
So where can you find these mythical, magical and historical brews? Dann and Martha Paquette are dedicated to reaching the Somerville community. It's pretty easy to find the couple around town and catch a free tasting. Just this week, they hosted a pint night at Flatbread's.
But in case you can't catch them in person, you can always pick up one of their beers at Ball Square Fine Wines, Red Bones or Five Horses Tavern. Careful, though — you may never go back to Natty Ice again.
