Pretty Things Baby Tree

Pretty Things Baby Tree

Baby tree is a "quadruple" brewed with a single strain of Belgian yeast. While a commonly used style name on the internet, "quadruple" isn’t in fact a style name at all but a brand of beer produced by La Trappe in the Netherlands. Its found a common usage as a cover-all for the darkest and strongest beers produced by Trappist monks, mainly because they haven’t named them themselves. Two Belgian brewers use the term "Abt", Flemish for "Abbot". Historically the best beer made in an abbey (by the Cistercians/Trappists at least) was referred to in Latin simply as "prima melior". This has also become a brand name in recent years.Our "quadruple" benefits from the addition of 40lbs of dried California plums in the kettle - hopefully contributing to the overall dark-fruit character of the beer. It’s a dark, 8.6% beer..."Baby Tree" is Pretty Things’ first seasonal beer.


Brewed and bottled by Dann Paquette of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project, Inc. at Buzzards Bay. Previously brewed at Paper City. Not a Paper City or Buzzards Bay brand beer.
3.6
439 reviews
Cambridge, United States

Community reviews

3.2 Deep copper, hazy. Medium body, slight flavor, hot and flat mouthfeel due to low carbonation, short length. Bitter, sweetish. Fruity, dark fruits, yeasty. Ok.
3.3 Bottle at bottle shop had thought this a tripel but seems to be a dubbel like quad and hence not massive fan. Dried fruit, sticky, filling speciality malt body, rich, growing alcohol warmth
3.0 Pours a dark brown from a bottle, little carbonation, almost still. Aroma is dark candi sugar, flavor is plummy brown sugar, almost like a plum upside-down cake. Boozy. Good beer.
3.9 Pours a dark mahogany brown with fluffy head. Aromas of dark fruit, malts, and some woody notes. Flavors of dark malts and fruits, fig, and some tobacco notes.
3.7 Very yeasty spicy Belgian aroma. Not much of a head and little carbonation. Darker than I thought it would be. The flavor is really good. Traditional Abby style Belgian, but made in the US. I would recommend this as an excellent example of a Belgian Abby.
3.4 Dark brown with small off-white head. Sweet malty, bit acidic aroma. Sweetsour taste with some bitterness, fruity notes. Sweet aftertaste.
3.3 Sample at Strong Ale Fest 2015. Comes a somewhat cloudy reddish brown with a small khaki head. Aroma of fruit, malt, and caramel. Taste is malt, dark fruit, caramel, and alcohol. Pretty good.
2.6 Baby Tree is a beautiful copper red ale with subtle aromas of fruit. The taste is very light compared to that it is a quadrupel. It tastes a bit of fruit as a cross between strawberry / raspberry and other luscious summer fruit. Slightly tart citrus flavor follows it to the end, which also slightly hoppy bitterness is finding. The hops may not belong so much in a quadrupel, at least not to the degree as it appears here. However, in this case it is welcome. Now it is of course an American interpretation of a Belgian quadrupel, so perhaps that is why I think it is a little lacking. Fruit is not to be mistaken, and it is probably the fruit keeps this ale up. A gem of a quadrupel it is not, but rather a good strong fruit beers which probably should have been launched as a strong ale instead.
3.3 Bomber shared by Bruce. Cloudy deep copper with a full, loose light tan head. Brown sugar, dark dried fruits, lightly buttery, light minty herbal notes, bread crust, fruity esters, lightly spicy, nice.
3.7 Bottle. Aroma of chocolate extract. Chocolate extract taste with slight spice, and a clean boozy finish. It’s good.
3.7 Pours hazy Amber with a off white head. Aroma of malts, dried fruit and sugar. Taste is raisins, fruit and malts.
4.1 Nearly clear, this deep amber-brown pour has an off-white head. The aroma has plum, raisin, and a hint of black licorice. It has a full body with slick texture and average carbonation. The taste is sweet with alcohol warmth in the semi-dry finish.
3.6 Pour is a murky brown with a small tan head. Aroma is full of candi sugar and dark fruit. Maybe even some woody notes as well. Flavor is a bit sweet with some raisons and sweet plum. Finish is a bit more sugar and then after the swallow a bit of black bread appears. This was a pretty decent quad. This was bottled in May of 2014 and its still a bit to sweet, that’s really my only knock against this.
3.8 Tap at Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor. Pours murky brown, thin white head. Aroma is candied sugars, currants, raisins. Flavor is similar. Lots of sweet candied sugars. Ester notes. Dark fruits. Very solid.
3.6 Bottle a brown colored beer with a white head aroma malts caramel spicy dark fruits citrus and some hops flavor malts caramel spicy dark fruits citrus some alcohol and hops
3.8 Bottle. Dark red/brown in colour with good white head. In aroma dark and red fruits, dried fruits, bisquit, caramel malt, candi sugar and some noble alcohol. In taste is sweet: caramel, fruits, raisins, liquorice, some wood and warming alcohol. After this medium bitterness. The beer is creamy with soft carbonation, quite dry with slightly but not unpleasant alcoholic finish. Very nice and tasty quad.
3.3 Bottle @benzai with Dutchdrebus and Joes. Brown red color with a off-white head. Smells and tastes malty, sweet, fruity, watery, iron.
3.7 Bottle @ weekly tasting shared with Dutchdrebus and Joes and Ansjelaah. Nice dark red color, off-white head. Smell and taste malts, sweetish, some alcohol, lightly bitter. Decent body and carbonation.
3.2 Bottle @ benzai. Amber colour with a small off-white head. Smells slightly iron, fruity, strawberry, hops. Tastes watery, hops, malts, sweet. Thin to medium body, soft to medium carbo.
3.8 E’ di un bel color marrone scuro con riflessi rubino; sottile cappello di schiuma color beige, dalla discreta persistenza. All’aroma malto, con un po’ di biscotto; caramello, zucchero di canna, frutta scura, prugna. In bocca è dolce e fruttata, sapori di malto, uva passa, biscotti, prugne; la carbonazione è bassa, il corpo medio-pieno. Il retrogusto è un mix di frutta scura, zucchero di canna e note speziate.
2.7 660ml bottle (Alus Celle, Riga) Pretty stinky aroma - stagnant water and caramel. Dusty later. Nice red, large persistent tight head. Sweet malty body. Caramel. Decanted into a goblet, it becomes quite alcoholic in the aroma. Sweet and caramelly, and bugger all else can push past the sugars. Apart from a bit of alcohol occasionally that creeps through from the aroma, which it now dominates. Smooth palate, not aggressive despite the strength, but a bit heavy, slick, and sticky. Not the most pleasant way of getting buzzed I’ve ever encountered, a pretty amateurish strong brew, devoid of anything to interest my nose or tastebuds. At least I haven’t said "sweet boozy mess" yet. ... Yet...
4.0 Butelka, 0,65. Barwa ciemnoczerwona, wpadająca w rdzę/brąz. Po przelaniu w szkoło atakują zapachy owoców: winogrona, jeżyny oraz porto. W smaku owocowe i winne nuty dają się we znaki, goryczka lekka, alkohol nieźle ukryty, choć butelka alarmuje, że 9%. Po paru łykach daje o sobie znać karmel, uwalniają się winne nuty, choć owocowy charakter wciąż zaznaczony. Słodko-wytrawne, przyjazne człekowi piwo. Więcej niż jednej butelki na raz jednak nie radziłbym pić. :)
3.5 Bottle thanks to Nathan. Pours a cloudy brown with small beige head that lasts. The aroma is dark fruit and figs. Medium mouth, bready malt, caramel, lingering sweetness, very good.
3.6 A opaque brown body with an off white head. Aroma had notes of dried fruits, caramel malts, and a bit of yeast. Flavor was mostly sweet. It wasn't cloying and I could sense both the dried fruits and sweet malts from the aroma. Mild bitterness in the finish. Moderate mouth feel.
4.1 Barwa i piana: barwa głęboko czerwona, zamglona. Piana lekko zabarwiona (ecru / jasno beżowa), drobno i średnio pęcherzykowa, umiarkowanej wielkości, ale niezbyt trwała. Aromat: dominują nuty estrowe (wiśnie, śliwki, suszone morele, rodzynki) nieco porto, rumu oraz fenolowe akcenty drożdżowe. W tle lekka czekolada, biszkopty oraz karmel. Alkohol o dziwo dobrze ukryty, wychodzi dopiero po chwili. Całość przyjemna i słodka. Smak: początkowo dość słodko z nutami owocowymi (suszone śliwki, rodzynki, morele oraz winogrona i wiśnie) i słodowymi (czekolada, karmel, tosty). Następnie nuty drożdżowe oraz winne, a nawet rumowe z alkoholowym finiszem. Goryczka i odczucie w ustach: niska do umiarkowanej, raczej alkoholowa goryczka, lekko drażniąca, ale krótka. Krągła pełnia, umiarkowane wysycenie i nieco oleista konsystencja. Półwytrawna, raczej gładka, choć alkoholowa, rozgrzewająca przełyk końcówka. Pierwsze piwo z tego browaru, jakie miałem okazję próbować. Jest to quadrupel, wzorowany na odpowiedniku z holenderskiego La Trappe. Barwa odpowiednia, choć piana powinna być bardziej ofita i trwała. W aromacie i smaku jest już lepiej, jednak wolałbym żeby nuty słodowe były nieco bardziej wyraźne. Alkohol jest dobrze ukryty, natomiast wyższe są nuty owocowe. Piwo ma już jednak ponad 2 lata, zatem miało czas się ułożyć. Kupiłem na przecenie i obawiałem się trochę utlenienia, na szczęście bezpodstawnie. Niezłe, choć próbowałem już ciekawsze.
2.5 Bottle. Brown body with a short, fizzy, tan head. Aroma of pencil lead, candy, sugar, toasted grain, caramel. The flavor is moderately to heavily sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes moderately sweet and lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. The pencil lead aroma shows up in the taste along with some vinegar. Overly sweet with very few nuances. There is some overripe fruit but it comes off as prune juice.
4.0 Light brown/dark red ale in color. You do smell the alcohol up front. The taste is smooth, sweet and crisp with some lingering bitterness at the end. Roasted malt flavors with hints of caramel and possibly cherries or other sweet fruits.
3.4 Bottle. A hazy light brown with a reddish tint. Sweet and malty aroma. Sweet taste, layers of malt, some alcohol apparent as it warms. Medium to full bodied, minimal carbonation.
3.4 Bottle from Beer Cartel (April 2014)). Murky red/brown, minimal tan head, lots of jammy fruit, candy sugar, spices, Belgian yeast, low bitterness, medium sweetness, full body, syrupy texture, sweet boozy finish. Nice.
3.5 Bomber shared poured a medium somewhat murky brown color. Aroma sweet malt a dark fruits most likely plums. The flavor was a bit on the lighter side for a quad. Plenty of plums though. For a quad a little disappointed.