Pretty Things Our Finest Regards
Poem from the back label…
It’s cold out there, but it’s warm in here:
The pretty things are full of cheer.
A year has gone, but there’s another to come,
It’s kept for us, and it’s foolish & fun.
So tuck yourself up, and hang on tight,
There’s a warm dark hold to sleep in tonight,
And way at the bottom are grain, hops & yeast,
Kept safe in this bottle from late summer’s feast.
From Pretty Things to you this winter season: "Our Finest Regards". Two years into our project and we’re grateful and amazed that so many people love and support great beer these days. The fact that we’re still here is a credit to you all.
But for the question of primary importance: What is the beer?
Well, it’s our Pretty Things barleywine. Inspired by malted barley, a tribute to the barleycorn. Yes, it’s simple, but that’s what barleywines are all about. Ever since brewing in England, Dann has dreamed of making a barley-focused beer using the malts of Yorkshire (and never hesitates to plug his favorite: Thomas Fawcett & Sons).
Give barley a chance and this mysterious little grain can do grand things!
To get the density of sugars needed for this sort of beer, we employed "double mashing". The brewhouse that we work on can only get to maybe 18 plato for a single running of wort: but we wanted 27 plato! So we combined two brews by running wort into the kettle and then using it to mash in the second batch. We don’t take credit for this idea. We’re certain it has been done many, many times before. But it wasn’t until Will Meyers (the great Cantabridgian Cervecero) brought this method to our attention that we realized we could brew a barleywine of proper gravity... (he never told us that he hadn’t actually performed this sort of brewing before!). Anyway, it works!!
We fermented with a blend of English and Belgian yeast strains that seemed to work quite well together fermenting down to 4 plato in short order (that’s 13.5% abv if you’re counting). Expect an aroma of juicy sultanas, malted milk balls, and alcohol deliciousness. It’s got a medium body and is a little more spritsy than we’re sure the Brits would like. Serve over 50 degrees fahrenheit in a stemmed glass.
Very suitable to drink this year or next, or even the winter after that!
It’s cold out there, but it’s warm in here:
The pretty things are full of cheer.
A year has gone, but there’s another to come,
It’s kept for us, and it’s foolish & fun.
So tuck yourself up, and hang on tight,
There’s a warm dark hold to sleep in tonight,
And way at the bottom are grain, hops & yeast,
Kept safe in this bottle from late summer’s feast.
From Pretty Things to you this winter season: "Our Finest Regards". Two years into our project and we’re grateful and amazed that so many people love and support great beer these days. The fact that we’re still here is a credit to you all.
But for the question of primary importance: What is the beer?
Well, it’s our Pretty Things barleywine. Inspired by malted barley, a tribute to the barleycorn. Yes, it’s simple, but that’s what barleywines are all about. Ever since brewing in England, Dann has dreamed of making a barley-focused beer using the malts of Yorkshire (and never hesitates to plug his favorite: Thomas Fawcett & Sons).
Give barley a chance and this mysterious little grain can do grand things!
To get the density of sugars needed for this sort of beer, we employed "double mashing". The brewhouse that we work on can only get to maybe 18 plato for a single running of wort: but we wanted 27 plato! So we combined two brews by running wort into the kettle and then using it to mash in the second batch. We don’t take credit for this idea. We’re certain it has been done many, many times before. But it wasn’t until Will Meyers (the great Cantabridgian Cervecero) brought this method to our attention that we realized we could brew a barleywine of proper gravity... (he never told us that he hadn’t actually performed this sort of brewing before!). Anyway, it works!!
We fermented with a blend of English and Belgian yeast strains that seemed to work quite well together fermenting down to 4 plato in short order (that’s 13.5% abv if you’re counting). Expect an aroma of juicy sultanas, malted milk balls, and alcohol deliciousness. It’s got a medium body and is a little more spritsy than we’re sure the Brits would like. Serve over 50 degrees fahrenheit in a stemmed glass.
Very suitable to drink this year or next, or even the winter after that!
3.7
196 reviews
Cambridge, United States
Community reviews
Quality. Brown draft pour at Firetruck brewery. Thick with off white head. Brown sugar and very sweet. A ton going on in this beer. Complex and I honesty can’t think of it as a barleywine. I like it
on tap @ mikkellerbar. sweet, creamy, smooth, really great even though i was distracted talking with a friend i hadn’t seen in a long time.
Pours dark brown with an off white head that quickly dissipates. Medium bodied with flavors of brown sugar and raisin.
Bottle from K&L. Bottled Nov. 2011
A: Mahogany color with a firm light creme color and good lacing to round it out.
N: Toffee, cracker, leaves, earth, leather, some caramel, burnt brown sugar, peppercorn, tobacco. The hops have faded out and there is a touch of oxidation after 3 years. Raisin and prune.
T: Big bitterness and sweetness.
M: Medium body, foamy carbonation, alcohol burn.
O: A sweet and burnt barleywine. It’s nice to have one which forges its own path. Reminds me of being back in the Bay Area for business, so it gets some nostalgia points.
6oz pour at Churkeys D.C. Deep ruby brown color with very little head. Nose is sweet malt and alcohol. Sweet malty, spicy, peppery, alcohol. Thin mouthfeel, but balanced and very drinkable.
Bottle to beer tulip. The pour is a deep, dark ruby/brown. It's like burnt caramels. The aroma is dark fruits, malt, toffee and some sweetness. It's very Belgian. The taste is very malt forward with lots of fruit and toffee. It's warm and lovely. It finish slick. This is really great. English barleywines are way less hoo heavy and this really shines.
4 ounce pour on draft at ChurchKey. 11% ABV. Dark brown with light beige head. Aromas of toasty notes, toffee, cocoa. Tastes of caramel, toffee, light toasty notes, honey. Medium body with a dry finish. Low carbonation.
22oz bottle pours out a brown with some ruby highlights topped with a sand head. Nose is sweetness caramel toffee pit fruit and some spice. Taste is as the nose with lots of sweetness and the pit fruit.
Bottle from Table and Vine. Dark brown with ring and lace. Toasted caramelized brown sugar aroma with mild spice and booze. Very sweet toasted brown sugar and caramel and nuts and raisins with mild spicy lingering bitterness and strong finishing cloy. Medium-full body. Way too sweet. More like an imperial brown than a barley wine to me. Glad I didn’t pay too much for it.
Poured from a 22 ounce bomber. This is liquid English toffee, buttery, nutty, caramel, burnt sugar, chocolaty. Fantastic.
Draft at Churchkey. Poured a slightly muddy brown color with a small off-white head. Aroma was light toffee, caramel malt notes. Some raisin. Sweetness, some booze. Very smooth though. Toffee. Enjoyable.
Decent barley wine. Not too syrupy for style, and well-balanced and drinkable. Pours cloudy brown with ok head and lacing. Some sweetness in finish, and lightly floral with some raisins. Kind of halfway between a barley wine and a Belgian strong. Tap at Churchkey.
On draft at ChurchKey DC. Pours a clear cola with a tan head. Aroma of toasted nuts. Flavors of caramel, butterscotch and nuts. Slightly bitter finish.
6 fl. oz. on tap @ Lord Hobo. Pours cloudy brown with a low head. Aroma is sweet malts, dark fruits and alcohol. Flavor is sweet malts, dark fruits, caramel, alcohol and hops. Sublime.
Thick light brown body and very thick head, amazing looks. Figs, fermenting fruit, pine, pot-pourri, rich. Delicious. Luscious body, rich sweetness and juicy bitter ending. (Bottle from a bottle store on Texas)
22oz bottle -
Aroma - a complex aroma with caramel, chocolate, ripe dark fruit and overripe banana.
Appearance - a dark ruby red/brown body, hazy, thick 3-finger off-white head with nice retention and above average lacing
Mouthfeel - full bodied, medium carbonation, silky and coating
Flavor - the best thing about the beer. Complexities abound here. Caramel, chocolate, banana, alcohol, medium-high sweetness, and dark fruits.
Overall - well worth the money. Our Finest Regards exceeds expectations on a barleywine, and this one would do well with some aging. In 5 years...yowza...this would be something with just a little oxidation.
Bottle. Pours unlear, dark, reddish amber with a big, lasting, frothy, off white head. Lots of big yeast flakes and particles. Aroma has huge, sweet malts, english caramel malts, alcohol, belgian yeast, banana, maybe some dried peach or apricot. Taste is much darker, and has sweeter fruit notes. Toasted caramel malts, some licorice, prunes or plums in booze. lots of alcoholic bitterness and heat in the end. Oily texture and a medium-low carbonation. Very tasty, but also very boozy!
Bottle. Pours amber with loads of yeast particles and some big flakes which looks like stearin. Creamy frothy but brown head. Blasting aroma of dried fruits. Caramel, raisins, Belgian yeast and banana esters. Taste is big and sweet. Blommer i Madeira. Caramel and toasty malts in the finish. Over the top body. Boozy and oily.
Bottle. Oily and frothy head with serious lasting power on top of a deep red beer. Belgian yeast profile in the aroma, as well as dried apricot, banana, herbs and honey. Quite seriously full bodied with a ton of toasted caramel, booze, plums and madeira, almost no bitterness. Pure boozy sweetness. Creamy, sticky, and heavy dutt. Not bad in small quantities.
Bottle. Pours a deep cherry red with a small, hazelnutty head.
Oily, thick and quite toasty notes. Ripe fruit, banana sweetness and yet, sharp, warming alcohol feel.
"I’m still not sure what to think of this one. Definitely not what I was expecting, and it has it’s faults, but damn, was it unique (and tasty). Tastes and smells like a hybrid sweet english barleywine and a quad or bsa. sweet, almost syrupy flavor and feel. somehow is not cloying, the body is great, but it’s also a little on the strong side, and smells and tastes a little too hot as it warms. potentially an epic beer, ends up being very good."
Bottle shared at Crooked Stave. Pour is murky brown with a small tan head and good lacing. Big caramel malty, light spice, figgy, grapey, light oxidation, cherry pits, and toffee in the aroma. Taste is raisins, toffee, prunes, whoppers, light bread, and dark fruits with some heat on the backend. Full mouthfeel with medium carbonation. Good stuff and never would have guessed it was 13.5%
Taster at Zeebra II.
Hazy light brown colour on the body, with a small light brown head, low retention - at least on my taster- light lacing on the glass.
Malty aroma but with nice fruity notes, ripe pears, even some bubblegum.
Taste is also malty, quite bitter though with floral notes, very fruity too, caramel. Even more bitter on the aftertaste.
Medium thin body with good carbonation.
Overall good tasty beer, made me wish I had more of this.
Amber mahogany in color... Aroma of hazelnuts, vanilla, raisins, and Belgian candi sugar... Flavor is a little off initially, some heat with candi sugar, toffee, dark fruits, finishes with smoke and roasted malt notes... Okay
22 oz bottle. Shared with durwoodx and loinis. Pours a clear dark amber/light brown with lasting thin head and no lacing. Aroma is sweet caramel with bready malt and booze. Flavor is sweet molasses with vanilla and malt. Full bodied, sweet finish.
I think Lubiere brought this to Spinrsx tasting. 2011 bottle. Murky dark mahogany with a tan head that disappears. Candied Belgian yeast, oak, sugar, oak, fig, boozy, dry, mild+ carbonation and moderate+ body, somewhat boozy, bit of toffee and malt. Enjoyable.
Bottle, thanks Eddan.
Clear dark reddish/brown with a small head. Sweet with fruit, toffee, alcohol and malt. The body was medium and the finish was quite long. A descent one.
@Basunen; ganska enkel både i doft och smak. Enkel maltig lagom fyllig. Tja ...
---- Soberness not garanteed!
Backnote, had this beer at the zeebra extreem beer festival 2014. superb beer, bit too sweet
Sweet malty beer, but in a good way. Sugary and fruity, with some nice spices.