Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project's Saint Botolph's Town Dark Ale

Another tasty tidbit coming out of Somerville, Massachusetts. This is Pretty Thing's Dark Ale. The name comes from the town of Botolph's Town, or abbreviated "Boston". Now, I know what you're saying, "How in the heck in that short for Boston". And as Tevia told us in "Fiddlers on the Roof" when asked about their prayer shawls, I will give you the same answer. "I don't know." (Not into musicals?) I guess if you take away half the letters you can get Boston...BOtolphSTOwN. St. Botolph is actually a legitimate character who partied in Yorkshire in the late 600's. To give you an idea of how old this dude is, Mecca fell that same century and Jesus turned 600 and 700. Another true story: year 600 was a leap year; no big deal.

So Pretty Things has been around since the December of 2008 and has this ideology that they don't make beers from certain recipes or attempt to make beer that someone else makes that they like. Their objectives are to make good beer that they like and that leaves the most amount of room for creativity in the booze making and use the beer they like as a starting point for their creations. And this 5.7% ABV gal gets her roots from P.T.'s brown ale favorites: Theakston's Old Peculiar, Robinson's Old Tom, and Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo. So if you like those, try this. Or if you like this, try those. You get the idea, you turkey!

The thing about dark ales is this: I don't see much point in them. They are like nipples on men; cool but not at all practical. If I'm going for a malty, chocolately, dark beer, I'd have a stout or a porter. Dark ales do provide so drinkability but for all intensive purposes, I find them, in general, something to make on the back burner. Nut browns I guess are good. I dunno.

So this dark ale is pretty tasty though. it has a sweet, chocolatey aroma and a mild, chocolatey taste. That's to say, like most dark ales, the flavor is mild and non lasting. This is why I prefer stouts and porters over dark ales most of the time. I like a deep, rich flavorful taste. This beer is above average for dark ales but I'd really be interested in what Pretty Things can do for a stout or porter. This beer ran $6 for a 22oz bottle which is still a bit high to get into a steady habit of drinking. This is a nice beer to buy when you want to class it up a bit and have a nice beer to go with some beer brats.

Other Pretty Things Reviews:
Jack D'Or Saison Americain
American Darling Pale Lager

Drinkability: 7/10

Taste: 6/10

Value: 5/10
Curb Appeal: 8/10

Overall: 6.5/10