The Pretty Things Saint Botolph’s Town rustic dark ale is a perfect example of a beer that would never get made by a large corporation; there is just far too much personality, depth, and mad genius in here to be comfortably contained in a slick product line designed to be sold by the tanker. This beer is what the soul of craft brewing is all about.
Saint Botolph’s Town is a salute to the city of Boston, the original Boston in Lincolnshire, UK is an abbreviation of “Botolph’s Town” or “Botolph’s Stone”. It is here where gypsy brewers Dann and Martha Paquette have been renting time at local breweries to craft their unique small batch beers.
Saint Botolph’s is made with a base of crystal and roasted malts, small measured additions of oats and wheat, and minute doses of four types of sugar for flavour and colour.
Very much a loving tribute to the brewer’s former home in Yorkshire, a northern county of England known for their creamy-headed and bitter ales, this beer uses a combination of Belgian and English yeasts and is fermented in open squares giving it a rustic finish.
It has a strong aroma of raisin and toffee malt and pours a deep and rich, reddish brown with a thick beige head that sticks around for a considerable amount of time.
The beer is medium bodied and the taste is breadiness up front, dark fruits and smokey molasses mid-palate with a nice barleymalt sweetness that finishes with a pleasing note of acidity. This ale would pair well with most roasted meats and nutty cheeses.
Brewer: Pretty Things
Agent: Raincity Brands
ABV: 5.7%
Category: dark ale
Appearance: 4.5
Aroma: 4
Flavour: 4.5
Mouthfeel: 4
Overall: 4
Score: 21/25
Availability: Brewery Creek Liquor Store
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