BOSTON — This Friday, The Daily Caller is on a road trip. And since everyone but our mothers think it’s okay to take road trips in search of beer, that’s what we’re doing. But while that be exhausting, it’s all in a day’s work. So this week, we have a special damn treat: Two Massachusetts cult classics that are both worth the trip — Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project’s Jack D’Or Saison and Opa-Opa Brewing Company’s IPA.
Basically, we’re looking for a recreation of TheDC’s college summers, when the beer flowed like wine, the grill was always smoking and the small critters of our backyard lived in mortal fear. So if that kind of Saturday sounds awesome — and it does — check these brews out:
Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project’s Jack D’Or Saison
Saisons are an old summer tradition, dating back to when Belgian farmers would brew it to take into the fields to keep them from getting too parched while they worked.
Fact.
And we use that fact when nosy people tell us to stop drinking while using power tools. And when they point out that those farmers didn’t have power tools unless all that alien History Channel bullshit is true, we just point out that they didn’t have skin grafts either. Unless that History Channel bullshit is true.
But now that we have set the historical precedence for why this beer is both awesome and necessary, let’s get to the drinking:
This bottle is made by a bunch of hippies out in Westport on Massachusetts’ southern shore. But really, it could be made anywhere, because like their likely-gypsy ancestors, they don’t have a brick-and-mortar brewery yet, and instead travel around crashing on couches, stealing babies and generally brewing where they can. Still, the folks at Buzzards Bay Brewing Company in Westport are particularly kind, so that’s kind of home.
The Jack D’Or has a frothy white head with a slow fade over a pale gold, cloudy body not unlike a wheat beer, but heavier in carbonation than you might normally see. Light, with airy clouds of color, it really is a beautiful sight.
On the nose, the traveling gang at TheDC picked up on that sweet, tangerine citrus smell long associated with the most common versions of this style.
On the palate, the gang from the Pretty Things Beer Project have whipped up something wonderful: Hoppy and floral, the taste is sweet, sharp and refreshing, with an herbal background and a slight taste of honey.
This is for drinking before the cookout. Like, when the elite crew is there early. We would pair it with cigarettes, a BB gun and a thirst for fluffy carnage. Also, some sharp cheddar cheese.
At 6.4 percent ABV, the Jack D’Or has a higher alcohol content than the classic saisons of yore, and that’s a good thing. Available on tap and in 22 oz. bottles, keep your eyes open for this one. We picked up our 22 oz. for $6.50. And though it’s all kind of a blur after the ’70s, but we seem to remember finding pints for $5 cash.
Oh, and a good story: A few years ago at the American Craft Beer Festival, we took a halftime break — after the first three straight hours of beer — to get some fried clams. Well, a bunch of hippies looked a little annoyed at how sloppy we were on the porch of that old clam hut in the early afternoon. “Whatever,” we thought — those guys probably suck. Turns out that they were the folks behind Pretty Things beer and turns out they don’t suck at all. Oh well. We don’t regret a minute of that clam feast.
