Pretty Things American Darling
If you’re looking for a reason to try Pretty Things this summer, we hope a well-stated 5.8% pale lager might be a good bet. We hear what you’re saying: “a filtered Pretty Things lager”? Nothing strange about that, we love to brew all sorts of beers! This beer bears our usual stamp of authenticity-at-the-expense-of-convenience, so here is a decoction lager brewed with German malt and hops, and fermented at cool temperatures with German lager yeast for over 6 weeks.
This time we were looking to make the un-lawnmower beer (with an emphasis on the “UN”). Just how do we go about doing that? Well, we start with some of the world’s greatest pilsner malt from Weyermann in Bamberg, Germany. There’s no rice and corn in our darling either – just the best barley malted for this purpose in the world. What else? We use a decoction brewing method: this comes from old German brewhouses, where temperature control was not possible, so a portion of the mash is removed, brought to boiling temperature and then re-mixed with the rest of the mash. This is a whole lot of work, but we think it’s worth it because it gives a whole lot of authentic Germanic flavour! All of the hops used in American Darling come from the Hallertau hop region of Germany. Finally, fermentation uses a blend of two of Europe’s great lager yeasts, with low temperature fermentation and lagering, over six weeks.
The next step in the process is to filter so that it can be more portable. Put it in your coolers, your picnic baskets… your saddlebags. Take it to family reunions and pie-eating contests, parades, beaches, fancy mustache conventions, hot dog factory tours, monorail excursions, secret basement lairs… wherever good summertime fun happens!