Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project (Out of Business)

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Plans for Three Floyds’ brewery expansion are revealed; Pretty Things founders resurface in England; Hanson Spirits acquires Carneros Brewing’s production facility and taproom; Deschutes and Bluejacket announce can packaging releases; and more.

After more than 15 months of investigations, regulators in Massachusetts have determined that Craft Beer Guild LLC — a wholesaler responsible for selling about 200 craft brands from around the U.S. — knowingly violated state laws prohibiting unfair trade practices and illegal pay-to-play activities. News of the decision was first reported by the Boston Globe. In a notice dated Feb. 11, 2016 and obtained by Brewbound, the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) slapped Craft Beer Guild — a subsidiary of the Sheehan Family Companies, which owns several alcoholic beverage distributorships across more than a dozen states — with a 90-day license suspension for offering inducements and unfair discounts in exchange for guaranteed retail placements.

Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project, the beloved Boston-area craft beer company owned by Dann and Martha Paquette and known for its popular Jack D’Or saison, will officially close next month, the pair announced in a blog post. “After seven years it’s time to draw the curtains and head off to a new adventure,” they wrote.

Massachusetts state regulators have accused Craft Beer Guild LLC, one of the state’s most prominent craft wholesalers, of unfair trade practices and illegal pay-to-play activities. The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) said Wednesday that Craft Beer Guild — a subsidiary of the Sheehan Family Companies, which owns multiple alcoholic beverage distributorships across more than a dozen states – violated state laws that prohibit wholesalers from offering inducements and unfair discounts.

The pay-to-play debate has erupted again, this time on twitter. Dan Paquette, the co-founder of Boston’s Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project took to the social media platform at 12:53 A.M. to complain about what he — and many other brewers — call the dirty habit of pay-to-play — under-the-table transactions, where brewers or wholesalers offer cash and incentives to retailers and bar owners in exchange for guaranteed placement.

American craft brewers, especially some of the founding fathers at Boston Beer Company and Redhook, for example, have culled and modernized recipes from the Germans, Belgians, English and Irish, to name a few. As a result, many forms of the faraway beer styles can be found in the U.S. In certain cases, American brewers seem to have digested the influence and gone their own way.

Various identities were showcased at the Brewbound Session in Boston at the Revere Hotel on Thursday, providing about 150 attendees — brewers, distributors and investors — with an up-close look into the inherent differences of brands within the same industry.

Brewbound is pleased to announce that the co-founders of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project will speak at the Brewbound Session on May 2. Founded in 2008, Pretty Things, which operates a “gypsy” brewer, has become well-known and well-respected for its ability to create innovative and high quality beers, and, more importantly, run a profitable business without actually owning any brewing space or equipment.

KANSAS CITY, MO – In recent years, American beer lovers have had the opportunity to enjoy a variety of interesting, often one-of-a-kind ales and lagers arising from the collaborative efforts of independent brewers. In 2010, Boulevard produced an Imperial Pilsner with esteemed Orval brewmaster Jean-Marie Rock, and last year brewed a “White I.P.A.” with Deschutes.

Next Tuesday, Boulevard Brewing Company and Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project will debut a new collaboration project — Stingo – an English-style ale – in Boston, Mass. It’s the third installment in Boulevard’s Smokestack Collaboration Series, which already includes collaborations with Orval and Deschutes Brewery.