Pretty Little Stingo

The much anticipated Boulevard Collaboration #3 started hitting taps in Kansas City on Tuesday, so locals finally have the opportunity to try this Stingo that was brewed with Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project out of Massachusetts. A Stingo, you ask? Certainly not a beer style we see being produced regularly (the only other example you'll find locally is Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo), a Stingo is an English-style strong ale that dates back to before the 1700's.

When the Pretty Things crew was here a few months ago to brew the beer at Boulevard, I had the opportunity to speak to Dann Paquette a bit about the collaboration and how the Stingo came to be. He noted that he discovered the style pre-Pretty Things, during his time brewing in England, and immediately had an interest in one day brewing a Stingo himself. Fate worked a little bit of magic, and when the opportunity to brew a Stingo with Boulevard presented itself, Pretty Things jumped on it.

Pretty Things is unique in that they are a tenant brewer. They don't own their own physical brewery, but instead utilize and rent others brewhouses (they typically use Buzzards Bay Brewing in Westport, MA as their host). However, this is no contract brewing situation. Their team gets down and dirty, and gets fully involved in the initial brewing process. The host brewer assists them later by taking care of monitoring fermentation, final brewing steps and bottling.

Dann also described the Stingo brewing process a bit, and noted that to begin with, they actually brewed three different batches of beer. One was fermented normally, another was on oak, and a third was allowed to sour. They then worked to determine the perfect blend of these three batches, which was the ultimate final product of the Boulevard collaboration beer.

I had the chance to try Collaboration #3 yesterday, and it was interesting. This was one of the first times in recent memory where I truly had no idea what to expect from a beer that I was trying. To me, the Stingo was reminiscent of a malty, roasty brown ale with a very light tart finish. When Dann originally described the beer to me, one of the descriptions he gave was something along the lines of 'a malty English Liefman's', so I was expecting a bit more bite to the tartness. I'll be curious to try this out of the bottle and see how the flavor compares to draft, as well as how this beer will age.

Wondering where you can find Collaboration #3 on tap to give it a try? Here are a few confirmed places that have it available:

Barley's Brewhaus 119th
Charlie Hoooper's
Flying Saucer
Governor Stumpy's
Riot Room
Swagger (Waldo)

Seen Collaboration #3 available anywhere else around town? Had it already and want to share your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

You can also look forward to the Boulevard/Pretty Things Collaboration #3 Stingo hitting retail shelves on Tuesday, August 7th, along with Boulevard's other newest offering (that has been a LONG time coming), 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat.

On a slightly related note, I highly recommend following Pretty Things on Twitter if you don't already. It's fun seeing them chronicle the trips they take and the work they do at host breweries.

And finally, since I can't hear the word Stingo without thinking of the word 'dingo'…


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