Pretty Things 1955 Double Brown

The Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project is based out of Somerville, Massachusetts.  They are a tenant brewer, not owning their own brewery, but renting others' brewing equipment.  This 5.1% ABV double brown ale is part of their Once Upon a Time Beers From History series based on old recipes that have been rediscovered and recreated. This is a recreation of a beer first brewed in London in 1955. 

The beer pours a very dark brown with tints of ruby and garnet. There is nearly an inch of foamy, semi-creamy head that is light tan in color. The aroma is fairly light, malty, caramel, roasted and toasted, a bit nutty. The taste follows the aromas, malty, roasted, toasted, nutty, but in a way more mild and subtle than overpowering, with the malt hit immediately by a wave of dry and bittering hops. The hops cut down all sweetness abruptly. The finish is of increasing bitterness. The beer is easy to drink, quite crisply carbonated while still having some smoothness. This is like an English brown ale meets an English IPA, much more bitter and hoppy than I expected from a beer called a double brown. This beer is easily imagined being consumed in a pub in 1955 England.