O'so Brewing Company - Night Rain

This tasty porter from O'so presents an opaque dark brown color in the glass, capped with a dense tan head that retains and laces very well. On the nose, we picked up plenty of inviting roasty notes, including coffee and dark chocolate, along with caramel and toffee, a touch of smoke, and hints of underlying dark fruit. The theme continues in the flavor where roasted and caramel malts come to the fore, with touches of dried fruits akin to figs and dates. Hop bitterness is prominent and we picked up a bit of a juicy, fruity hop character, too. A touch of residual sweetness is easily balanced by the hops and the more bitter aspects of the complex malt profile, which O'so tells us includes 12 different varieties. For pairing options, we'd go with grilled meats to complement the roasted notes from the beer, or sweet dessert pairings such chooclate cake a la mode, or even a porter float. Cheers!

O’so Brewing Company, in the small village of Plover, Wisconsin, has quietly become one of the very best breweries in the state, and we're very excited to have the opportunity to work with them this month. O’so was founded in 2007 by husband-and-wife team Marc and Katina Buttera, who both grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It took a whole lot of steps in-between to get O’so up and running, as Marc and Katina raised two young children while working and going to school (which is pretty badass, let’s be real). Marc earned a degree in mechanical design and Katina earned hers in accounting, and, after establishing their careers and even moving their family away to Tennessee (for Marc to take a promotion at the foundry he worked for), they realized that something was missing.

As these stories often go: homebrewing soon changed everything. After moving back to the middle of Wisconsin, the couple opened up Point Brew Supply (a beer- and winemaking supply shop) as a side project, which gradually transitioned into a five-year plan to also open O’so Brewing. In the period since, both entities have grown in leaps and bounds. O’so has been one of the fastest growing breweries in the state; their year-round The Big O wheat ale won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2015, and their hoppy and sour releases, especially, have made them one of the most influential breweries in Wisconsin. Should you happen to find yourself anywhere near the center of Wisconsin, O’so Brewery’s Tap House offers up an exceptional selection of the brewery’s house beers along with a surprising number of beers from all around the state. As O’so puts it, “Our mission as a Tap House is to promote a ton of great Wisconsin beer.” So: 40 taps in total, including 20–25 of their own, and the Tap House regularly highlights members of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild. For more info on O’so, upcoming Tap House events, their upcoming new facility on 20 acres of land, and more, call 715-254-2163 or visit www.osobrewing.com.