O’so Brewing Company - Tuppen’s Demise

All four of the fruited sour beers stem from the brewery’s Extreme Beers lineup, which has a tendency to revisit this space when special fruit becomes available. This second of these four O’sos in our Rare Beer Club special offer incorporates fresh Michigan blueberries during its refermentation, resulting in a compellingly complex beer that has as much vibrant blueberry character as we’ve seen anywhere, and it’s way different from what you’d get from syrups. In this beer, that berry character’s pulpy and round and, undoubtedly, perfectly captured inside of this beer’s central structure of vanilla and oak tannins and just-right carbonation. This is a second of four great examples of what these releases from Plover, Wisconsin do with fruit.

This pours a darker color than the Scarlet Letter, heading into more of a burgundy hue. It’s hazy enough not to see through, with an off-white foam that’s approaching a light pink. For all visual metrics: it’s decidedly a serious fruit beer. The aromatics are a nice variation on the cranberry-focused impact presented by Scarlet Letter: here, the blueberry notes are boldly expressed without any thick, encompassing sweetness, and the underlying tart citrus with its oak accompaniments does a great job keeping everything in place. It’s well showcased fruit.

With the Scarlet Letter’s lean cranberry focus swapped out for a heartier blueberry presence, this sour beer brings forth a significantly darker collection of berries and fruits in the flavor. At times, the full package lands much like a red-fruit-forward Pinot: light tannin structure, a subtle boost from oak, a hint of tucked-away alcohol... This take just happens to be half the ABV of Pinot and effortlessly drinkable. The CO2 is just enough, and the tannins come in at the edges to orient things. The exceptional degree of fruit continues to evolve and expand as this beer warms: blackberry, currant, raspberry, boysenberry, pear... This landed effortlessly, then continued to offer up further nuances as we spent time here. Magical blueberry beer.

This is a touch higher in ABV than Scarlet Letter, and fuller in flavor profile, such that it’s a bit more sturdy for some cellaring time. Check aging bottles regularly to see how those fruit elements are evolving. For pairings, the blueberries plus lemony tartness had us thinking of vanilla-focused desserts and buttery pastries—syncing to the oaky vanilla at the beer’s core.