Is there anything better than a snow day? They’re good enough when you’re a kid, but when you, Mr. or Ms. Non-essential Office Personnel Who Cannot Telecommute, are told by the boss to stay home, there’s no beating that. A snow day is never wasted, whether it’s spent building a snow fort with the kids, cocooning for an entire season of your favorite TV show on DVD, or even catching up on a bit of shut-eye. It’s a gift, straight from the heavens, a get-out-of-work free card presented once a year if it’s a good year. So let’s forget about the work piling up at the office and take a look at a beer that’s perfect for an unexpected snowbound day.
This week’s brew: O’so Rusty RedStyle: American amber ale
Brewed by: O'so Brewing Co. in Plover, just south of Stevens Point
Availability: Founded this year by a longtime homebrewer who first opened a homebrewing supply store, O’so is quickly coming into its own on the state brewing scene. Find it at finer liquor stores and bigger grocery stores including in Wisconsin. The Brew Guru predicts O’so’s beers will only get easier to find as more people try them.
What it’s like: A Samuel Adams Boston Lager with the malt revved up.
In the glass: Amber ales tend to be the airheaded beauties of the beer world. No beers look as downright gorgeous, all crimson and caramel, but they often disappoint in the flavor and personality departments. True to its name, Rusty Red is a bit browner – less spectacular, that is – than other reds that can drop a jaw from across the room. But it holds up nicely up close, with the spotlight on its sweet, slightly nutty malt. If you take it out of the fridge (or snowbank) early and let it warm up for five to 10 minutes, the flavor profile really blossoms.
Backwash: Perhaps The Brew Guru was unduly moved by this, but O’so’s flagship beers come with cleverly designed labels that free-associate words with the beer within. Rusty Red’s vocabulary: “smooth, malty, rich, bready, balanced, pleasant, harmonious.” The Brew Guru can’t disagree and is all the more impressed that with Rusty Red, O’so scored points on a style that he’d rather leave than take. Two of O’so’s other flagship beers – Hopdinger pale ale and, especially, Night Train porter – also win (as yet unpublished) high marks, making the 2009 Wisconsin brewing rookie of the year award no contest.
3 mugs (out of four)
