O’so, salami, and brats at Mickey’s

O’so Brewing Company pours samples at Mickey’s Tavern May 10, 2012 during Madison Craft Beer Week.

I’ve been traveling so much that I almost missed Madison Craft Beer Week, but rectified that Thursday (May 10) at Mickey’s Tavern. A tasting event was held in the glorious late afternoon sun featuring beer from O’so Brewing Company of Steven’s Point, Pork and Goat salami samples from Underground Meats, and probably the most incredible tasting brats I have ever had. 

O’so brought along samples of “Night Train” and “Hopdinger” which are two of eleven beer offerings by the brewery. I was able to sample Night Train and it lived up to the description on their site of being black as coal but filled with smooth creamy strains of crystal and chocolate malts.

Also offering samples was neighborhood meat wholesaler Underground Meats. The underground food collective offers hand-crafted salamis and cured meats and provided slices of their Pork and Goat offerings. I’ll have more on Underground Meats in a future post.

Finally, a word about Mickey’s brats. I’m not sure where they get their brats but having eaten them in the past, I don’t quite remember them tasting good as they did last night. I am convinced they were injected with heroin.

UPDATE: I talked with a server at Mickey’s the following night and she explained that the brats were indeed special since “Steve” had hand prepared the brats in the basement, stuffing them with sausage. She hinted that if these particular brats got enough cache, they might just show up on the menu down the road.

UPDATE II: Almost a year later the “Steve” mentioned above as the creator of the “Heroin Brats” is really Gilbert Altschul and he is opening a new restaurant, Grampa’s Pizzeria, a block away at the former site of Grampa’s Gun Shop.