Tag Archives: beer

It’s time for Oscar Tango Tango Oscar, OTTO’s annual collaboration with Rising Tide

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OscarTango_Poster_V1Our annual Spring collaboration with Portland’s Rising Tide Brewing Company, Oscar Tango Tango Oscar, is currently pouring in Maine, and will be rolling out over the coming days in Massachusetts.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar is brewed with 2-row, flaked rice, carapils and hopped with Amarillo, Mandarina, and Cascade hops. It is fermented with Rising Tide’s house American ale yeast. Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s citrusy snap goes perfect with an OTTO signature pie on a warm summer day.

Over the years, Oscar Tango has accumulated an overall 3.8 rating on Beer Advocate and a 3.63 rating on Untappd.

The collaboration is only available at OTTO and at the Rising Tide tasting room. Get it while you can. Check in on Untappd and let us know what you think!

Autohelm: OTTO and Rising Tide’s collaboration brew is back for a limited time!

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We are pleased to announce the return of Autohelm, a deliciously hoppy amber ale brewed by Rising Tide Brewing Company in collaboration with OTTO.

Autohelm_Poster_2

Diners at OTTO restaurants in Maine and Massachusetts will be able to pair their pie with this delightful winter brew, which made its debut last year.

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO, as well as at the Rising Tide tasting room.

The beer is already available in Maine locations, with the Massachusetts launch party happening on Thursday, November 16 from 6-9pm, featuring OTTO’s Detroit-Style Pizza!

If you haven’t had an opportunity to try Autohelm, you should get a piece of the action before it’s all gone.

The brew has racked up a 3.75 rating on social beer discovery service Untappd, and a 3.95 on Beer Advocate, eliciting some of the following responses:

“Delicious!”
“Phenomenal!”
“Super solid!”
“Very solid hoppy amber. Piney hops with a strong malt backbone!”
“Pairs amazingly with pizza!”
“A sweet, hoppy Amber.”
“Very smooth. Almost creamy. Nice rich malts with hop balance.”
“Oh so good.”
“Great hoppy awesome. Full body with a little sweet.”
“Fan-freakin-tastic! Well done. Hoppy , refreshing, in a season of big heavy beers this was a refreshing change.”
“Wow that is delicious!”

Thirsty yet?

Come on down, grab a few pies, and a few glasses of Autohelm — and be sure to let us know what you think.

Celebrating New England Craft Beer

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While our main gig at OTTO is crafting an array of delicious pizzas, we also like to celebrate the range of local craft beers we have on tap from breweries across New England. From an Austin Street Patina to a Lamplighter Lucid Nonsense, we’re always seeking out the best local beers to pair up with our pies and slices.

Overwhelmingly we’re serving beers from breweries in the two states we call home – Maine and Massachusetts. Our New England offerings come from as far north as Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor and as far south as Stratford, CT, the home of Two Roads Brewing Company. Our Massachusetts beers come from as far west as Big Elm Brewing in the Berkshires to as far east as Cisco Brewers on Nantucket.
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AND, just last year our hometown of Portland was recently named America’s Craft Beer Capital! While the city’s population is smaller than all of the other cities on the list with only about 66,000 people, there’s an average of 25.5 microbreweries per 100,000 inhabitants! Yep, Portlanders like their beer. Each year, droves of beer lovers trek to Maine just to check out the 60+ breweries across the state.

Here at OTTO we also have a bi-annual collaboration going with Rising Tide, our not too far away neighbors in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland. Each year, we brew two beers with Rising Tide –  Oscar Tango Tango Oscar, our spring collab (coming right up!) and Autohelm, which is released in the late fall. The two beers are available exclusively at OTTO locations and in the Rising Tide tasting room. Our employees enjoy working together with the Rising Tide crew each year to brew these fan favorites.

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Back in the fall, we opened our newest location in Portland (250 Read Street) with our most taps yet – TWELVE. The majority of these taps serve up local Maine beers, but we always offer a few options for those wanting to grab some brews from a bit farther afield like Jack’s Abby and Lord Hobo.

Since we opened our first location in 2009 in downtown Portland, we have enjoyed ‘growing up’ alongside the craft beer scene and supporting our local brewers. We’re proud to be currently serving beer from over 20 New England breweries and cider makers! These local breweries make it easy for the love match between beer & pizza to continue…forever.

MAINE
Allagash – Portland
Atlantic – Bar Harbor
Austin Street – Portland
Banded Horn – Biddeford
Bissell Brothers – Portland
Foundation – Portland
Funky Bow – Lyman
Lone Pine – Portland
Oxbow – Newcastle
Peak Organic – Portland
Rising Tide – Portland
Urban Farm Fermentory – Portland

MASSACHUSETTS
Bantam Cider – Somerville
Big Elm – Sheffield
Castle Island – Norwood
Downeast Cider – East Boston
Ipswich Ale Brewery – Ipswich
Jack’s Abby – Framingham
Lamplighter – Cambridge
Lord Hobo – Woburn
Night Shift – Everett

CONNECTICUT
Two Roads – Stratford

Rising Tide-OTTO collab ‘Autohelm’ release party tonight at NEW Back Cove OTTO!

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Join us tonight at our brand spankin’ new Back Cove location at 250 Read Street in Portland, as we start pouring the third annual release of Autohelm, a deliciously hoppy amber ale brewed by Rising Tide Brewing Company in collaboration with OTTO.

250mapOur Autohelm release party is from 5-7pm today (Wednesday, Oct 12). Rising Tide and OTTO staff will be on hand to talk about the beer, and there will be schwag! Come check out our new digs while enjoying the first pours of this delicious winter beer.

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO locations in Maine and Massachusetts. (Note: Only 250 Read Street will begin pouring today. Other ME locations will begin pouring early next week, with MA locations in late October.)

If you haven’t had an opportunity to try Autohelm in the past, you won’t want to miss it this year.

The brew has 3.73 rating on social beer discovery service Untappd, eliciting some of the following responses:

autohelm-screen-copy“Delicious!”
“This is incredible.”
“Super solid!”
“Very solid hoppy amber. Piney hops with a strong malt backbone!”
“A sweet, hoppy Amber.”
“Very smooth. Almost creamy. Nice rich malts with hop balance.”
“Oh so good.”
“Great hoppy awesome. Full body with a little sweet.”
“Fan-freakin-tastic! Well done. Hoppy , refreshing, in a season of big heavy beers this was a refreshing change.”
“Wow that is delicious!”

Thirsty yet?

Come on down, grab a few pies, and a few glasses of Autohelm — and be sure to let us know what you think.

OTTO/Rising Tide Spring Collaboration Launch Parties in ME and MA

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1609996_1190159957662599_4654903827232278965_nPlease join us on Wednesday, March 30th as we launch OTTO and Rising Tide Brewing Company‘s spring collaboration, Oscar Tango Tango Oscar — a crisp, snappy, and sessionable pale ale brewed with rice.

The celebration will be happening simultaneously in Portland and Massachusetts, with launch parties at two OTTO locations on Wednesday, March 30. Join OTTO and Rising Tide team members at 225 Congress Street in Portland’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood or 289 Harvard Street in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner from 6-8pm, as we start pouring this delicious brew. Lucky attendees will receive Rising Tide and OTTO schwag!

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO.

12745742_1171284872883441_949013297044290465_nThe brewing process kicked off on February 23rd, with OTTO team members on site. This is the second year of this annual spring collaboration, which currently holds a respectable 3.71 rating (with 218 check-ins) on the popular social drinking service Untappd.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s citrusy snap goes perfect on our sunny patios while sharing one of OTTO’s spring pies — eggplant, ricotta and basil, or roasted chicken, caramelized pears and fontina.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s profile is sure to provoke an onset of Spring Fever. Proceed with caution.

Aroma: tangerine, orange peel, grapefruit, rose
Taste: tangerine, grapefruit, cereal, crisp with a snappy bitterness
Malts: 2-row, flaked rice, carapils
Hops: amarillo, mandarina, cascade
Yeast: house american ale
Specifics: 4.4% abv, 1.044 o.g., 4 srm, 25 ibu

Cheers!12144691_1171284999550095_5301404358084709220_n

AUTOHELM: OTTO/Rising Tide Collab Brew Is Back!

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We are pleased to announce the return of Autohelm, a deliciously hoppy amber ale brewed by Rising Tide Brewing Company in collaboration with OTTO.

Autohelm_Poster_2

Diners at OTTO restaurants in Maine and Massachusetts will be able to pair their pie with this delightful winter brew, which made its debut last year.

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO.

If you didn’t have an opportunity to try Autohelm last year, you should get a piece of the action before it’s all gone.

Last year, the brew racked up a 3.73 rating on social beer discovery service Untappd, eliciting some of the following responses:

“Delicious!”
“Super solid!”
“Very solid hoppy amber. Piney hops with a strong malt backbone!”
“A sweet, hoppy Amber.”
“Very smooth. Almost creamy. Nice rich malts with hop balance.”
“Oh so good.”
“Great hoppy awesome. Full body with a little sweet.”
“Fan-freakin-tastic! Well done. Hoppy , refreshing, in a season of big heavy beers this was a refreshing change.”
“Wow that is delicious!”

Thirsty yet?

Come on down, grab a few pies, and a few glasses of Autohelm — and be sure to let us know what you think.

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OTTO’s Lindsey Gordon pours on the hops

 

 

ENZO’s Piece of Music History: The Police, Beastie Boys, Black Flag, Wu-Tang Clan & Metallica Drank Here

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ENZONext to OTTO’s original slice shop at 576 Congress Street in Portland, you’ll find ENZO. The centerpiece of ENZO is its bar — a beautifully carved piece of craftsmanship in mahogany that exudes a sense of history. When you sit at the ENZO bar, you have the feeling that the bar has a million stories to tell.  If bars could talk, this one could tell you some stories.  It was once upon a time at the heart of one of rock’s legendary outposts: The Rathskeller (known lovingly as The Rat), located in Boston’s Kenmore Square.

The Rathskeller, Boston

The Rathskeller, Boston

For those of you unfamiliar with ENZO, it’s complicated. The cozy, beloved room opened in 2010 when the small space next to OTTO became available. At the time, when OTTO existed only as a take-out location, the expansion shared the same kitchen, served the same pizza, but had its own name, its own sign, and its own door. (Still does.) It offered OTTO customers a place to sit and enjoy their pizza with a glass of wine or a glass of craft beer.

Most folks sitting at the bar, however, might be unaware that their elbows are resting where countless rock legends rested theirs, before or after they graced the stage of The Rat.

The next time you visit ENZO, remember that you’re sitting where the following (and countless others) likely sat:

Sonic Youth at The Rat

Sonic Youth performing at The Rat

311
7 Seconds
Aerosmith
Agent Orange
Agnostic Front
Aimee Mann
Alex Chilton
At the Gates
B-52s
Babe the Blue Ox
Babes in Toyland
Bad Brains
Beastie Boys
Big Black
Black Flag
Blondie
Bloodhound Gang
Buffalo Tom
Butthole Surfers
Chris Isaak
Dag Nasty
Dead Kennedys
Del Fuegos
Dinosaur Jr

REM at the Rat

REM at the Rat

DMZ
Dream Syndicate
DRI
Dropkick Murphys
Fishbone
Flipper
Foetus
Galaxie 500
Gang Green
Gang of Four
GG Allin
Geezer Lake
Goo Goo Dolls
Gorilla Biscuits
Henry Rollins

The Cars at The Rat

The Cars at The Rat

Hole
Human Sexual Response
Husker Du
Iggy Pop
J Geils Band
Joan Jett
John Cale
Los Lobos
Lou Reed
Lyres
Mazzy Star
MDC
Megadeth
Melvins
Metallica

Aimee Mann at The Rat

Aimee Mann at The Rat

Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Minutemen
Misfits
Mission of Burma
Mother Love Bone
Napal Death
Patti Smith
Pixies
Poison
Powerman 5000
Quicksand
Quiet Riot
Ramones
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Talking Heads at The Rat

Talking Heads at The Rat

Redd Kross
REM
Richard Hell
Rick James
Scruffy The Cat
Sick of it All
Sonic Youth
Soul Asylum
Soundgarden
Steve Earle
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Suicide
Talking Heads
The Cars
The Clash
The Cramps

The Jam at The Rat

The Jam at The Rat

The Damned
The dB’s
The English Beat
The Fall
The Flaming Lips
The Go-Gos
The Jam
The Lemonheads
The Mr. T Experience
The Neighborhoods
The Plasmatics
The Police
The Queers
The Remains
The Replacements

The Replacements at The Rat

The Replacements at The Rat

The Runaways
The Smithereens
The Stranglers
The Wipers
Thin Lizzy
Throwing Muses
Til Tuesday
Tiny Tim
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tool
U2
Volcano Suns
White Zombie
Widespread Panic
Wu-Tang Clan

To learn more about how OTTO acquired the Rat’s bar, click here.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar: Rising Tide and OTTO’s Spring Collaboration Is Here!

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OscarTango_Poster_V1_50percOn the heels of Autohelm, the highly regarded winter collaboration, OTTO and Rising Tide Brewing Company are launching their spring collaboration, Oscar Tango Tango Oscar, a crisp, snappy, and sessionable pale ale brewed with rice.

Starting this weekend in Maine, diners at all OTTO locations will be able to pair their pie with Oscar Tango Tango Oscar. By the week of April 27, OTTO diners at our Coolidge Corner and Comm Ave locations in Massachusetts will be able to do the same.

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO.

The brewing process kicked off on April Fool’s Day (coincidence, we promise!), with OTTO team members on site. While the Autohelm collaboration was brewed to provide a hearty, hoppy dose of comfort during the harsh New England winter, Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s citrusy snap goes perfect on our sunny patios while sharing one of OTTO’s spring pies — eggplant, ricotta and basil, or roasted chicken, caramelized pears and fontina.

Oscar Tango Tango Oscar’s profile is sure to provoke an onset of Spring Fever. Proceed with caution.

Aroma: tangerine, orange peel, grapefruit, rose
Taste: tangerine, grapefruit, cereal, crisp with a snappy bitterness
Malts: 2-row, flaked rice, carapils
Hops: amarillo, mandarina, cascade
Yeast: house american ale
Specifics: 4.4% abv, 1.044 o.g., 4 srm, 25 ibu

Cheers!11041812_978888512123079_5239061310001661218_n

Introducing AUTOHELM: A Hoppy Amber Ale Brewed By Rising Tide in Collaboration with OTTO

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Everybody knows that pizza and beer go together like, well, pizza and beer. It’s a well-known fact that Portland, Maine has no shortage of either.

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Rising Tide & OTTO: A match made in heaven

Starting December 10, in Maine, diners at OTTO will be able to pair their pie with Autohelm, a deliciously hoppy amber ale brewed by Rising Tide Brewing Company in collaboration with OTTO. By mid-December, OTTO diners in Massachusetts will be able to do the same.

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO.

Our neighbors at Rising Tide have been brewing beer about as long as we have been selling pizza. Both OTTO and Rising Tide have strikingly similar histories: Independent businesses launched by pairs of lifelong New Englanders with a passion for crafting artisanal provisions. Both pairs followed winding paths that led to their recent successes. Both, in just a handful of years, have become celebrated staples of the Portland food & drink scene. Both have recently cracked increasingly competitive markets out-of-state, while staying fiercely loyal to the home town. Both are also very committed to supporting local organizations and giving back to the communities in which they live and work.

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OTTO’s Lindsey Gordon pours on the hops

While OTTO and Rising Tide have partnered on a number of occasions — road races, charity events, and other local initiatives — it wasn’t until fall of 2014 that the idea came up for an actual collaboration. It made complete sense. Soon the collaboration process began, and the brewing kicked off on November 12, with several OTTO team on site to assist.

Everyone at OTTO and Rising Tide looks forward to sharing the fruits of this exciting (and delicious) collaboration the public. The first keg will be tapped at a special kickoff event on Wednesday December 10 at our Munjoy Hill location (225 Congress Street, Portland). Rising Tide (and OTTO) brewers will be on the scene.

There will be swag.

Most importantly, there will be no shortage of delicious Portland-born pizza and beer.

OTTO & Rising Tide kicking off the brewing process

OTTO & Rising Tide kick off the brewing process

 

Joe Walsh & Friends: Free World-Class Bluegrass Every Monday Night at OTTO

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179759_559817904030144_1944109_nOTTO’s Arts District location (574 Congress St, Portland) is extremely proud to host mandolin-picking wunderkind Joe Walsh every Monday night at 8pm.

For several weeks now, the acclaimed bluegrass player (not to be confused with The Eagles guitarist) has been helping OTTO break in the new dining room and bar expansion. We’re not sure how long we’ll be lucky enough to host Joe & friends, but it has certainly been a treat.

For the uninitiated, Joe Walsh was the first student at Berklee College of Music to graduate with a degree in performance specializing in mandolin. He currently teaches at Berklee, where he serves as Managing Director of the American Roots Music Program.

The world-renowned fiddle legend Darol Anger called Walsh “one of my favorite musicians on earth.”

While in Boston, Joe played in several bands, including Joy Kills Sorrow, the New England Bluegrass Band and Northern Lights. Since 2007, Joe has called Portland home. He is currently a full time member of the Gibson Brothers, recently named the 2012 IBMA Entertainers of the Year.

Joe Walsh Press ShotAlthough Joe is certainly one of Portland’s busiest and most celebrated musicians, he has found time to pull together an enormously talented rotating group of friends to perform each Monday night at OTTO. The performances are loose and fun, but certainly not lacking in fireworks.

And to boot, the shows are 100% free.

We can’t think of a better way to spend a Monday night.

Grab your family and friends, pop over for a few pies, some craft beer, and take in some of the best bluegrass you’re likely to hear anywhere.

Here’s a taste of Joe’s playing, from a recent performance at One Longfellow Square: