The Roots of Point's 160th Anniversary Ale

Stevens Point Brewery released its 160th Anniversary Ale earlier this month. I was surprised Point would brew an ale to commemorate the date. This brewery built its reputation on lager beer. I had a couple pints of the beer at Chester V's. And thoroughly enjoyed it. I wanted to know more about it.

The recipe for 160th Anniversary Ale was found in the brewery's archive by Point brewmaster Gabe Hopkins. I contacted the brewery and was told the recipe was dated 1905. There weren't many Wisconsin breweries making ales in 1905. Lager beer was king here at this time.

I've been sifting through old, Point Brewing Co. ads from the early 1900s. I can't find any mention of an ale being made at Point during that period. Here's a typical Point ad from 1903.

At the turn of the century, the word beer was synonymous with lager. Especially in Wisconsin. Ale was treated as a distinct category. In the 1903 ad, Pink's Pale isn't identified as either beer or ale.

Here's an ad from 1908 that seems intentionally ambiguous. The two beers are referred to simply as Brew. These could be ale or beer.

Perhaps the brewery thought such distinctions were meaningless. I've seen other ads where it's implied that Pink's Pale was beer as opposed to ale. But I haven't seen any case where it's made explicit. And I've never seen an ad from the years around 1905 indicating Point was making ale.

That doesn't mean Point didn't brew an ale. As I mentioned, lager beer was all the rage in Wisconsin in 1905. Ale was thought of as less refined. Old fashioned. If Point was brewing an ale they may well have thought it better to not brand it as such.

The thing is, Point Brewing started out making ales. Below is an ad from 1859. This appeared two years after George Ruder and Franz Wahle launched their partnership and what would become Point Brewing Company.

Stock Ale. Lager Beer. No dancing around there. However, these days when we hear Stock Ale, we tend to think of strong, English-style beers. But "Stock" was a term applied to any ale or beer that was aged.

The Stock Ale Ruder and Wahle were brewing probably had nothing to do with England. Both men were German immigrants. Ruder was from Nuremberg in Bavaria. Lager Beer country. Wahle was from the north where, in his time, ale was predominant. Ruder and Wahle's Stock Ale was probably along the lines of what's now called an Altbier. An ale that undergoes a cold aging or "lagering" period.

That brings us back to Point's 160th Anniversary Ale. The brewery's description of the beer says it was "brewed using a traditional German-style all-malt recipe." According to brewmaster Gabe Hopkins, the beer most resembles the Düsseldorf Altbier style of warm-fermented beers brewed in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region.

The North Rhine-Westphalia region is where our man Franz Wahle hailed from. Wahle left Point in 1867. Was his influence still being felt there in 1905?

It would seem this type of beer is embedded in Point's DNA. You don't need to know all this stuff to enjoy the beer, but it certainly doesn't hurt. For me, it makes the experience richer.

One last thing. As I mentioned in a post the other day, that when Franz Wahle left Stevens Point, he came to Oshkosh and began brewing here. We may have more of a connection to this beer than you'd guess. But that's usually how it works with beer. What's right under our nose is often more than we imagine.

Point's 160th Anniversary Ale is only available on draft. As of this morning, it's still on at Chester V's.

150 Years Ago at Glatz Park...

The sign at the entrance to Glatz Park reads, “On this site in 1869 John Glatz and Christian Elser established a brewery.” True enough. But the story begins earlier. There was a brewery there before Glatz or Elser ever set eyes on that land. It was built by a German immigrant named Franz Wahle.

On September 23, 1867, Franz Wahle took possession of what is now Glatz Park. It was the northern most portion of a 48-acre farm. Wahle built the first brewery there.

1873 map showing the location of the brewery and Wahle's farm.

Wahle was born in the northern German town Niedermarsberg in 1826. He moved to America in 1854. Before coming to Oshkosh, he had spent the previous 10 years running what is now the Stevens Point Brewery. In 1867, Wahle sold that brewery to Andrew and Jacob Lutz and went to Oshkosh.

There isn't a picture known to exist of the brewery Wahle built on the Glatz Park site. But there is a picture of his brewery in Stevens Point. Wahle was said to have also built that brewery. The brewery he built in Oshkosh would likely have looked quite similar.

Wahle's former brewery in Stevens Point.

There were five breweries operating in Oshkosh when Wahle arrived here. Among them, Wahle's operation would be unique. His was Oshkosh's only true farm brewery. An early inventory from the farm shows it produced corn, potatoes, apples, grapes and hay. Wahle also kept livestock including hogs, cows, horses and sheep. Less is known about what he was producing in his brewery.

Wahle appears to have done no advertising for his brewery in Oshkosh. That's surprising considering how frequently he advertised his Stevens Point brewery. There he was producing both ales and lagers. Wahle probably did likewise here.

Wausau Central, January 17, 1861.

Wahle's low Oshkosh profile makes for frustrating research. Mention of his Oshkosh brewery is scant. Even his obituary says almost nothing about his extensive brewing career. Today, the omission seems especially glaring.

Wahle's time as a brewer ended here in 1869 when he leased his brewery to John Glatz and Christian Elser. The brewery Wahle built was destroyed by fire in 1871. The following year, Glatz and Elser purchased the property from Wahle and rebuilt the brewery.

Under Glatz and Elser, it came to be known as the Union Brewery. John Glatz bought out Elser in 1879. Glatz merged his brewery with two others in Oshkosh to form the Oshkosh Brewing Company in 1894. All that remains of the old Glatz Brewery is the stone wall in Glatz Park.

Franz Wahle sold his farm in April 1882. He died five months later. Wahle was 56 years old. The brewer who was instrumental in launching what is now one of America's oldest breweries is buried in Riverside Cemetery.

Oshkosh and the New England IPA

For the past couple years, the most hyped American beer style has been the New England IPA. Or, if you'd rather, the Northeast IPA. Call it what you will. Except if you're in Oshkosh.  Around here there's no point calling for it at all. You're not going to get it.

Before cracking into what that's about, a brief summary of the style. I'll call it NEIPA for short.

Visually, these beers are striking. Others would say sickening. The classic NEIPA is intentionally hazy. Murky even. To the point being opaque. They can look like juice purée. For example...

The aromatics are just as distinct. A billow of citrusy hop aroma is typical. The flavor is hop-saturated. People often describe them as juicy. Tropical fruit notes are pronounced. It’s a showcase for modern hops. Think Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Galaxy. The mouthfeel is lush. Soft. The bitterness noticeably subdued. It’s not what you’d expect from a beer so infused with hop flavor. People fucking love them. But you can’t get them in Oshkosh.

I've been drinking beer here for more than 20 years. There's never been a style of American craft beer so elusive in Oshkosh as this one. Blame geography.

The leading brewers of the style are located, as you might expect, in New England. The best known are Massachusetts breweries Tree House and Trillium. And Vermont's The Alchemist and Hill Farmstead. None of them distribute here.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. These beers are notoriously poor travelers. The hop dependent aromatics and flavors degrade quickly. This style benefits greatly from proximity.

And it’s gradually making its way closer. Over the past year, NEIPAs have been produced by Wisconsin breweries in Baileys Harbor, Cedarburg, Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, and Waunakee among others. Our local breweries have been apprehensive to join in. That’s about to change.

Lion’s Tail in Neenah will likely be the first brewery in this area to produce a NEIPA. Alex Wenzel, owner and brewmaster at Lion's Tail, recently became interested in the style. He says he's been drinking his share of it lately. Alex is currently working on his formulation for a NEIPA that he hopes to release this summer.

There's more. Fifth Ward Brewing and Highholder Brewing are on schedule to open in Oshkosh later this year / early next. Each is considering adding a NEIPA to their portfolio.

Ian Wenger and Zach Clark of Fifth Ward says they will "absolutely" produce a NEIPA, once they're open. And Mike Schlosser of Highholder is considering brewing the style for his brewery's second set of batches. By this time next year, Oshkosh ought to be a lot more familiar with what these beers are about.

Until then, there are a couple beers currently available here that play off the NEIPA style. Hop Debacle from O’so Brewing was released in Oshkosh in May. It certainly looks right.

The aroma was spot on, too. But O'so went a bit wide of the mark when it came to mouthfeel and bitterness. I found Hop Debacle to be overly bitter and lacking the soft palate synonymous with NEIPAs.

Toppling Goliath's Double Dry Hop Pseudo Sue another in this line. This beer wasn't brewed to hit the style mark, but in most respects comes close to what you'd expect in a NEIPA.

Both these beers are available in the bottle shop at Gardina's. I believe I spotted the Toppling Goliath beer at Ski's as well. They'll have to do... for now.

Forgotten Oshkosh Beers: Aristo

Another beer nobody remembers. But there was a time when this was on many lips around here. It's Aristo, of the Peoples Brewing Company of Oshkosh.

The label was fancier than the beer behind it. Aristo was the budget beer in Peoples' line-up.  It was introduced in the spring of 1914. You could buy it at the brewery for 80 cents a case (about $14 in today's money). It was among the cheapest beers then available in Oshkosh.

Peoples offered few specifics about Aristo. I strongly suspect, though, that it was the same as Peoples' keg beer. But pasteurized, bottled and given a flashier banner. If that is the case, Aristo would have been an amber-hued lager. A friendly, comfortable beer. People here loved it. Or maybe they just loved the price.

Early on Peoples advertised the hell out of Aristo. They liked to harp on the idea of it being "Just the thing for the family—that is why we call it our "family beer."' You'd think they were marketing an elixir, the way they talked the stuff up. Lot's of breweries were spewing nonsense like this in 1914.

Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, May 16, 1914.

At Peoples they could be touchy about the reputation of their beer. They had good reason to be sensitive. Before Peoples opened in 1913, the Oshkosh Brewing Company had undertaken a smear campaign against them. OBC had intimated that Peoples was launched to make cheap beer for drunks. That was hardly the case. But the slur couldn't be ignored. When Aristo came out, Peoples made a point of addressing the beer's budget price.

"Do not think because the price is low that it is of poor quality, we know that this beer will take so well with the family, that we can sell it cheaper."

I'm sure nobody really cared about any of that bunk. Oshkosh always had a soft spot for cheap beer. Especially when it was locally made.  Aristo was a hit.

Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, June 11, 1914.

Sadly, these tales often end the same. With Prohibition. Peoples ceased production of the real Aristo when the first of the dry laws hit in 1919. But the brand wasn't dead, yet.

In the summer of 1919, Peoples released two non-alcoholic, beer-like beverages. One was named Bravo. The other Aristo.

Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, July 26, 1919.

And Aristo's doom was cemented. Without its kick, Aristo flopped. The brand faded into oblivion. When Prohibition ended in 1933, Aristo was left for dead. The cheap beer with the fancy name was never brewed again.

Number 90 Red - Vienna Lager at Lion's Tail

Lion's Tail in Neenah recently released Number 90 Red, a Vienna lager. It's style of beer rarely brewed around here. Or anywhere else, really. That wasn't always the case. We’ll get into that in a minute. First, let's get to the Lion's Tail beer.

Number 90 Red

Number 90 Red has a clean, light-toffee aroma leading to a toasty malt flavor. The hops are just for balance. They add a slight dryness to the finish. This beer is a shade darker than a classic Vienna lager, but who gives a shit. This is very good beer. Have it back to back with Lion’s Tail Mile of Munich Dunkel and you’ll get a sense of what it was like to drink beer in Vienna in the 1840s.

Now then... Vienna lager was the brainchild of Anton Dreher of Vienna, Austria.  He first brewed this style in 1841. It was lighter in body and paler in color than the dark lagers then predominant in Austria. Dreher's beer grew wildly popular.

A decade after the introduction of Dreher's beer, there were German brewers heading to Oshkosh. They brought their love of Vienna lager with them. In the late 1800s, Vienna lager was a favorite style among Oshkosh brewers. But brewers here preferred the Germanic nomenclature. They called theirs "Wiener" beer.

At the Glatz Brewery, they were so fond of their Wiener beer they included it on their letterhead in the 1890s

Below is an 1888 ad from the Gambrinus Brewery. Somebody botched the spelling of Wiener.

 Even the very first ad for the Oshkosh Brewing Company made mention of Wiener beer. This is from the Wisconsin Telegraph, May 18, 1894.

With the turn of the century, Vienna lager faded away. Even in Vienna. But in Oshkosh, people never quite lost their taste for it. Peoples Beer, at least until the 1960s, was deeply influenced by the earlier Vienna lagers brewed here.

Number 90 Red at Lion's Tail bears a closer resemblance to those older lagers.  It's a treasure of a beer. Get it while you can...

Finding Yager and Remaking his Winneconne Beer

A couple years ago, I got curious about a forgotten brewery that opened in Winneconne after the Civil War. Almost nothing had been written about the place. I started researching. In the fall of 2015, I wrote a blog post that included everything I’d found about Theodore Yager’s Winneconne Brewery.

From the Winneconne Item; December 2, 1871.

Sometimes blog posts take on a life of their own. This one did. Not long after the Yager post went up I was contacted by Kelly Nelson, of the Winneconne Public Library. Kelly is into Winneconne history. She wanted to know if I'd come across any pictures of the Yagers. I hadn't. Kelly was going to try to locate one.

Kelly Nelson

Kelly’s enthusiasm is undeniable. I would have bet she’d find that elusive photo of Yager. Late last year she did. Here’s the picture Kelly unearthed of Theodore Yager with his wife Katharina. I suspect this was taken about the time Yager launched his brewery.

Kelly’s route to obtaining that picture was serpentine. It led her to a great, great niece of Katharina Yager. A woman named Linda Adams. It turned out Linda had the only known picture of Theodore and Katharina Yager. What are the chances?

Kelly was working in other directions as well. She came up with the idea of celebrating Yager’s old brewery during the 50th Sovereign State Days festivities this July in Winneconne. Momentum kept building. The Winneconne Sovereign State Days Planning Committee got involved. Dan and Patti Dringoli of Bare Bones Brewery signed on.

A planning meeting at Bare Bones.

Kelly wanted to know if it would be possible to make a beer like Yager was brewing in Winneconne in 1867. I thought we could. I didn’t have a recipe from Yager’s brewery. But I had come across inventories from his brewery and other information that shed light on Yager's process. And I knew what sort of beer he was making.

RJ Nordlund is the brewmaster at Bare Bones. Earlier this year, RJ and I began working up a recipe. We wanted to approximate one of the beers Yager was brewing 150 years ago in Winneconne. He had been brewing at least a couple different types of beers. One was a lager. Another was an ale. We decided we’d brew the ale.

Yager's ale would have been along the lines of a nearly extinct style known as Common or Present Use. Yager was one of several German-trained brewers in Winnebago County making such beers. These beers were brewed during warmer months. When temperatures within the brewer’s ice-cooled storage caves were on the rise. Unlike the aged, lager beers, Yager’s ale was meant to be consumed fresh.

Yager was brewing at a time before corn came into use by Winnebago County brewers. His would have been an all-malt beer. But the sort of malt Yager was using no longer exists. To get around that, we put together a grain bill that would approximate the character and body Yager’s malt would have produced. And as Yager would have done, we chose malt made locally. All the malt was sourced from Briess Malting in Chilton.

Similarly, Yager would probably have used hops grown in this region. In the late 1860s, hop farming in the Midwest was booming. We chose hops from a Michigan hopyard. But modern hops are quite different from those grown in Yager’s time. We settled on Centennial hops added at specific points in the brewing process to impart an aromatic, floral note. An aspect that likely would have also been present in Yager's ale.

With that worked out, the beer needed a name. The Winneconne Public Library staged a contest. The public submitted names. An online vote was taken. The winning name is Wolf River Revenge. RJ Nordlund designed the label for the beer.

RJ and I brewed the beer on Sunday, June 4, at Bare Bones. It went very well. Yager's eyes were on us. We put up his old picture on the tank where the beer would ferment.

While we were brewing, it occurred to me that RJ kind of resembles a younger version of old Yager.

Wolf River Revenge will be packaged in kegs and 22-ounce bottles. It will be a copper-hued beer with a clean, rich malt flavor backed by a mild hop note. It will be robust,  but easy drinking. Just the sort of beer they would have been enjoying during summer in Winneconne 150 years ago.

The first pouring of Wolf River Revenge will take place Friday, July 21 on the History Happy Hour River Boat Cruise. I'll be on the cruise talking about the Yager brewery and Wolf River Revenge.

Wolf River Revenge will also be available in Winneconne during Sovereign State Days 2017 taking place July 21 – July 23. The beer will find its way into the Bare Bones Tap Room, as well.

While RJ and I were brewing the beer, one thought kept returning to me: I wonder what old Yager would have made of all of this? I would hope he’d be pleased.

HighHolder Gets Its Federal Permit

The picture below says it better than I can. Good news! Yesterday the HighHolder Brewing Company of Oshkosh received its federal brewing license. It shouldn't be long now before brewing returns to the south side of Oshkosh. More to come...

Yours with a Jerk: Getting Stewed and Lewd in Butte des Morts

“Sam where did you go the Fourth, did you go to Bogk’s? You and me went there last year and got pretty drunk, at least I did.”
   - From a letter written by G.R. Woodworth to Samuel Odell dated August 7, 1864.

G.R. Woodworth was in Minnesota when he wrote that letter. Samuel Odell was in Butte des Morts. He’d been in Butte des Morts since 1856. He ran a general goods store. Odell’s store was on Main St. near the shore of Lake Butte des Morts.

Odell's store, located in the larger of the two building on the right.

Exactly and directly one block east of Odell’s store there appears to have been a tavern. That property was owned by brothers Gustavus Bogk and Frederick Bogk. I suspect that is the “Bogk’s” Woodworth was referring to.

The Bogk brothers property was on Erie St. They bought it in 1857. A couple years later, The Petford Hotel was built next door, where Tilly's Too Tavern now stands.

Tilly's Too Tavern near the corner of Washington & Erie streets.

In early 1864, the  Bogk brothers lost their property for non-payment of taxes. But the brothers weren’t done slinging beers. Gustavus Bogk headed to Oshkosh where he eventually established The Oshkosh City Beer and Pleasure Gardens. In 1865, Frederick Bogk bought the Butte des Morts Brewery. The brewery was right behind Sam Odell’s store.

It was while searching for anything at all about the brewery that I came across G.R. Woodworth’s letters to Samuel Odell. The letters reveal nothing about the brewery. But there’s much they do reveal. Check this out...

Well Sam I received your epistle a long time ago and was glad to hear that your Bowells was regular... Everything is high here Except Fucking. That is very low and Plenty to be had at the old Prick… Sam give my love to all of the Girls and tell Mary Ann that I will come back if there is any chance to, since Peter and Dalton left my chance would be good I think. How does Neilson make it go, does he get as much trade as Pete did? Tell Sarah fish to Kiss my Arse… Sam burn this letter as soon as you read it.

Amen.
From your Friend
G.R. Woodworth
Fairibault Minn.
August 7, 1864

Amen, indeed.

The letters to Odell were transcribed by Scott Cross, archivist for the Oshkosh Public Museum. Cross began posting the letters online in 2007. At that time Cross wrote, “Odell collected and kept everything, from advertising flyers and broadsides to posters and personal correspondence. Among his collection of personal correspondence are letters from a friend, G. R. Woodworth and some unidentified married women. These letters and notes are extremely rare since they deal with the subjects of sexuality and infidelity.”

For example...

Friend Sam
Frank says that you are shoving it to Jane Brown. If that is so, Bully for you. That is better than Mrs. Becker. Don’t you think so? … Sam, do you go over to see Lucy Abels now? I would like to be down there about a week. I think that I could have some fun…. Sam, you would have had a good time if you had been with me last night and got your Old Root Scraped. If I was in your place I would get out of that place and come up here where you can make something. Sam, give my respects to Mr. & Mrs. Hull and my love to Mary Ann petford and get all the fucking you can. 

Write as soon as you get this and tell me the news.
Amen
Don’t show this Letter to anyone
From your Friend
G.R. Woodworth
Fairibault, Minn.
February 6, 1865

Woodworth left Minnesota. He went to New York. He badgered Odell to join him. “I don’t see what the Devil you stay in Butte de Morts for…  If I was in your place I would get out of that place and come up here where you can make something.”

Despite all his swagger, you get the sense Woodworth seemed to miss Butte de Morts.

Well Sam Here I am in a store doing a Bully Business and making money... I received a letter from Ed Moran. He said that he had been to Osage and had got back to Butte. He could not keep away from Miss Jones. He is a Hell of a Boy… Sam, I have made $400 since I came home and have got in a Bully place to make more. I have not Drank a Drop of anything since I left Oshkosh… Sam, how does Lucy Abels get along? I would like to see her and Diddle her once more. I suppose all the folks in Butte think that I am a Dam little fool, but I can take care of myself yet… Write as soon as you get this. Don’t show this to anyone.

Yours with a Jerk
G.R. Woodworth
Cherry Creek
Chautauqua County, New York
December 2, 1865

Odell didn’t take Woodworth’s advice. Just the opposite. Odell put down roots in Butte des Morts. In 1866, he purchased the store he’d been leasing from Lathrop Hull. Odell would never leave. But he traveled widely in the little village. Just read the letters.

Samuel Odell married for the first time in 1891, He was 60 years old. His bride was 32-year-old Sarah Van Doren of Winneconne.

Odell died in 1912. He was 92 at the time of his passing. His obituary left out all the good stuff. It mentions he was related to a famous New York family that included a former Governor of that state. As if that mattered. They even botched his headstone. The marker reads O’Dell instead of Odell.

Odell was buried in Winneconne Cemetery on Wednesday, April 10, 1912.  At his funeral, Rev. Gebaroff spoke of “Odell's active interest in Christian work.” It’s too bad G.R. Woodworth wasn’t there. He could have sent his friend off with the sort of flourish Odell deserved... Yours with a Jerk.

Samuel Odell's marker in Winneconne Cemetery.

Summertime Beers from Bare Bones & Lion's Tail

We're talking summer beers with Alex Wenzel of Lion's Tail Brewing in Neenah and RJ Nordlund of Bare Bones Brewery in Oshkosh. The two recently teamed up to get beers from Bare Bones and Lion's Tail into cans for the coming summer. Nordlund also discusses his new CD, Ghosts. Check out a video from the album here.