A City of Breweries

On Friday, August 4, HighHolder Brewing Company brewed its inaugural batch of beer. It was the first time since 1972 that beer has been made on the south side of Oshkosh by a commercial brewery

The first batch. Shawn O'Marro (left) and Mike Schlosser of HighHolder Brewing.

HighHolder joins a lineage of south side brewers going back more than 150 years. To get at what that means, you have to begin with the river.

The Fox River splits Oshkosh in two. It forms the border between the north side and south side. That division has sometimes been more than just a geographical feature. The river once delineated the segregation of separate cultures.

In the early years, the north side of Oshkosh was referred to as Athens. The south side was called Brooklyn. The north side was initially the province of the Yankee settlers who founded Oshkosh. The south side became the locus of European immigrants, primarily Germans and Bohemians.

1858

Each side of town had its own heritage. And its own breweries. How those breweries developed was representative of the contrast and eventual blending of the north side and south side cultures. It began before Oshkosh had even incorporated into a city.

In the summer of 1849, the Oshkosh True Democrat newspaper was peppered with beer ads reflecting the dominant Yankee influence. The north side Yankees favored English-style ales. It was a taste they brought with them from the east. In Oshkosh, the Yankees drank Detroit Ale and London Porter. Both were common here. But that was about to change.

Brewing on the North Side
The first brewery established in Oshkosh was on the north side. It was launched by Jacob Konrad. In July 1849, he began building a brewery on the east side of Lake Street just south of Ceape Ave. Konrad established what came to be known as the Lake Brewery.

1858 map showing location of the Lake Brewery on Lake St. just south of Ceape Ave.

Jacob Konrad was born in Germany. He was trained as a brewer there. Since Konrad didn’t advertise his product, nothing definitive is known about the beer he was making. Considering his background, though, he was almost certainly brewing German-style beers. His impact was immediate.

By the summer of 1850, German-style beers were as common in Oshkosh as the English-style ales that had first been prevalent here. Throughout this period, the north side was the brewing hub. Between 1849 and 1865, five more breweries were launched north of the river. All of them were initiated by German immigrants.

The German-style lagers that flowed from those breweries washed away the ales and porters. Lager beer saloons sprung up along Ferry (now N. Main St.) and Kansas (now S. Main St.) streets. The two sides of town had their differences, but they came to share a taste for German-style beer.

The Rise of the South Side
The first production brewery on the south side was started by Leonhardt Schwalm in 1865. In 1865 Schwalm purchased land on the east side of Doty St. just south of W. 16th Ave. Schwalm partnered with his brother-in-law August Horn. Together, they launched Horn & Schwalm’s Brooklyn Brewery.

The original Horn & Schwalm Brewery.

In 1867, Franz Wahle, another German immigrant, built the second south side brewery. It was on land now occupied by Glatz Park. In 1869, Wahle sold his brewery to John Glatz and Christian Elser. They named it the Union Brewery.

The Union Brewery

The two south side breweries differed from their north side counterparts. The north side breweries tended to be neighborhood based. Often, their beer was sold directly from the brewery to people living nearby. Brewery tap rooms were common on the north side.

The south side breweries took a more ambitious approach. Their model was to sell beer to saloons. Oshkosh’s saloon culture was just beginning to take hold. The city directory of 1866 lists six saloons. The 1876 directory lists 20. Each year that number grew. With it grew the fortunes of the south side breweries.

By the late 1870s, Oshkosh’s south side breweries were the largest producers of beer in the city.

South Side Dominance
By 1889, just two breweries remained north of the river. In 1893, one of those breweries – Kuenzl’s Gambrinus brewery – merged with the two south side breweries to form the Oshkosh Brewing Company. With that, Rahr Brewing Company became the north side’s lone brewery. The others had failed.

The south side juggernaut continued. In 1912, the Oshkosh Brewing Company built a large brewery on Doty St. In 1913, Peoples Brewing Company opened on South Main St. Collectively the south side breweries were capable of producing well over 100,000 barrels annually.

After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Oshkosh's breweries picked up where they had left off. The south side breweries continued their rise. But on the north side, Rahr Brewing struggled. In 1953, Rahr Brewing closed. For the first time in more than 100 years, the north side was without a brewery.

By the late 1950s, the combined production of Oshkosh’s south side breweries was near 90,000 barrels of beer annually. In terms of sheer output, the south side breweries were at their peak. It had taken 90 years to reach that point. It was undone in a decade.

The Fall and Rise
There was no single reason behind the collapse of Oshkosh’s south side breweries. There were many reasons. Predatory pricing by larger breweries. Loss of focus on the local mark. Mismanagement. The Oshkosh Brewing Company crashed in 1971. Peoples Brewing failed in 1972.

When it came to beer, 1973 was a bleak year here. Oshkosh was without an active brewery for the first time since 1849. There seemed little chance that would change. The city was awash in cheap, industrial lager.

An ad for Ray’s Beverage Oshkosh, 1117 W. New York Ave. September 1973.

Much of that beer wasn’t very good. All of it came from somewhere else. And so it remained for the next 22 years. Then, as if history were repeating itself, brewing returned to Oshkosh.

Fox River Brewing Company

When Fox River Brewing Company launched in 1995, it had more in common with its north side counterparts of the 1850s than it did with the south side breweries that came to dominate Oshkosh.

Like the early north side breweries, Fox River relies heavily upon on-premise sales. The beer is produced in small batches. Traditional, all-malt beers are the norm. The model may be an old one, but it’s driving the brewing renaissance taking place here today.

Bare Bones Brewery.

When Bare Bones opened in 2015, the north side gained its second brewery. Its approach also more closely aligns with that of Oshkosh's early breweries.

Now with HighHolder up and running, the south side is back in the mix.

Fifth Ward Brewing Company will be the next brewery to open in Oshkosh. Fifth Ward will be located on the south side, but takes its name from a north side brewery that opened in 1857. That’s as fitting as it is ironic. We’re coming full circle.