Fox River’s 1917 Noir

A year ago, Fox River Brewing landed a freshly drained pinot noir barrel and filled it with an imperial stout. After maturing for a year in that barrel, the beer is now ready to go. The brewery is releasing 22-ounce bombers of 1917 Noir this morning at its brewpubs in Oshkosh and Appleton.

The Beer

It’s just as black as you’d expect from a beer named Noir. The pour builds a deep-tan, almost brown head that’s more substantial than you usually see in a barrel-aged beer. The aroma is a swirl of jammy, dark fruit over toasted oak with notes of vanilla and roast coming through. On the palate, the wine aspect integrates with the stout qualities of the base beer in a way that seems completely natural. This barrel was a good fit for this beer. Let that bottle sit at room temperature for a good 20 minutes before starting in on it and you’ll be rewarded. This would go great with some leftover roasted turkey and gravy.

The Backstory

“A lot of times when barrels come my way, it's not really planned out,” says Kevin Bowen, head brewer at Fox River. “But this worked out really well. The barrel was super fresh and we happened to have some Oshkosh Strong still available so we were able to fill it right away.”

The barrel in question is made of French oak and came from Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac. “We serve their wine here at the restaurant and we had been out there to visit with them,” Bowen said. “It’s a good relationship.”

In Prairie du Sac, the barrel had been aging Wollersheim’s Pinot Noir. At Fox River, it was filled with 2017 Oshkosh Strong, an 8.4% ABV imperial stout. The beer proved to be a good match for the assertive flavors of the wine-soaked barrel. 

“You definitely get a nice blend of beer and wine,” Bowen said. “That essence of imperial stout as the base beer is still there, but you also get the juicy, fruity character of the wine with a little bit of that oak that you want out of a barrel aged beer. It's enough of each of those components to be a nice, balanced beer that represents all those aspects.”

In all, Fox River produced 108 bottles of 1917 Noir. Sixty bottles have been allocated to Fox River Appleton. The rest are available here in Oshkosh. There's a two-bottle, per-person limit. Bottles are priced at $20 and are available beginning at 10:30 this morning.