Oshkosh Beers to Drink this Weekend

To hell with this shutdown, beer never sleeps. Here’s a trio of Oshkosh’s finest to get into this weekend.

Fox River Houblon de Citron
Fox River is back in the swing of things with the release of Houblon de Citron, a Belgian-style IPA that makes its debut today. HdC starts off with a bloom of citrusy hop aroma spiced with peppery Belgian yeast. The palate has a pillowy, Saison-like quality; there's some raw wheat in here contributing to that. The rustic character quickly gives way, though, to a blush of modern hop flavors. The Lemondrop hops used here seem to stand out. It presents as slightly sweet, sort of like Lemonheads candy. It pairs well with those yeasty esters. This is a fairly big beer at 8.8% ABV, but the alcohol is well hidden and the beer finishes dry. This isn't like those Belgian IPAs that were in vogue about six years ago. This is more like an American Saison. And it's excellent. Fox River is releasing a limited run of wax-finished bombers of Houblon de Citron that will be available for curbside pick-up when the brewery opens today at 4 p.m. More on that, here. And for the true geeks among us, go here, to dig under the hood and see what brewmaster Roth is up to with this beer.

Bare Bones Busch Salvator

Bare Bones recently set up a slick online platform for ordering beer that you can try out here. I’d suggest adding Bare Bones’ Busch Salvator to your cart. This beer was released just prior to the start of the shut down and hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. Full disclosure: this beer is part of the Bare Bones Heritage Series and I had a little bit to do with the recipe formulation. That aside, I think Salvator may be my favorite Bare Bones beer to date. This is a true, mahogany-brown bock beer. There’s a swirl of rich malt flavor here that begins with toast, works up to caramel, and finishes close to chocolate. This is a 6.4% ABV spring warmer ideal for the sort of chilly/damp weather they’re predicting for this weekend. Get the full backstory on Salvator, right here.

Fifth Ward Vanta Black Ale

Since the start of the shutdown, Fifth Ward has been kicking out a steady stream of small-batch brews spiked with all sorts of novel adjuncts. This for example...

And while beer-adjacent concoctions like that are grabbing all the attention, there awaits a wonderful black ale lurking in the shadows. Fifth Ward released Vanta shortly before before Coronavirus hell broke loose. It seems to have gotten lost in the Fifth Ward shuffle. They’re calling it a Black Ale. I’m calling it what it is: a robust porter. It’s black as night with a lush malt flavor that gets put in check with just the right amount of roast and hop bitterness in the finish. By the numbers Vanta is 5.9% ABV with 30 IBUs. It’s a REAL BEER! My faith in humanity has been reaffirmed (for the time being, at least). One of my top three Fifth Ward beers of all time.

C’mon folks, take a pass on Festival Foods and the shitty curation of their beer isle. Hit up your local breweries or the beer coolers at Gardina’s or Wagner Market instead. They’ll appreciate your business a hell of a lot more than the dullards in De Pere ever will.