Big Ed's Hop Yard Honey Bock

Last Thursday, Fox River Brewing released its 2021 version of Big Ed's Hopyard Ale. Big Ed’s is a wet hop beer using fresh hops that go directly from the hop bine to the brew kettle without being dried or processed. The hops used in Big Ed’s come from Steve Sobojinski’s hop yard in the Town of Nekimi.

Picking hops for the 2021 Big Ed's.

This year marks the sixth year that Fox River has produced Big Ed’s. When the beer was introduced in 2016, it became the first commercial beer made in Oshkosh in more than 130 years to use locally sourced hops. This year, Fox River was able to gather 41 pounds of hops from Sobojinski’s yard.

Big Ed’s changes from year to year. As Sobojinski’s hop yard has matured, the flavor coming out of the field has grown deeper, more complex. Over the last couple of years, those hops have settled into a nice groove. The flavor is bright and slightly lemony with a piney undertow.

The base beer has also changed. Big Ed’s began life as a pale ale. But since 2019, when Drew Roth took over as head brewer at Fox River, the beer has gone through different iterations. Last year, Big Ed’s was a Cascadian Dark Ale. This year, it’s an American Bock made with an addition of honey from Talbot's Apiary in Ripon.

The 2021 version of Big Ed's.

“We seem to get a consistent character from the wet hops,” says Roth. “We have been trying things out (with the base beer) to find what we like. By changing it up we keep it interesting.”

Roth may have finally found the sweet spot with this year’s version of Big Ed’s. “It is by far the best batch of Big Ed’s we have done,” he says. “It’s a damn tasty lager.”

Big Ed’s in on tap now at Fox River in Oshkosh and Appleton. It will also soon be available in bottles.