The Heritage Series: Rahr's Centennial Brew

In 1953, the Rahr Brewing Company of Oshkosh made a beer that was rare for its time. Oshkosh was celebrating its Centennial that year. To mark the event, the Rahr family produced a beer that was a nod to the Oshkosh beers of 1853. Rahr's Oshkosh Centennial Brew was an all-malt lager beer. Released in June of 1953, Centennial Brew was one of the few American beers of the period made without cereal adjuncts such as corn or rice. That special beer is about to make a brief comeback.

On Saturday, October 2, Bare Bones Brewery will release a one-barrel batch of Rahr's Oshkosh Centennial Brew as part of the brewery's Heritage Series of historic Oshkosh beers. Centennial Brew is a 4.7% ABV golden lager. The Rahr's labelled it a Pilsner. The beer recalled the original iteration of the style. The color was deeper and the flavor more rounded and full than is found in most American Pilsners brewed today.

The recipe and process used at Bare Bones were provided by the original brewer. His name was Charles "Chuck" Rahr. Chuck was the fourth generation of Rahr-family brewmasters at the Rahr Brewing Company of Oshkosh.

Chuck Rahr

Chuck was born in 1928. He grew up in and around the family brewery. "From a very young age I helped out around the brewery," he said. "Even as a little kid I used to watch my dad brew the beer. It was our life.” Chuck would be the last brewmaster at Rahr. Unable to compete with Oshkosh's larger breweries, the Rahr brewery closed in 1956.

The Rahr Brewing Company of Oshkosh.

The Bare Bones version of Rahr's Centennial Brew was made on August 6, 2021. It underwent a cold fermentation followed by six weeks of lagering (cold maturation). The Rahr's were always sticklers about those extended periods of lagering for their beer. As they noted in their advertising, "artificial aging never had a look-in at Rahr's. Old Father Time always did the aging at this brewery."

In the brewhouse on August 6 were Bare Bones head brewer Jody Cleveland, Gary Fenrich, and myself. Gary is an Oshkosh homebrewer. Gary had gotten to know Chuck Rahr and at one point explored the idea with him of relaunching the Rahr brand.

Jody Cleveland (left) and Gary Fenrich.

There was another reason it was fitting that Gary was there for the brew day. In 1953 his mother, Carol (Genal) Fenrich, was named Oshkosh's Centennial Queen. We're hoping she'll be able to join us at Bare Bones on Saturday.

From 1953, Oshkosh Centennial Queen Carol Genal.

Unfortunately, Chuck Rahr isn't around to see his beer revived. Chuck passed away in 2016. I once asked him if he had been much of a beer drinker back when he was still brewing. "I loved beer," Chuck said. I'll bet he would have liked this one.

The Bare Bones Brewery version of Rahr's Centennial Brew.

Rahr's Oshkosh Centennial Brew will begin pouring at noon on Saturday, October 2. The beer will be available only on draft. If you can make it to Bare Bones on Saturday for a pint, you'll also receive a commemorative postcard like those shown at the top of the post. Hope to see you there.

Notes

I've written a couple of pieces about Chuck Rahr for the blog. You can find those here and here.

A few years back I made a short video covering the history of Rahr Brewing of Oshkosh. You can see that here.

The recipe for the beer that was brewed at Bare Bones is very similar to the recipe for Rahr's Elk's Head. The basic difference being the exclusion of corn and a slight reduction of black malt to keep the color from drifting into the amber range. You can find that recipe here.