The gloomy outlook has brewers searching for novel ways to retain consumer interest. At Fox River Brewing Company, the approach has been to introduce a line of beverages that have little to do with what the brewery has long been known for. In the parlance of marketers, Fox River has gone “Beyond Beer.” Or as Fox River Brewmaster Drew Roth puts it “Beverages that aren't beer in any way, shape, or form.”
This year, Fox River has introduced a range of new products that have nothing to do with barley malt and hops. The brewery has released a line of craft sodas, hard tea, hard lemonade, and continued its line of hard seltzers. “The decision was made late last year to try these periphery beverages out and see if any of them made sense for us,” says Roth. “We were looking at the trends. It made sense to at least take a look at it.”
Oddly enough, the strategy may have actually helped beer sales. Fox River’s Oshkosh facility is the only brewery in Oshkosh that has seen its beer production increase this year; by a modest three percent. Roth will take that as a win for now. “It’s a cyclical thing,” he says. “These trends come and go. It’s like the thing with ready to drink cocktails. They pop up every five or ten years and become trendy, and then cycle back out. I mean, craft beer has been around long enough now that people don’t see it as something new anymore, which is fine.”
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| Fox River Brewmaster Drew Roth. |
If craft beer has crossed over from the fashionable to the familiar, then Fox River is one of the better Wisconsin examples of how that looks on the ground. Next year, the brewery will celebrate its 30th Anniversary. Of the 21 breweries that have operated in Oshkosh since 1849, Fox River is now fourth in terms of longevity. The only breweries here that have survived longer were the venerable Rahr Brewing (91 years), Oshkosh Brewing Company (77 years), and Peoples Brewing (59 years).
This month, Fox River is releasing two beers connected to that legacy. The first is 175 Bock, a lager made in recognition of this year’s 175th anniversary of the beginning of commercial brewing in Oshkosh. The beer, which will be available on draft and in a special commemorative can, pays tribute to the Bock beers that were wildly popular in Oshkosh for over a century.
This month, Fox River is releasing two beers connected to that legacy. The first is 175 Bock, a lager made in recognition of this year’s 175th anniversary of the beginning of commercial brewing in Oshkosh. The beer, which will be available on draft and in a special commemorative can, pays tribute to the Bock beers that were wildly popular in Oshkosh for over a century.
“This is an older style of American lager,” Roth says. “It’s based on a pre-Prohibition type of beer. We used American malts and a little corn, like they did in those older recipes. We also used locally-grown hops from Hidden Valley Hops Farm in Winchester.” The blend includes hops cultured from rootstock dating back to the 1840s discovered at the site of one of Winnebago County’s first hop farms in Allenville. “I’m looking forward to getting this packaged,” Roth says, “the flavors are really nice.”
And then there’s a beer with a mouthful of a name: Gambrinus was a Real SOB. The beer came onto Roth’s radar when he judged at a homebrew competition held by the Society of Oshkosh Brewers. “It was by far the best beer in the competition,” Roth says. “It’s a dark lager, a style of beer we like brewing this time of year.” The competition beer was made by Society of Oshkosh Brewers’ member Scott Westpfahl. The recipe is from the late 1800s when the Gambrinus Brewery on Harney Avenue used it to make its Kulmbacher Bier. Roth scaled up that same recipe for his “Gambrinus” beer. “We like working with the SOBs,” Roth says. “They represent a really passionate chunk of the craft beer consumer in this city.”
And then there’s a beer with a mouthful of a name: Gambrinus was a Real SOB. The beer came onto Roth’s radar when he judged at a homebrew competition held by the Society of Oshkosh Brewers. “It was by far the best beer in the competition,” Roth says. “It’s a dark lager, a style of beer we like brewing this time of year.” The competition beer was made by Society of Oshkosh Brewers’ member Scott Westpfahl. The recipe is from the late 1800s when the Gambrinus Brewery on Harney Avenue used it to make its Kulmbacher Bier. Roth scaled up that same recipe for his “Gambrinus” beer. “We like working with the SOBs,” Roth says. “They represent a really passionate chunk of the craft beer consumer in this city.”
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| Fox River Lead Brewer Patrick McHugh (left) and Scott Westpfahl of the Society of Oshkosh Brewers on the brew deck at Fox River making "Gambrinus." |
The contrasting strains of traditional and trendy make for a complex juggling act for Roth, who is into his sixth year as brewmaster at Fox River. He oversees brewing operations at the Fox River brew houses in Oshkosh and Appleton and directs a crew of six other brewers. “It’s been a challenging year for sure, but I‘m more settled in than anything else, so we’ve been able to handle it,” Roth says. “That said, I’m hoping this coming year will be a little less hectic. We’re streamlining things and getting more targeted. But there’s always going to be something new to contend with. It’s just the nature of the business.”
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