A Record Year for Beer Production in Oshkosh

This article also appears in today's Oshkosh Herald.

Beer production at Oshkosh's three breweries rose sharply in 2021. Bare Bones Brewery, Fifth Ward Brewing, and Fox River Brewing bounced back in record-setting fashion last year after experiencing a downturn triggered by the pandemic of 2020.

The three breweries combined to produce 2,757 barrels of beer last year, a 47-percent increase over their total output for 2020. It was the most beer made in Oshkosh since 1972 when Peoples Brewing Company was still in operation. Each of the breweries broke their previous record for annual production.

Fox River Brewing continues to be the largest brewery in the city accounting for almost half of all the beer made here. In 2021, Fox River's Oshkosh facility produced 1,313 barrels of beer, a 42 percent increase. Fifth Ward saw the largest percentage increase – 57 percent – with its total production rising to 790 barrels. Bare Bones production rose 46 percent on 653 barrels brewed. The amount of beer in a barrel is the equivalent of 31 gallons or 248 pints.

The production increases have come with each brewery riding a separate wave. Fifth Ward's best-seller was its Frootenany series of fruited sours. The individual beers in that set employ different combinations of fruits. Fox River's BLÜ Bobber, a blueberry-flavored ale, remained its leading beer. It's also the most widely distributed beer produced in Oshkosh and is sold throughout much of the state. Oshkosh Lager, a classic American-style lager, was the top beer last year at Bare Bones where co-owner Dan Dringoli watched the momentum build as the year progressed.

"We really didn’t hit full stride until late spring, after the vaccine was available to most adults," Dringoli says. "It was a great rebound year for us. The pendulum towards traditional beers is swinging back and we were ready for it."

Dan Dringoli

But the rapid growth created a new challenge. By mid-year, all three breweries were operating at or near capacity. Fifth Ward felt the impact acutely and had to cut back on distribution to ensure there would be enough beer to meet the demands of its own taproom. Each brewery is taking a different approach to resolving its limitations.

In November, Bare Bones purchased a two-barrel fermenter for small-batch beers and to free up the availability of its larger tanks. The first beer from the new unit, a Double New England IPA, came out in early January. "This is going to give us much more flexibility," says Bare Bones head brewer Jody Cleveland. "It's going to allow us to do things we just haven't been able to do in the past."

Fox River, which has a second brewery in Appleton, has had to refashion its operations at both facilities to meet demand. Jay Supple, CEO of the Supple Group which operates Fox River, credits his head brewer, Andrew Roth, for puzzling together a solution. "With Andrew and his team utilizing new ingredients and modern brewing processes, we still have room to continue to grow," says Supple "We’re excited for 2022."

Fox River Brewing Company, Oshkosh.

At Fifth Ward, they’re betting big on the future. This year, the brewery plans to undertake the largest expansion seen by an Oshkosh brewery in 60 years. In addition to automating part of its production, Fifth Ward is in the process of acquiring three 35-barrel fermenters. The immediate goal is to approximately triple the brewery’s capacity.

"With the new expansion we should be able to produce between 3,000 and 3,500 barrels a year," says Zach Clark, co-owner and co-brewer at Fifth Ward. "We also have enough room in our production area to put more tanks in. We could ultimately produce 10,000 barrels out of this facility."

Clark's optimistic view of the future is shared by Dan Dringoli at Bare Bones. "We have always had a very loyal customer following,” Dringoli says. “I believe the best years are ahead of us now that things are starting to resolve."

Beer Production in Oshkosh Has Spiked

Last year was nearly a disaster for the breweries of Oshkosh. Slammed by the repercussions of COVID, overall beer production in the city fell by 18 percent. This year, it’s an entirely different story.

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue has released its beer production reports for the first seven month of 2021. They show a remarkable turnaround in the works.

Compared to the same period of a year ago, total beer production in Oshkosh is up a full 80 percent. Here’s how that’s playing out at each of our three breweries.

Click the graph to enlarge it.

Fox River leads the way with a 115 percent spike in production this year compared to the same period last year. Bare Bones is up 61 percent. Fifth Ward is up 44 percent. All three breweries are on pace to have a record breaking year.

Sustaining that pace, though, may become increasingly difficult in the weeks ahead. With COVID infection rates again on the rise in Oshkosh, the immediate future appears less promising. We’ll see. For now, at least, the momentum is heading in the right direction.

More on the Mess of 2020

How about some sobering news for National Beer Day.... Yesterday, the Brewers Association released its 2020 production figures. Beer production for craft breweries is down 9%. That's the first decline for craft beer in the modern era that the BA has reported.

Those production numbers are self-reported, so I suspect the loss is considerably more than 9%. The data from individual state reports (like those issued by the Department of Revenue in Wisconsin) showed craft beer production down by 18%. That is identical to the decline in Oshkosh's 2020 beer production. Nationally, draft sales are down by a full 40%. Meanwhile, there are now 8,764 American craft breweries. That's a record number. I doubt that will be sustainable without a dramatic and swift recovery this year.

 

2020 Beer Production in Oshkosh and Vicinity

Each March for the past five years I've written a post about beer production in Oshkosh and the surrounding area. And each year those production numbers have told a story of growth. Not this year. COVID-19 has changed the trajectory.

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue has now issued its full set of beer production reports for 2020. The DOR reports production in terms of barrels. Here are the results for 2020 (red bar graph) compared to 2019 (blue).

Click the graph to enlarge it.

A barrel of beer contains 31gallons. That’s the equivalent of 13.7 cases. Or 248 pints. No matter how you slice it, beer production in Oshkosh has fallen for the first time since 2011.

All the breweries in Oshkosh are down. Overall volume is down by a full 18 percent. Production at Fox River – Oshkosh, the largest brewery here, fell by 23 percent. Bare Bones is down 18 percent. Fifth Ward's production decreased eight percent.

The story becomes more of a mixed bag when you take a wider view that brings in other breweries in the area.

Area beer production in barrels.

Cick to enlarge.

Fox River, with its two brewpub breweries, continues to be the most productive brewery in our area. Fox River – Appleton, with its bottling line, was able to make up for most of the lost ground that occurred at Fox River – Oshkosh. Yet this was the first time in a decade that Fox River has not seen its production grow. That said, the brewery's overall decline of nine percent is at least somewhat encouraging in comparison to what’s occurred at other large brewpubs around the state.

Last year was unprecedented. But there are some patterns here worth making note of.

There were three area breweries with production of more than 300 barrels that saw significant growth last year: Barrel 41, Lion's Tail, and McFleshman's. Those three breweries share a set of traits that distinguishes them.

First, each of them has a canning line. That became a major advantage. In comparison to bottled beer, it’s easier, faster, and cheaper to release a new brand if you can put it in a can. When draft beer sales tanked at the start of the shutdown, these three breweries moved their new releases into cans and continued selling beer in a format embraced by drinkers who otherwise would have been in their taprooms. All three breweries made the most of that capability. It seems to have made all the difference.

Second, each of these breweries self-distribute. So they never found themselves at the mercy of a distributor who – when the sale of draft beer dried up – was incentivized to displace them by pushing the retail product of much larger breweries. The retail presence of these three breweries grew continually during 2020.

Finally, all three of these breweries employed their social media channels for all they were worth. Their customers were no longer in their taproom, but they still managed to keep those customers engaged. That effort will only continue to pay dividends.

Lion’s Tail is the exemplar here. The taproom at Lion’s Tail was closed for a full year. Yet the brewery didn’t miss a beat. When the shutdown began, the focus there immediately shifted to selling canned beer directly to customers and on expanding its retail distribution footprint. I doubt the folks at Lion’s Tail could have handled the predicament of 2020 any better.

I suspect Fifth Ward might have been part of this group had their canning line come in earlier in the year. Fifth Ward certainly had the other pieces in place. But the brewery wasn't able to begin selling its most sought after beers in cans until late December.

The breweries hit hardest in 2020 were the small breweries without the ability to redirect their output into retail packaging. After their taproom business fell off there was no alternate sales channel for them to resort to. The apparent outlier among that group is Emprize. But Emprize didn't begin reporting its production until July of 2019, so the year-to-year comparison isn't entirely valid.

A final note… as I mentioned at the top of this post, these production numbers are supplied by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The DOR’s figures are sometimes a point of contention. They don't always jibe with a brewery’s internal metrics. The DOR has the final say, but I’d be happy to add an addendum to this post for any brewery mentioned here that would like to provide additional information or context.

Updates...

Here's some additional context related to Fox River. This comes from Drew Roth, head brewer at Fox River: I do have one additional piece of information to add to FRBCs numbers. One transition we made was to pull all production from Hinterland and bring it in house in 2020, which included the mobile canning. This meant that although we did see a drop in production, the 10% you reported seems on point, we felt the pain of this loss a lot less than others in our position as we saw an increase in margins on our packaged beer. We were also able to keep our staff fully employeed, which was important. One odd fact that came out of last year was that although production overall was down, we had our best month on record that year. July of 2020 saw 401bbls produced between both locations, the old record was around 280bbls. Im really interested in totals for this year. There is a solid chance a lot of those losses will be erased.

Beer Production in Oshkosh and Beyond

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue recently issued its final set of 2019 reports for beer production in the state. Let's see what those numbers have to say about what's happening here in Oshkosh.

Filling Kegs at Bare Bones Brewery.

In 2019, Oshkosh’s four breweries produced a combined total of 2,296.43 barrels of beer (a barrel contains 31 gallons). That's a 5% increase over last year's combined output. Here's how that production is distributed among the breweries here.

Fox River Brewing
Fox River Brewing led the way again this year. The 1,200.57 barrels Fox River made at its Oshkosh brewery is more than all the other breweries in the city combined. That, however, is just one part of Fox River's output. The brewery produced an additional 1,555.54 barrels of beer at its Appleton facility where its bottling line resides. After outgrowing its capacity last year, Fox River began contract brewing beer at the Hinterland facility in Green Bay. This year, Fox River brewed an additional 1,500 barrels in Green Bay. That puts the brewery's total production for 2019 at 4,256.11 barrels; about a 19% increase over last year. That's an especially large bump for a brewery that's been around for 25 years.

For the second year in a row, Fox River is the largest brewery in the Fox Valley metropolitan area that includes Oshkosh and Appleton. Stone Arch of Appleton remains second with a production of 2040.43 barrels. It's also interesting to see that Fox River's production now outpaces that of O'so Brewing, which had long been a prominent brand in the Oshkosh area. O'so produced 3905.23 barrels in 2018.

Fifth Ward Brewing
Fifth Ward had a break-out year. The brewery's 2019 production of 547.17 barrels is a 26% increase over its 2018 output. "We were running at full capacity at the end of 2019," Zach Clark of Fifth Ward said. "If we continue at this pace, we're going to have to look into increasing our capacity at some point later this year." Fifth Ward is still doing all of its own distribution. The brewery now sells its beer throughout the Fox Valley and into Green Bay and Sheboygan.

Bare Bones Brewery
Bare Bones had another good year in 2019 with production of 544.19 barrels; an increase of 1% over its 2018 output. The brewery's output has been consistently in this range for the past three years; a period that has seen a significant increase in local competition. Bare Bones distributes its beer through Lee Beverage, but the brewery doesn't have a salesperson. That may be changing soon, and if it does, I would expect you'll see the brewery's output increase.

HighHolder Brewing
HighHolder is Oshkosh's only nano-brewery and it had a rough year in 2019. Early in the year, Mike Schlosser – HighHolder's jack of all trades – had a serious health scare that put the brewery on hold for much of the year. The 4.5 barrels Schlosser managed to brew was a 62% decrease from 2018's output. But Schlosser is now back in the brewhouse and this year has already surpassed his 2019 output. He expects HighHolder to produce about 20 barrels this year.

The Overall
At this moment, the picture in Oshkosh looks fairly encouraging. The 5% increase in overall production is slightly better than the projected 4% increase for craft breweries nationally. But this market is definitely tightening.

There are now more than 8,000 breweries in America. Approximately 200 of them are in Wisconsin. And eight of those are in Winnebago County. I'll end here with production numbers for several other area breweries. This illustrates how competitive it's becoming for small breweries in this region.

2019 Production in Barrels
Stone Arch Brewpub, Appleton: 2040.43 ( Down 1.6% from 2018)
Lions Tail Brewing, Neenah: 683.23 (Up 25% from 2018)
Knuth Brewing, Ripon: 441.59 (Up 18% from 2018)
Appleton Beer Factory: 317.46 (Down 5.1% from 2018)
McFleshman's Brewing, Appleton: 327.14 (First full year of production)
Barrel 41 Brewing, Neenah: 228.04 (First full year of production)
Rowland's Calumet Brewing, Chilton:  169 (Up 1.8% from 2018)
Omega Brewing Experience, Omro: 32.39 (Up 31% from 2018)
Emprize Brew Mill, Neenah: 17.82 (First began reporting production July)

Note: After this story was posted I received a message from Alex Wenzel, owner of Lion’s Tail Brewing. He informed me that the Department of Revenue’s 2019 reporting for Lion’s Tail was incorrect. Lion’s Tail’s actual production was 683.23 (the DOR reported 514.68). This post has been updated to correct the error.

Winnebago County's 2018 Beer Production

Brewery production reports for 2018 have now been released in full by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The monthly reports list how many barrels of taxable beer each Wisconsin brewery produced during the past year. A barrel of beer, by the way, contains 31 gallons or the equivalent of 6.8 cases of beer.

The numbers within the production records tell only part of the story, so I'll include some additional info after the charts. Here's what we're seeing in Winnebago County (click the chart to enlarge it)...

And here are the numbers for 2018 compared to 2017 (Fifth Ward, HighHolder, and Omega are not included; they did not have a full year’s worth of production in 2017).

Production is down 10% at Bare Bones and 12% at Fox River. That may be an easy takeaway, but it's nowhere near so alarming as it first may appear.

Bare Bones got off to a rocky start last year. Through the first five months, production was down by almost 19%. A contributor to that was overproduction at the end of 2017, creating a surplus of beer that lingered through the first quarter of 2018. By spring, Bare Bones was back on track. The brewery's production levels for the remainder of 2018 were on par with its 2017 output. Still, Bare Bones appears to have reached a plateau, at least for the time being.

The Fox River story is entirely different. In 2017, Fox River reached capacity in terms of how much beer it could produce at its own breweries. So in 2018, the brewery moved part of its BLU Bobber production to the new Hinterland Facility in Green Bay. The beer produced in Green Bay doesn't get included in Fox River's production reports. If it did, Fox River's would have seen an increase in output for the year.

Fox River's combined output for its Appleton and Oshkosh facilities was 2,627 barrels, making it the largest brewery in the Fox Cities area for the second year in a row. Appleton's Stone Arch, which held that title previously, remains second but has fallen further behind. Stone Arch's 2018 production of 2,074 barrels is down 10% from its 2017 output of 2,783 barrels.

Lion's Tail in Neenah had a banner year with production up 16% to 547 barrels. Juice Cloud, the brewery's popular New England style IPA, has had plenty to do with that. Production at Lion's Tail has risen steadily ever since the introduction of Juice Cloud in the summer of 2017.

Fifth Ward also had a good year, producing 433 barrels. That’s a significant amount of beer for a self-distributing brewery in its first, full year of production. Output at Fifth Ward during the last six months of 2018 was up 23% compared to the first six months of the year.

Omega and HighHolder, the two nano breweries in Winnebago County, appear to be doing well. But it’s difficult to draw a bead on new breweries of this size. HighHolder only reported for nine months of the year, so its numbers aren't indicative of a marked trend. Omega, averaging about two barrels a month during its first full year of production, will almost certainly see its output increase in 2019.

Oshkosh alone produced 2,186 barrels of beer in 2018, an increase of 11% over 2017. That's healthy growth, but for a brewing scene as young as this one is, I would expect it to be somewhat higher. One of the local brewers recently expressed his concern to me that not enough new craft beer drinkers are being cultivated in this part of the state. He mentioned that you seem to see a lot of the same faces in brewery taprooms and at beer events. I've noticed that too and it's not a good sign. If there's a weak point here, it's that all the breweries seem to be mining the same, narrow craft-beer demographic.

Infinite growth is definitely not the end all and be all when it comes to beer, but it does tell you something about the condition of a local beer scene. We're in good shape here, but the 2018 numbers present a somewhat muddled picture. In that respect, they’re fairly reflective of the state of American craft beer as a whole.

On a final note, you may have noticed that Barrel 41 of Neenah and Emprize Brew Mill of Menasha are not accounted for here. Barrel 41, which opened in November, has yet to enter the Wisconsin production reports. I suspect that will change when the first of the 2019 reports are released. Emprize, which has been selling its beer since at least July of 2018, has never been listed. The how or why of that remains a mystery beyond my knowing.

Beer Production for 2016 in Oshkosh and Beyond

The Department of Revenue has finally released the complete set of 2016 beer production reports for Wisconsin breweries. I'll share the local numbers in a moment, but first here's some background on what we'll be looking at.

The reports show the number of barrels of beer a brewery has produced for sale in any given month.
   • A barrel contains 31 U.S. gallons of beer.
   • That's the equivalent of 13.6 cases of beer.
   • Meaning each barrel contains about 330 twelve-ounce servings of beer.

Now to the meat of the matter. The big story locally is the continued rise of Fox River Brewing Company. In 2016, Fox River was among the fastest growing breweries in the State of Wisconsin.

The Oshkosh Brewhouse of Fox River Brewing Company

Fox River Brewing Company: 2546.64 barrels
That's an increase of more than 26% over last year's production. That's also the most beer Fox River has ever produced in a single year. There's more.

Over the past three years, production at Fox River has risen by just over 90%. The sharp increase coincides with the brewery's 2014 decision to get back into distributing its beer beyond its brewpubs.

The lion's share of Fox River's beer was produced in Appleton, where the brewery maintains its bottling line. In Appleton, Fox River produced 1,500 barrels in 2016, an increase of 34% on its 2015 output.

In Oshkosh, Fox River produced 1,046 barrels. That's an increase of 17% over the Oshkosh brewery's 2015 production.

Bare Bones Brewery: 438.5 Barrels
Bare Bones didn't begin showing up in the state reports until October 2015, so there's no meaningful comparison to the previous year's output. That said, there's something in the numbers worth noting.

The peak month production-wise for Bare Bones in 2016 was December when the brewery reported producing 63.75 barrels of beer.  That level of production defies most assumptions made about the brewery when it launched in 2015.

The consensus among many was that Bare Bones would thrive during the summer months when the WIOUWASH Trail was open. Conversely, business would slow when colder weather would keep bikers off the trail. The predicted winter slump appears not to have materialized. Production through the latter half of 2016 was strong at Bare Bones.

Now, on to breweries nearby...

Lion’s Tail Brewing: 220.76 Barrels
The Neenah brewery didn't begin reporting its output until 2016, so there are no year-to-year comparison points. However, I think it's safe to say production at Lion's Tail will increase in 2017. The brewery plans to expand its capacity and put more emphasis on distribution this year. That should translate into increased production.

Stone Arch Brewery: 2881.32 Barrels
They're holding steady at Stone Arch. The brewery produced 28.56 more barrels in 2016 than it produced in 2015. That's an increase of about 1%.

Appleton Beer Factory: 301.75 Barrels
ABF is the only brewery in the bunch that saw its production decline in 2016. The brewery's output was off by more than 25% in 2016. ABF produced 103 fewer barrels in 2016 than it did in 2015.

Knuth Brewing Company: 103 Barrels
Knuth Brewing in Ripon entered the state production reports in August 2015, so a year-to-year comparison isn't possible. Production has steadily risen at Knuth, though, since the installation a new 6-barrel system in August. This is another brewery you can expect to see grow in 2017.

Rowlands Calumet Brewing Company: 241 Barrels
A nice increase of 35 barrels – 14.5% more than the brewery's 2015 output. That's good to see. Established in 1990, Rowlands is the Grand Dad of modern brewing in our area. Rowlands, continues to have a dedicated fan base in its hometown of Chilton.

Overall, it's been another good year for beer in Oshkosh and the breweries in its vicinity. While the larger, nationally distributed craft breweries report sales declines, the local scene here continues to grow.

Beer Production in Oshkosh – The First Half of 2016

Kevin Bowen, Brewmaster at Fox River Brewing Co., in the Oshkosh Brewery

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue reports on beer production in Wisconsin are now complete for the first six months of 2016. Hiding in the stream of numbers is an interesting story developing in Oshkosh. I’ll get to that, but first let’s get to the raw data.

This is the amount of beer produced in Oshkosh through June of this year. The figures are reported in barrels (a barrel of beer is 31 U.S. Gallons, or about 13.75  cases).

Bare Bones Brewery: 157.75 Barrels
Fox River Brewing Company – Oshkosh Brewery: 502.03 Barrels
Total amount of beer produced in Oshkosh: 659.78 Barrels

Let’s get behind those numbers. We'll start with Fox River Brewing.

The production records that were set last year at Fox River are in the process of being obliterated this year. Production at the Oshkosh brewery is up just over 26% in comparison to the same period last year. That’s just part of the Fox River story. At Fox River’s Appleton facility, where the brewery operates a bottling line, production has increased over 50% when compared to the first six months of 2015.

Fox River Brewing Company – Appleton Brewery: 687.78 Barrels

The trend appears even more extreme when you look at Fox River’s growth over the past four years. Production this year is up 133% in comparison to the first six month of 2013. At this point Fox River Brewing has to be among the fastest growing breweries in the state. That could become a problem.

At the end of last year, Fox River was nearing capacity at its two facilities. It’s difficult to see how they’ll be able to sustain this level of growth without expanding their production capabilities in some substantial way. It’s going to be an interesting second half of the year.

Now over to Bare Bones: The brewery didn’t begin producing beer until July 2016. That leaves us without a month-to-month comparison for the first half of the year. So, we’re left looking at average monthly output. And in this case that’s not a good comparison point. Most breweries, tend to produce less beer during the first half of the year than they do in the second half.

With that in mind, there’s good news coming out of Bare Bones. Average monthly production last year was just under 22 bbls. Through the first six months of this year it’s just over 26 bbls. That’s a trend that bodes well for the brewery.

OK, I like numbers, so let’s take a look at a few nearby breweries and see how they’re faring

Lion’s Tail Brewing, Neenah: 103.57 bbls.
Lion’s tail didn’t begin showing up in the state reports until this past April. Its first beers were produced at the Appleton Beer Factory. Now that production has been brought in-house, the second half of the year will tell us much more. From what I’ve seen, it looks as though things are going quite well there.

Knuth Brewing, Ripon: 40 bbls.
Knuth began reporting production in January 2016. The brewery just installed a new, larger brew system, so we’re bound to see increased production coming out of Ripon.

Appleton Beer Factory: 146.25 bbls.
That’s down about 10% over the same period last year.

Stone Arch/Stone Cellar, Appleton: 1379.57 bbls.
That up almost 9% over the first six months of last year.

Rowland’s Calumet Brewing, Chilton: 110 bbls.
An increase of 13% over last year’s first six months.

Overall, we’re seeing encouraging signs for brewing in this part of the state. Good news for all of us who like to drink locally made beer.