A New Brewery, A New Homebrew Shop, and a New Crowler Machine

Things move quickly around here. And after taking the month of July off from blogging, I’m playing catch-up. Here’s a trio of beer-based items of interest that developed while I was away. We’ll start with the big one...

The Proposed Oshkosh Bier & Brewing Facility

Oshkosh Bier & Brewing
In May, Oshkosh Bier & Brewing announced its intention to build a taproom and production facility in Oshkosh. The brewery in planning has now taken the first step toward securing a location.

Jeff Fulbright, founder and managing member of OB&B, is seeking a 12-month, option-to-purchase agreement from the Oshkosh Community Development Board. The property he’s after is at the southwest corner of Pearl and Jackson streets. The vacant parcel sits next to the empty Morton’s Pharmacy building. Let’s zero in on that location. The site is highlighted in red.

The OB&B proposal is ambitious. It puts forth a plan to construct the “Largest Oshkosh brewery since Peoples Brewing was built in 1913.” Here are few highlights from the document OB&B submitted to the city.

• The proposed brewery would be a 15,000 square-foot facility capable of producing 40,000 barrels of beer annually. Included would be a 2,000 square-foot taproom and outdoor beer garden.
• Estimated start-up cost is approximately $1.5 million.
• John Zappa, former master brewer from Stevens Point Brewery, will be involved with the launch of brewing operations. 
• OB&B will employ 6-8 people in full-time positions.
• Distribution of draught and packaged beer will be handled by Lee Beverage.
• Administrative decisions will include partner and company counsel Charles Hertel of Dempsey Law and an advisory board consisting of partners, investors and local businessmen.

The proposal is an interesting document to say the least. You can view it in its entirety here.

Homebrew Shop Coming to Oshkosh
Dave Koepke of The Cellar in Fond du Lac has been talking about moving his homebrew shop to Oshkosh for several months. He’s closing in on making that happen. Koepke has leased a storefront located along the Highway 41 corridor in Oshkosh for his new store. There remain details to work out, but there’s a good chance The Cellar will have relocated to Oshkosh by fall. I’ll have more coming on this in the near future.

Dave Koepke

Oshkosh Gets its First Crowler
The Ruby Owl Taproom installed Oshkosh’s first crowler machine last week. The machine packages draft beer in 32-ounce cans for take-away sales. The beauty of the package is that it preserves beer better than the standard growler with screw-on cap. I’ve stored filled crowlers for more than a month before opening. The beer held up wonderfully.

We’ll end with a short video of Adam Carlson of the Ruby showing what a crowler fill looks like. Prost!

Fulbright Announces Plan for Oshkosh Bier & Brewing Company

Jeff Fulbright is planning his return to the brewing business.

Fulbright

Fulbright, who ran Mid-Coast Brewing Company, the brewer of Chief Oshkosh Red Lager in the early 1990s, is now working to establish a new brewery here named the Oshkosh Bier & Brewing Company. If his current plan comes to fruition, it would be the largest brewery launch in Oshkosh since the opening of People's Brewing in 1913.

“It's going to be a 40-barrel system,” says Fulbright. “We're going to be able to do 40,000 barrels a year. That's before any expansion.” He says the brewery will sell beer from its own taproom and through distribution in 12-ounce cans.

Fulbright isn’t going it alone. “We have an advisory board of local businessmen I've put together,” he says. “I'm not going to name the guys at this time, but they're all well known, local, successful businessmen.” Fulbright describes his role as the administrator of the project.

“We want to build a 15,000 square foot building with a large taproom, and landscaped beer garden,” he says. “It's to the point now where things are coming into place. The site is picked and we're finishing up the financials and the business plan.”

Fulbright anticipates the brewery being operational in 2017. The site he refers to is located two blocks from the river at the corner of Jackson and Pearl streets. “This is a 3 to 3.5 million dollar project,” Fulbright says. “This will be a serious brewery.”

“I want Oshkosh Bier & Brewing to be more than just a beautiful brewery that makes great beer,” he says. “I want it to be part of the fabric of what is good and fun in this city and a source of pride for the people of Oshkosh. I want this to be a destination. When people come to town, I want this to be on their go-see list.”

The proposed Oshkosh Bier & Brewing Co.

Fulbright, a graduate of the Siebel Institute’s brewing program, says the new brewery will have two distinct lines of beer. “One is going to be a traditional lager line called Oshkosh Classic. And then we're going to have the craft line that's going to be called Oshkosh Reserve. That's where we get to go nuts. We'll do everything. We're going to have some great beers.” Fulbright says John Zappa, former brewmaster for Stevens Point Brewery, will act as a consultant and assist in getting the brewery up and running.

Having Oshkosh be part of the name is consistent with one of Fulbright’s objectives. “I really want to promote local involvement,” he says. “When I did Chief, the market wasn't big enough to do that. Now it is. We want to have this brewery involved with the city and work with local charities and homebrewers. We want to make it interesting for the city.”

The proposed brewery becomes the third currently being planned for Oshkosh. Fifth Ward Brewing and Highholder Brewing previously announced their intentions. If each comes into being, Oshkosh will have five breweries, the highest number in operation here simultaneously since the late 1880s.