A Few Good Reasons Why Beer Lovers Should Attend Casks & Caskets

OK, so you’re into the beer thing and you’ve belched your way through more tastings than you care to remember. Time to perk up. You’ve never been to a beer event like this one. On Saturday, November 3, the Society Of Oshkosh Brewers (SOBs) will be hosting a beer tasting that’ll be like nothing Oshkosh, or for that matter Wisconsin, has seen before. Casks & Caskets will be the first tasting in the state composed entirely of homemade beer, wine, cider and mead.

Now, if that’s enough to pique your interest, go HERE for all the details about times, tickets and such. If you still need convincing, here are a few reasons why you should hit this one.

It’s a chance to try something really new.
Let’s face it, at most tastings what you tend to get is a glut of beer you’re already thoroughly familiar with. That won’t happen at Casks & Caskets. Every beer you’re poured will be a beer you have never tasted before. Same goes for all the wine, mead and cider on the docket. And you won’t be served by clueless attendants sloshing out tasters of whatever suds they’re told to. These beers will be poured by the Oshkosh area brewers who made them; a bunch of genial geeks who would love nothing more than to tell you every last thing about what’s in your cup.

It’s the first beer event of its kind.
Four months ago this kind of thing would have been strictly illegal. But when the revised homebrew law went into effect this past July, it opened the doors to homebrewers toting their potables out of their cellars and into the streets. Casks & Caskets will be the first such tasting under the new law. In the annals of Wisconsin beer, this is going to be an historic event. You’ll be able to say you were there.

It’ll be a good time for a good cause.
Unlike most charity tastings, the folks making the beer and wine are donating every last drop of it. That means ALL of the proceeds will go directly to charity, which in this case will be the Oshkosh Food Pantries. The next morning when you wake up feeling lousy, you can comfort yourself with the reminder that you’ve done a good thing.

Still not interested? How about this: If you’ve never tasted well-made homebrew before, you’re in for a surprise. This isn’t like the stuff your crazy uncle used to make in the basement. These brews are being made by experienced, Oshkosh-area brewers who spend an unhealthy amount of time fixating on the quality and flavor of their product. Aside from being the freshest beer you’re ever likely to taste, it will also be some of the most unique. These folks don’t worry about producing a product the masses can immediately grasp. They’re into creating one-of-a-kind beers, meads, wines and ciders that emphasize flavor and originality. Believe me, you’ve never tasted anything like what’ll be pouring at Casks & Caskets. And if you miss it, you may never get the chance to try anything like them again.

Check out the Facebook page HERE.
Info concerning times, tickets and everything else is HERE.

Ale Asylum Lands in Oshkosh

If punchy, hop-forward American Craft Beer is your cup of meat, then Thursday night (as in October 18, 2012) ought to find your bulk planted at Oblio’s, where Ale Asylum will be pouring for all it’s worth. Based out of Madison, Ale Asylum is the sixth largest (and fastest growing) craft brewery in the state. They’ve just moved into a new 45,000 bbl capacity brewery and expanded their distribution beyond the Milwaukee/Madison area, which has been soaking up most of their efforts for the past six years.

The Oshkosh tasting will run at Oblio’s from 9-11 pm. It’s free and I’m sure if you ask nicely they’ll oblige you with all sorts of gratis samples. What have you got to lose... other than your sobriety?

For more info on the Ale Asylum plan for world domination, go HERE.
Go HERE, if you want to get your drool on for some of what they'll be dousing the crowd with at Oblio's.

Beers, Barley's & Oktoberfest

Once again, we have another tasty week of beer drinking ahead of us in Oshkosh. The weekend starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 3 at Barley & Hops, where a new season of Barley’s Beer Sampling Series will kick off. This time, Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery will be in the spotlight. They’ll be pouring the full Lakefront line-up; including a slew of Lakefront beers that we’re deprived of in Oshkosh thanks to the caprices of our local retailers and distributors. Seriously, our beer selection on the retail side of things is becoming more dismal by the day. I’ll save that rant for another day... The Barley’s sampling will also feature Lienenkugel’s Big Eddie series, which has turned out to be surprisingly good. There’ll also be a host of other beers, spirits and wines to taste to your heart’s content. For $15 in advance ($20 at the door), this is a fine way to try out a swatch of new brews you’ll have a hard time sourcing locally. For more info, check out the event's Facebook page.

After you’ve recovered from Barley’s, you can dive back into the suds at the Third Annual Oshkosh Oktoberfest, on Saturday, October 6 at the Leach Amphitheater. This year, the event is free. Of course, there’ll be all manner of excellent Oktoberfestbier flowing in addition to a 2K Bier Run, a barrel rolling contests, a fraulein carrying contests, lots of music, excellent German food and a bucket of other Okto-Fest amusements. And I’ll be there with German Bier tastings throughout the day where I’ll be pouring and talking about German beer styles. I’m looking forward to that in a big way. The day’s full rundown can be seen HERE. And don’t forget, it’s free! Prost!

Farmer’s Market & Farmhouse Beer

I’ll get to that pretty thing there on the left in a moment, but before I do... If the Downtown Oshkosh Farmer’s Market is going to be part of your Saturday, stop by and say hello. Ron Akin and I will have a table where we’ll be hawking our book, The Breweries of Oshkosh,  and talking to anyone willing to listen to us babble about beer, brewing and their history in our fine city.

Speaking of the weekend, you may want to include THIS in your plans. There's three of them at Festival.

Now about that beer. It’s New Holland’s Farmhouse Hatter, a Belgian IPA and it’s on tap right now at Dublin’s. I had one yesterday and loved it. And, as a rule, I find Belgian IPAs disgusting. This one isn’t. It’s beautifully integrated with plenty of everything and not too much of anything. It brings a wealth of flavor, for such a mild beer (5% ABV). HERE’s what the geeks at Rate Beer are saying. Disregard the haters; they’re wrong.

One last thing: Over on the lower left, you’ll see the What's Brewing header. I’ll try to keep this updated on a timely basis. If you have anything you’d like to share or have added, drop it in the comments section of this post or send an email. This fall’s drinking is looking good!

It's Beer vs. Wine Tonight at Fratellos in Oshkosh

Tonight, Tuesday, September 25th at 6:30 pm, Fratellos in Oshkosh is hosting a battle between the grape the hop. They’re having a four-course meal where guests will be asked to judge whether a selected beer or wine pairs best with what’s on their plate. Here’s the fight card:

Round 1

Quartz White Blend vs The Chief Beer

Panzanella Salad 

Round 2

Votre Santé Pinot Noir vs Fox for the Hounds Pale Ale

Salmon Rillettes 

Round 3

Chateau St. Jean Red Blend vs Caber Tossing Scottish Ale

Seared tenderloin with Chèvre gnocchi

Round 4

Coppola Pink Moscato vs Trolleycar Stout

Espresso Crème Brûlée 

Check out Round 1, there, with “The Chief” standing proud! I think you know which one I’m pulling for.The whole deal is just $25 per person.  For reservations call 920.232.2337. 

Still Going Strong

In 1956, the Oshkosh Brewing Company threw a big party at the brewery to celebrate its 90th anniversary. On Saturday – 56 years later – we in Oshkosh had another big party that was all about Oshkosh beer. This time, the party was at Fratellos where we gathered to celebrate our city’s beer brewing heritage. And we were drinking the same brew that was served at the OBC party back in 1956. It was an incredible day and I’d like to thank everybody who came out to make it such a complete success.

One last thing about the 1956 party: The Monday following the party, OBC placed an ad in the Northwestern thanking all of their visitors and well-wishers. The message was simple and heartfelt and captures the close relationship that existed between this brewery and the people of Oshkosh. It shows the open doors of the garage where the party was held with the caption, "through these doors have passed the nicest people in the world." I know just how they felt.

An Event More Than 160 Years In The Making!

Well, here we go... The Breweries of Oshkosh lands on Saturday, September 22 at 1 p.m. at Fratellos, here in Oshkosh. And thanks to the fine folks at Fratellos and Fox River Brewing, we’re going to have the perfect beer and book pairing. Here’s a rare opportunity to get a taste of a classic Oshkosh beer. Hope to see you then!

Coming Soon: The Breweries of Oshkosh

So, what have I been up to while the blog lay fallow? A book. The Breweries of Oshkosh; Their Rise and Fall by Ron Akin & Lee Reiherzer is 160 pages of beer-soaked Oshkosh history. It tells the complete story of beer and brewing in Oshkosh from 1849 to the present and includes more than 400 illustrations. It’s hard covered and full color and it’ll be available in mid-September. 

I’ll soon be posting all the details concerning how and where to pick up a copy. Stay tuned, there’ll be more Oshkosh Beer blogging to come!

A 12-Pack Tour of Oshkosh Brewing History

I’ve always liked to think of this as an interactive blog. A place that might inspire someone to actually do something... such as drink beer. Or in the case of this post, go out and tour the sights of Oshkosh’s incredible brewing history.

Below you’ll find a couple of links. The first is a direct download of a PDF containing a five-page, self-guided tour of Oshkosh’s beer brewing past. The tour includes directions for finding the locations of all the old Oshkosh breweries and is loaded with images and interesting facts. Hopefully, you’ll want to print it out and take a tour of our city’s beer brewing past. If nothing else, you can use it as a concise roadmap to the history of commercial brewing in Oshkosh.

If you’d rather not download the file, you can use the second link to view the tour as a web page. It doesn’t look as nice as the PDF, but it’s good enough to give you an idea of what this is all about.

This sort of history can sometimes seem remote, but it comes alive when you’re able to get out and tromp around on the ground once occupied by the people who made that history. Here’s a guide to some good Oshkosh ground to go trompin’ around.

1) Direct download of the Oshkosh Beer Tour PDF 

2) Web Page view of the Oshkosh Beer Tour

Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalt’s!

We’re smack-dab in the middle of one of those transitional gaps in the beer drinking year. The Bock season is winding down, but it’s still a little too early and damp for the beers of summer. That’s good. It’s during these lulls that you usually find a few interesting oddballs drifting in. With that in mind, here’s a triad of recent arrivals on the Oshkosh beer scene that’ll confuse and amuse your taster in a most pleasing way.

Let’s start with the oddest of the bunch. New Glarus is calling their new Two Women Lager a “Classic County Lager”. What exactly that means is beyond me. There’s an educational spiel on the label that mentions Christ, Sumerian women and Norse society that further confused me, until I finally just gave up and drank it. Best idea I had all day. This is a strange, little beer and I like it. It pours to a clear, deep bronze with a clean, bready aroma and a first draw that’s surprisingly fruity. Reminded me more of an Altbier than a traditional lager, but the flavors come along so soft and round that it makes all those esters seem about right. It finishes with a dry, cookie-like bit of malt and an exceptionally clean hit of light bitterness. It’s a subtle beer; a brew you can pay no mind to and drink like mad, if you so choose, but if you show it some attention, the reward will be worth it.

Now to the deep end of the pool to greet an altogether different breed of New Glarus, a beer they’ve named IIPA. Meaning double IPA; or DIPA, as the knobs call it. Anyway, this Imperial India Pale Ale is the first release under New Glarus’ new Thumbprint Series of beers. Apparently they’ve ditched their “Unplugged” thing for a label featuring a Bunyanesque thumbprint shaped like Wisconsin. Unfortunately, my ADD (Alcohol Deficit Disorder) prohibits me from giving a shit. On to the beer! Whoa... This thing smells like they just pulled the hops out. It pours hazy and golden with an enormous aroma of citrus, passion fruit and pine. The first thing that came to mind after I’d made it part of my inner being is that this brew is like an amplified version of Moon Man blasting from an amp that goes to 11. The hop flavors are bright and clean right up to the point where the bitterness consumes everything in its path leaving your ruined mouth to pucker on the residue of syrupy malt. That said, I can’t imagine a hop lover not going for this beer. I also can’t imagine drinking more than one of them (and at 9% I probably wouldn’t anyway). And I pity the beer that follows it, because your palate is going to be too wrecked to taste it. Go to it hop fiends!

Our last ride on this wave to oblivion is a new seasonal offering from Big Sky Brewing. Heavy Horse Scotch Ale hit town a couple weeks ago and since we don’t seem to get a lot of Scotch Ale around here, I nabbed it straight off. It’s an almost 7% Wee Heavy that arrives deep brown and reeking of caramelized sugars and the sightly metallic aroma of roasted malt. This is a chewy, near-sweet beer with a pleasant depth of malt flavor, that gets cut too short by an overabundance of bitterness in the finish. On the other hand, that bitterness clarifies the palate and keeps you coming back for the next sip. Maybe it’s a little too wee to really be a Wee Heavy, but that’s being fussy. A good beer for any malt lover and a fine warmer on cool Spring evening.

All three of these brews can be found at Festival Foods in Oshkosh, but to get at the New Glarus IIPA, you’ll need to dig a little. They’ve got it hidden behind the last of the New Glarus Unplugged beers that they’re trying to move out. They like to make things difficult, don’t they? Ein Prosit!